Why should we care about a guy named Chongzhen? Who lived some 400 years ago in China.
Well. Here is his story.
Chongzhen was the 16th and final emperor of the Ming dynasty in China. This little dude ruled from 1627 until his death in 1644.
But here is the thing. His reign saw the collapse of the Ming dynasty. So what, you say? Well, the Ming dynasty had ruled China for nearly three centuries. And do you know what else? Without the Ming dynasty, rich people would not have their Ming vases to throw around in movies.
Anyway. Chongzhen inherited a kingdom in severe economic crisis. All sorts of things were wrong. The kingdom he inherited was plagued by political corruption, internal strife, and relentless peasant uprisings.
He tried to make things better. But. Despite his efforts to implement reforms and curb corruption, Chongzhen struggled to stabilize his empire due to ongoing fiscal problems. Also, there were corrupt people around him. His good measures saw resistance from vested interests within the court.
At the same time, the empire faced external threats. I won’t go into all the details, but there were many invasions by outside parties. There was also a widespread rebellion within China. All of this overwhelmed Chongzhen’s already strained government.
In 1644, as rebel forces approached Beijing, Chongzhen’s situation became desperate.
Historians depict his last days as particularly tragic.
I mean, he was surrounded by corruption and invasions.
So. In despair, he reportedly killed his daughters, and his wife / empress hanged herself. Chongzhen ultimately committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in the imperial garden, marking the end of the Ming dynasty.
Born: February 6, 1611
Died: April 25, 1644 (aged 33)
And that was Chongzhen.
So why do I care?
It reminds me how fortunate I am to be me, living in a place and time where I am just Polly Kronenberger. Some people are born into frightful situations, and because of that, they are pushed to do desperate things.
These people are all around us in society. They may not be emperors, but everyday “Joes” just trying to survive their lives. Each of them facing dire challenges in their own lives. And we should never forget them.
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“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.” – George Eliot
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“Sorrow is one of the vibrations that prove the fact of living.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson
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Chongzhen. He killed his family and himself. It’s more than you think.
