Jianwen Emperor

The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – probably 13 July 1402), personal name Zhu Yunwen, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Huizong of Ming and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Hui of Ming, was the second emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1398 to 1402. Zhu Yunwen's father was Zhu Biao, the eldest son and crown prince of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. Zhu Biao died in 1392, after which the Hongwu Emperor named Zhu Yunwen as his successor. He ascended the throne after the Hongwu Emperor's death in June 1398.

The Jianwen Emperor surrounded himself with Confucian-educated officials who immediately began revising the Hongwu Emperor's reforms, and the most significant change was the attempt to limit or eliminate the power of princes (the sons of the Hongwu Emperor). The most powerful among them, Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, who was based in Beijing and responsible for guarding the border with the Mongols. In 1399, Zhu Di rebelled under the pretext of protecting the emperor from corrupt court officials after the emperor ordered the imprisonment of his followers. This sparked a civil war known as the Jingnan campaign, which aimed to eliminate disorder. In 1402, Zhu Di captured the capital of Nanjing, and the imperial palace was burned to the ground. The emperor, along with his wife and eldest son, perished in the fire, but their bodies were never found, leading to rumors of the emperor's survival and refuge in a Buddhist monastery. Zhu Di ascended the throne as the Yongle Emperor. He abolished the Jianwen Emperor's reforms and declared him illegitimate, thus abolishing the Jianwen era and extending the era of Hongwu to 1402. It was not until 1595 that the Jianwen Emperor's era and imperial title were restored by the Wanli Emperor.