Zhu Yuyue

Prince of Tang (Shaowu)
Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty
Reign	December 1646 – January 1647 Reason for succession failure: Ming Dynasty replaced by Qing Dynasty in 1645
Predecessor	Longwu Emperor
Successor	Yongli Emperor
Emperor of China
Reign	December 1646 – January 1647 Reason for succession failure: Qing Dynasty asserted effective control over China in 1645
Predecessor	Longwu Emperor
Successor	Yongli Emperor
Born	?
Died	1647
Full name Family name: Zhu (朱) Given name: Yuyue (聿𨮁[1]) Era name and dates Shaowu (紹武): December 1646 – January 1647 Posthumous name 贞天应道昭崇德毅宁文宏武达仁闵孝节皇帝 Temple name Ming Wenzong 明文宗
House	Southern Ming Dynasty
Father	Zhu Qisheng

Zhu Yuyue (Chinese: 朱聿𨮁; pinyin: Zhū Yùyuè;^[1] died 1647), the Prince of Tang (唐王) reigned as the Shaowu Emperor (紹武) of the Southern Ming dynasty from 1646-1647.

Life

He was a descendant of the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Before ascending to the throne he followed his father as the Prince of Tang and elder brother, the future Longwu Emperor, their fief being situated in Nanyang prefecture, in Henan province. In 1646 he succeeded the title of Prince of Tang after the accession of the Longwu Emperor.

When Qing forces captured Fuzhou in early October 1646 and killed the Longwu Emperor, he fled to Guangzhou. That December, at the behest of several high officials, he ascended to the Ming throne in Guangzhou, taking the reign title Shaowu (紹武; pinyin: Shàowǔ), just a few days before the Prince of Gui became the Yongli Emperor.

Both regimes claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Ming Dynasty, and war broke out shortly afterwards. Initially, forces of the Shaowu regime enjoyed victory over the Yongli forces. This ultimately led to the overconfidence of the Shaowu Emperor. Corruption and lack of defense doomed the government. Just 40 days after the establishment of the Shaowu regime, Qing forces successfully invaded Guangzhou. The Shaowu Emperor was captured in January 1647 and immediately committed suicide.

The remains of the Shaowu Emperor and his officials are buried in Yuexiu Park, Guangzhou.

References

1. The rare character 𨮁 cannot be seen with many browsers' fonts. It looks like the combination [金粵] (see U+028B81 in Unihan database) and is pronounced "yuè" according to dictionaries such as zdic.net. Many online sources substitute for the rare character 𨮁 the more common character 鐭, which has a different element on the right. The name is transcribed as Zhu Yuyue e.g. in Frederic E Wakeman, Jr., 'The Great Enterprise'.

• This article is based on a translation from the Chinese Wikipedia.