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Zhang Cong (Ming dynasty)

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Zhang Cong
張璁
Senior Grand Secretary
In office
1529–1531
MonarchJiajing
Preceded byYang Yiqing
Succeeded byZhai Luan
In office
1531–1532
MonarchJiajing
Preceded byZhai Luan
Succeeded byFang Xianfu
In office
1533–1535
MonarchJiajing
Preceded byFang Xianfu
Succeeded byLi Shi
Grand Secretary
In office
1527–1531, 1531–1532, 1533–1535
MonarchJiajing
Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy
In office
1524–1527
Serving with Gui E
MonarchJiajing
Personal details
Born1475
Zhejiang
Died1539 (aged 63–64)
Educationjinshi degree (1521)
Courtesy nameBingyong[a], later Maogong[b]
Art nameLuofeng[c]
Posthumous nameWenzhong[d]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張璁
Simplified Chinese张璁
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Cōng

Zhang Cong (1475–1539), courtesy name Bingyong, art name Luofeng, was a Chinese scholar-official during the Ming dynasty. In the early years of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, he supported him in the Great Rites Controversy, which led to a highly successful career. From 1527 to 1535, with some interruptions, he served as grand secretary, and in 1529 he became the head of the Grand Secretariat.

In 1531, he requested the Jiajing Emperor to change his name to Zhang Fujing,[e] as it coincided with the emperor's personal name, Houcong.[1] He also changed his courtesy name to Maogong.

Biography

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Early life

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Zhang Cong was born into a family of salt producers in Yongjia County, Wenzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. His family also owned a 30 mu (1.7 ha) farm. His father, Zhang Sheng (1427–1509), had four sons, with Zhang Cong being the youngest.[2] In pursuit of his goal to become an official, Zhang Cong studied Confucianism and received financial support from wealthier relatives. He successfully passed the provincial civil service examination in 1498 at the age of twenty-three, but faced seven failures in the metropolitan examination between 1499 and 1517, despite studying at the Imperial University. It was not until he was forty-six years old, in 1521, that he finally passed the metropolitan and palace examinations.[3] Following his success, he was assigned as an observer trainee in the Court of Judicature and Revision.[4]

Great Rites Controversy and political rise

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In the spring of 1521, the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne. A dispute quickly arose between the emperor and officials led by the Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe over the status of the emperor's parents and his adoption, known as the Great Rites Controversy. On 2 August 1521, Zhang Cong wrote his first statement on the dispute, titled "Questions and Answers on the Great Rites" (Dali huowen).[4] As the first official to do so,[5] Zhang argued in support of the emperor's position and against the prevailing opinion.[4] However, when the emperor presented Zhang's statement to Yang Tinghe, he rejected it, stating "What would a student know about affairs of state".[6] The censors then accused Zhang of "deflected and disordered the ruler's mind", but the emperor refused to punish him.[7] Zhang attempted to persuade Yang Tinghe to change his mind but was unsuccessful. On 30 October, he submitted another memorandum, which he managed to deliver to the emperor, but Yang Tinghe arranged for Zhang to be transferred to the position of bureau secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of Justice.[8]

Officials who were willing to support the emperor against the unified position of the grand secretaries and ministers were slow to come forward. By early 1524, only five officials had openly supported the emperor, and all of them were based outside the capital.[8] The emperor summoned them to Beijing, and Zhang Cong traveled with Gui E, a colleague from the Nanjing Ministry of Justice who had actively opposed the majority opinion in the controversy. When they arrived in Beijing in late June 1524, their views were met with vociferous disapproval from hundreds of officials.[9] Despite this, the emperor appointed them as chancellors of the Hanlin Academy. This decision sparked a new round of protests from academics and censors, who argued that careerists should not be given high positions.[10] Zhang faced insults and humiliation at the academy, and academics refused to work with him.[11] The emperor stood by his decision, declaring that both Zhang and Gui were loyal, honest, and qualified. In response, over seventy supervising secretaries and censors demanded that they be executed for misleading the emperor.[10] Many academics resigned in protest, and the dispute reached its peak when hundreds of officials staged a public demonstration outside the Zuoshun Gate in the Forbidden City in August 1524. The Jiajing Emperor remained unwavering and harshly punished the participants.[12]

The emperor aimed to clarify and defend his stance, thus he tasked Zhang Cong with compiling the Minglun dadian (Great Canon for Clarifying Human Relations), which contained various arguments in support of the emperor's position. This collection was finalized and released in June 1528.[13]

Grand Secretary

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Although Zhang Cong lacked experience in administration, he possessed qualities that made him a valuable asset to the Jiajing Emperor. He was direct, austere, and erudite, which allowed him to form a strong bond with the emperor.[14] In recognition of his loyalty, he was appointed as grand secretary in September 1527.[11] This elevated him to one of the emperor's most trusted advisors. In his new role, he initiated a purge of former supporters of Yang Tinghe. This also affected the Hanlin Academy, resulting in some academicians being relocated to other regions and replaced by officials who had no previous ties to the academy. The selection process for academicians was also altered, removing the power from its leadership.[11] Following further power struggles within the Grand Secretariat in 1529, Zhang Cong was promoted to senior grand secretary.[15][16]

In the late 1520s and early 1530s, China experienced relative calm domestically and did not face any major border issues. This allowed the emperor to focus on implementing comprehensive reforms to address the legacy of militarism, wantonness, and corruption left by the Zhengde Emperor. The reforms were centered around the principles of fugu, a "restoration of antiquity", and zhongxing, a "midcourse revival".[17] The main goal of these reforms was to improve and organize state ceremonies in order to showcase China as a model for other countries and to maintain order and superiority over non-Chinese nations. Zhang Cong played a significant role in assisting the emperor with these reforms.[18] In 1531, Zhang refused to support the emperor's further reform plans, leading the emperor to transfer his favor to the new grand secretary, Xia Yan. Zhang, however, remained in office (with breaks) until 1535 when he resigned due to poor health.[19] He died four years later in 1539.

Notes

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  1. ^ Chinese: 秉用; pinyin: Bǐngyòng
  2. ^ Chinese: 茂恭; pinyin: Màogōng
  3. ^ simplified Chinese: 罗峰; traditional Chinese: 羅峰; pinyin: Luófēng
  4. ^ Chinese: 文忠; pinyin: Wénzhōng
  5. ^ simplified Chinese: 张孚敬; traditional Chinese: 張孚敬; pinyin: Zhāng Fújìng

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 33.
  2. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 12.
  3. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 13.
  4. ^ a b c Dardess (2016), p. 14.
  5. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 11.
  6. ^ Geiss (1998), p. 446.
  7. ^ Dardess (2016), pp. 14–15.
  8. ^ a b Dardess (2016), p. 15.
  9. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 20.
  10. ^ a b Dardess (2016), p. 21.
  11. ^ a b c Geiss (1998), p. 455.
  12. ^ Dardess (2016), pp. 23–26.
  13. ^ Dardess (2016), pp. 27–28.
  14. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 42.
  15. ^ Geiss (1998), p. 456.
  16. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 35.
  17. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 36.
  18. ^ Dardess (2016), p. 3.
  19. ^ Geiss (1998), p. 457.

Works cited

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  • Dardess, John W (2016). Four Seasons: A Ming Emperor and His Grand Secretaries in Sixteenth-Century China. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442265608.
  • Geiss, James (1998). "The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566". In Mote, Frederick W.; Twitchett, Denis C (eds.). The Cambridge History of China. Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644, Part 1 (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 440–510. ISBN 0521243335.
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