Historedia
Asia PacificEvent

Ming Succession: Death of Jiajing and Ascension of Longqing

When
1567
Where
Forbidden City; Ming Court
Episodes
2

The Jiajing Emperor died on 23 January 1567 in the Forbidden City after moving from the West Park. Twelve days later, his son Zhu Zaiji ascended the throne as the Longqing Emperor, initiating a new reign marked by initial reforms and the implementation of his father's final edicts.

Episodes

  1. 1567 · Ming CourtImplementation of Initial Reforms

    The Longqing Emperor began his reign by implementing his father's dying orders for political reform.

  2. 23 January 1567 · Forbidden CityDeath of Jiajing in the Forbidden City

    Jiajing moved from West Park to the Forbidden City and died on 23 January 1567.

Background and detail

Death of Jiajing. On 23 January 1567, the Jiajing Emperor moved from the West Park to his residence in the Forbidden City. He died around midday that same day, ending a reign that had lasted from 1521 to 1567. His death marked the end of a period characterized by tension between the imperial court and the emperor.

Ascension of Longqing. Twelve days after Jiajing's death, Zhu Zaiji became the new emperor, known as the Longqing Emperor. He succeeded his father and began his reign by implementing the Jiajing Emperor's dying orders, which aimed to bring about political reform. Senior Grand Secretary Xu Jie played a key role in drafting these initial edicts.

People involved

Sources

  1. Jiajing Emperor Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13
  2. Longqing Emperor Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.