★ A growth history of Emperor Jiajing. Witness how the young Jiajing resisted court officials to canonize his biological father, strategized step by step to control court politics, and pushed Ming imperial power to its peak.
★ A political history of the Ming Dynasty. The “Great Rites Controversy”, which shook the court for 24 years; the Left Compliance Gate incident, where over 180 officials died or were injured; the power struggles among Yan Song, Xia Yan, Yang Tinghe, Zhang Cong... This book fully presents the interactions among power, institutions, and culture, interpreting why mid-to-late Ming politics increasingly declined.
★ A detailed analysis of ritual studies. From debates on whether Emperor Jiajing should change his parents’ titles, to disputes over establishing a separate temple, separating heaven and earth worship, and altering the ancestral temple system, the book gradually reveals the importance of ritual law in shaping power structures and national political culture.

After the death of Emperor Zhengde without a son, Zhu Houcong, the heir of the Xing Principality, ascended the throne as Emperor Jiajing. Civil and military officials requested that he inherit the main lineage as an adopted son, recognizing his uncle Emperor Hongzhi as his father and referring to his biological father as uncle. This triggered the 24-year-long “Great Rites Controversy” that shocked the court.
To posthumously honor his biological parents, Emperor Jiajing resorted to force to suppress protesting officials, leading to the Left Compliance Gate bloodshed; compiled the “Minglun Dadian” to construct a theoretical text legitimizing imperial authority; fabricated charges to stifle dissent and crush scholars’ political ideal of “guiding the king”; continuously altered state rituals under the guise of “restoring ancestral institutions”, in fact elevating his father’s political status and consolidating his own power; and to manipulate officials, expanded the cabinet’s authority, frequently changed chief ministers, and degraded court political atmosphere, paving the way for intensified factional strife.
Through the “Great Rites Controversy”, this book studies the political and cultural shifts in the Ming Jiajing reign, especially regarding the enshrinement of Zhu Youyuan’s (Jiajing’s father) spirit tablet in the ancestral temple. After years of debate and game between Jiajing and his officials, the emperor succeeded in canonizing his father, achieving the reshaping of imperial power and transforming a minor lineage into the main line. However, Jiajing destabilized the political culture system centered on “ritual”, privatized imperial power, and caused confusion in hierarchical order, leading to mid-Ming political turmoil, ruler-official conflicts, social disorder, and ultimately the gradual collapse of late Ming political order.

You Shujun

Associate Professor, Department of History, Zhejiang University; Zhejiang University Zhongying Young Scholar; Zhejiang Province Zhijiang Young Scholar in Social Sciences. Published works include “Qing Ci: Society and Culture of the Qing Dynasty” and “From Guest Rituals to Ritual Guests: Foreign Audiences and Changes in Late Qing Foreign-Related Systems”. Hosted two National Social Science Fund projects and received the Zhejiang Provincial Higher Education Teaching Competition Excellence Award and the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award.

Introduction / 1
I. Research Motivation / 1
II. Literature Review / 5
III. Chapter Outline / 23

Chapter 1: Causes, Process, and Outcome of the “Great Rites Controversy” / 28
I. Succession from a External Principality / 29
II. The Debate over Succession and Inheritance / 42
III. The Left Compliance Gate Incident / 73
Summary / 88

Chapter 2: From the “Veritable Records of Emperor Xian” to the “Minglun Dadian” / 94
I. The Compilation Process from the “Veritable Records of Emperor Xian” to the “Minglun Dadian” / 97
II. Interpretation of the Content of the “Minglun Dadian” / 115
III. The Significance of Compiling the “Minglun Dadian” / 148
Summary / 167

Chapter 3: The Political and Cultural Significance of Ritual Reforms / 172
I. Reforming the Xianling Tomb, Establishing the Shizhao Temple / 175
II. Separating Heaven and Earth Worship, Revising Suburban Rituals / 183
III. Changes in the Temple System, Constructing Nine Temples / 202
IV. Restoring the Mingtang, Canonizing Emperor Xian as an Ancestor / 222
V. Finalizing the Temple System, Enshrining Emperor Ruizong / 235
VI. The Relationship Between Ritual and Politics / 253
Summary / 273

Chapter 4: The Political Culture of the Jiajing Reign Viewed Through the Great Rites Controversy / 277
I. The Political Ecology of the Early Ming Period / 279
II. Between Public and Private: The Meaning of Status / 295
III. The Difficulty of Being Chief Minister: From Yang Tinghe to Yan Song / 312
IV. Following the Way Rather than the Ruler: The Moral Crisis of Officials / 364
Summary / 380

Conclusion / 384
Appendix I: Genealogical Table of Ming Emperors / 392
Appendix II: Chronology of the Great Rites Controversy / 396
Bibliography / 476