Palace plot of Renyin year


The Renyin Plot, also known as the Palace Women's Uprising, was a Ming dynasty plot against the Jiajing Emperor, where 16 palace women attempted to murder the emperor. It occurred in 1542, the 21st year of the reign of the Jiajing Emperor and the renyin year of the sexagenary cycle, hence its name.

Causes

The Jiajing Emperor has been called the “Daoist emperor”, due to his adherence to Daoist belief, particularly that of divination and alchemy. One of the alchemical concoctions he took to prolong his life was red lead, a substance made from the menstrual blood of female virgins. Palace women ages 13–14 were kept for this purpose, and were fed only mulberry leaves and rainwater. Any girls who developed illnesses were thrown out and they could be beaten for the slightest offence. It has been suggested that this cruel treatment has led to the mutiny.
Another version of the story is that the Jiajing emperor had many banana plants growing in the garden that would catch the morning dew. The water from the banana leaves would taste sweet and refreshing. The Jiajing Emperor would drink the water believing it would promote longevity. The young girls in the palace would have to go into the garden every morning to collect the dew. Many girls would catch a chill and fall ill.
Sometimes older women would also be sent to collect the dew as punishment. One time the emperor was given a 'longevity turtle' dyed in 5 different colours and ordered his lower-ranking concubines to care for the animal. However the dyed turtle soon died and the emperor was so furious that he ordered his concubines to collect the morning dew. Around the same time Imperial Concubine Wang Ning was spreading rumours that the emperor had lost the favour of Heaven because he had been enchanted by his favourite concubine, Consort Duan. Consort Duan was actually a fox spirit and her smell on the emperor offended Heaven, so the rumour went. When the emperor found out he also ordered Imperial Concubine Wang Ning to collect the dew. There Imperial Concubine Wang Ning met the other concubines and hatched a plan. If the emperor were to be found dead in Consort Duan's quarters, everyone would forget about the incident of the turtle that died and the Imperial Concubine Wang Ning would also be vindicated for saying that due to Consort Duan, the emperor had lost the favour of Heaven.

Events

In 1542, the emperor was staying in Consort Duan's quarters. A group of palace women pretended to wait on him, tied a rope around his neck and attempted to strangle him. They failed to do so and, in the meantime, one of them got cold feet and went to alert Empress Fang. The empress hurried over and the palace eunuchs revived the emperor. The palace women were all arrested.

Participants

The role of each individual in the attempt on the emperor's life was judged and recorded as below:
After the attack, the Jiajing Emperor was unconscious for several days, so Empress Fang set the punishment for the palace women. She ordered all of them, including Zhang Jinlian, who had informed her of the attack, to death by slow slicing. Although Consort Duan had not been present, the empress decided that she had been involved with the plot and sentenced her to death too. The bodies of the palace women, Imperial Concubine Ning, and Consort Duan were then displayed. 10 members of the women's families were also beheaded, while a further 20 were enslaved and gifted to ministers.

Consequences

Although the Jiajing Emperor had been incapacitated at the time, he resented Empress Fang for having killed his favourite concubine, Consort Duan. He later determined Consort Duan had been innocent and suspected the Empress of using the situation to rid herself of a hated rival.In 1547, when a fire destroyed parts of the palace, the emperor refused to have Empress Fang rescued and she burned to death. The emperor claimed that this was the will of heaven.
After the uprising, the Jiajing Emperor did not stop creating red lead. Instead, he ordered restrictions on girls entering the palace to be tightened. In 1547, 300 girls between the ages of 11 and 14 were selected as new palace women. In 1552, a further 200 girls were selected to serve in the palace, but the lower age limit was reduced to eight years old. Three years later, in 1555, 150 girls below the age of eight were taken into the palace to be used for making the emperor’s medicine.

Works cited