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{{Era|Embers}}
{{Era|Individuals}}{{WP-REAL|Jiajing Emperor}}
{{WP-REAL|Jiajing Emperor}}
{{Character Infobox
{{Spoilerhd}}
|image = ACC China DB The Jiajing Emperor.png
{{Stub}}
|birth = 16 September 1507<br>{{Wiki|Hubei}}, [[Ming dynasty|Great Ming]]
The '''Jiajing Emperor''' (16 September 1507 – 23 January 1567) was the 11th [[wikipedia:Ming Dynasty|Ming Dynasty]] [[wikipedia:Emperor of China|Emperor]] of [[China]] who ruled from 1521 to 1567. His ascendance as Emperor was aided by the [[Templars]].<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref>
|death = 23 January 1567 {{c|aged 59}}<br>[[Beijing|Peking]], Great Ming
|species = [[Human]]
|database = [[Database: The Jiajing Emperor|The Jiajing Emperor]]
|affiliates = [[Ming dynasty]]<br>[[Templars]]
*[[Shanghai Rite of the Templar Order|Chinese Rite]]
}}
'''Zhu Houcong''' (朱厚熜; 1507 – 1567), the '''Jiajing Emperor''' (嘉靖帝), was the 11th [[Ming dynasty]] {{Wiki|Emperor of China|Emperor}} of [[China]] who ruled from 1521 until his death in 1567. His ascendance as emperor was aided by the [[Shanghai Rite of the Templar Order|Chinese Rite]] of the [[Templars|Templar Order]].<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref>


In 1524, tired of the [[Chinese Assassins]]' meddling, he hunted the Assassins down, aiming to destroy all who opposed him. Nearly all Chinese Assassins were killed, with the few survivors fleeing West to seek support from other Assassins.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/>
==Biography==
===Early reign===
Zhu Houcong, a cousin of the [[Zhu Houzhao|Zhengde Emperor]], was made the new emperor through the influence of [[Zhang Yong]] and the [[Eight Tigers]], a group of powerful Templar [[eunuch]]s. His disdain for an emperor's duties was perfect for the Tigers, as they would rule in his stead, making important decisions while he spent his time in [[brothel]]s and private palaces.<ref name="Database">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[Database: The Jiajing Emperor]]</ref>


Jiajing sent men after them, following the Assassins as far as [[Italy]]. In [[Venice]], they killed the mentor of a female Assassin named [[Shao Jun]], who managed to escape them. They followed her to [[Florence]], where she sought aid from the former [[Mentor|leader]] of the [[Italian Assassins]], [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]]. Shao explained to Ezio that both her and her (late) mentor wished to meet him in order to learn how to strengthen the Assassin Order in China and recruit new Assassins. At first he refused, stating that his time with the Assassin Order was over, but he later gave in and explained how to keep alive the hopes of men by fighting for the people and liberty. Jiajing's men tracked the two to a marketplace in Florence while Ezio ran errands, and one of the men confronted them in an alley. Shao fought and killed him, and both her and Ezio quickly fled, knowing more of Jiajing's men would most likely follow. On the carriage ride back to Ezio's home, Shao told him about Jiajing's cruel ways. She explained that Jiajing liked inflicting pain on his enemies with torturous deaths. Explaining that she had been a concubine before her mentor had saved her, when they returned to save the other concubines Jiajing had killed them all. He prefered [[wikipedia:Slow slicing|líng chí]] – a slow process of a thousand cuts until death – to simple beheadings.<ref name="ACE">''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''</ref>
In 1524, tired of the [[Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins|Chinese Assassins]]' meddling, the Eight Tigers triggered the [[Great Rites Controversy]], which led to the Jiajing Emperor hunting down many officials to destroy all who opposed him. As a byproduct of this, the entire Chinese Assassin branch was almost eradicated.<ref name="Encyclopedia" />


Later that night the rest of Jiajing's men faced both Ezio and Jun at Ezio's house. Most of the men employed Chinese sword-fighting techniques (as the first man that Shao killed had), but one of them instead used a Chinese hand cannon. Though they fought well, the men were all killed by the two Assassins. The next day Shao departed for China, but not before recieving a mysterious gift from Ezio – a tiny chest, which he told her to only open if she loses her way.<ref name="ACE">''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''</ref>
At one point during the Great Rites Controversy, the [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Shao Jun]] and her [[Mentor]] [[Zhu Jiuyuan]] infiltrated the [[Forbidden City]] to rescue the Jiajing Emperor's [[concubine]]s. Aware of the Emperor's cruelty and being a former concubine herself, Shao Jun hoped to save the women from the grim fate that awaited them, but she arrived too late, as most had already been tortured and killed via ''[[lingchi]]''.<ref name="Embers">''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''</ref>


==Notes==
To her relief, Shao Jun discovered that her childhood best friend [[Zhang Qijie]] had been spared and tried to convince her to escape the Forbidden City with her. However, Qijie declined the offer, as she was fortunate enough to please the Emperor and was now the Imperial Consort, the highest rank among concubines behind the Empress.<ref name="Scroll 11">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[Database: Scroll 11 (China)|Scroll 11]]</ref>
*A [[Cryptic Messages|message]] that [[Clay Kaczmarek]] wrote on [[Desmond Miles]]' wall stated that ''"Within Emperor Jiajing's sin and Quetzcoalt's hunger lies the answers."''
 
When Shao Jun and Zhu Jiuyuan left China and traveled to [[Italy]] to seek help from the [[Italian Brotherhood of Assassins|local Assassins]] in rebuilding their Brotherhood, the Jiajing Emperor sent men in pursuit of them. In [[Venice]], his agents ambushed and killed Jiuyuan,<ref name="Scroll 14">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[Database: Scroll 14 (China)|Scroll 14]]</ref> but Shao Jun managed to escape and soon met the Italian Assassins' retired Mentor [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]], who trained her and helped her fend off the Emperor's agents who had followed her, both in [[Florence]] and at his villa in [[Tuscany]].<ref name="Embers" />
 
Following Shao Jun's return to China in 1526, she embarked on a quest to hunt down the Eight Tigers and rebuild the Chinese Brotherhood.<ref name="The Escape">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[The Escape (China)|The Escape]]</ref> She was eventually successful in 1532, depriving the Jiajing Emperor of his Templar supporters.<ref name="Vengeance">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' – [[Vengeance]]</ref>
 
===Later life and death===
From 1542 to 1550, the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] leader [[Altan Khan]] and his forces harassed China's borders. The Jiajing Emperor ended the conflict by offering him special trading rights. After the conflict ended, the Emperor expanded [[Beijing|Peking]] by building the Outer City.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''</ref>
 
Near the end of his life, the Jiajing Emperor developed an interest in alchemy and immortality drugs. In 1567, the Chinese Assassins, playing on his desire to find the [[elixir of life]], presented him with what they claimed to be the miraculous concoction. The Emperor foolishly believed them and ingested the gift, which was actually concentrated [[Quicksilver|mercury]], and promptly succumbed to mercury [[poison]]ing.<ref name="Vengeance" />
 
===Legacy===
In 2012, a [[Cryptic Messages|message]] that [[Clay Kaczmarek]] wrote in blood prior to his suicide on the wall of [[Desmond Miles]]' cell at the [[Animus Project laboratory]] in [[Rome]] stated that ''"Within Emperor Jiajing's sin and {{Wiki|Quetzalcōātl|Quetzalcoatl}}'s hunger lies the answers."''<ref name="AC1">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[21st century conversations|Modern day]]</ref>
 
==Behind the scenes==
The Jiajing Emperor's birth name is Zhū Hòucōng (朱厚熜). His family name, Zhū (朱), refers to the color {{Wiki|vermilion}}. Hòucōng (厚熜) is his personal name. The former component Hòu (厚) literally means 'thick' though in the context of a name can mean 'profound' and 'substantial'. Cōng (熜) is an archaic word for 'chimney' and thus taken together, his name literally means 'thick chimney' though it is likely to have a figurative meaning.
 
Jiājìng (嘉靖) is Zhū Hòucōng's era name. Historically, Chinese emperors were given posthumous names, {{Wiki|temple name}}s, and {{Wiki|Chinese era name|era names}}. The former two were given only after death, and while living, the emperor would only be known as 'the Emperor' or 'his imperial majesty' to all but his close friends and relatives. In English, it is conventional to refer to early Chinese monarchs by their posthumous names. However, after the Tang dynasty, posthumous names became increasingly long and tedious to read and write, spanning at least seven characters. From the Tang up until the Mongol Yuan dynasty, emperors are conventionally referred to by their temple names, whereas the emperors of the last two dynasties, the Ming and Qing, are commonly referred to by their era names. Emperors of dynasties before the Ming tended to have multiple era names, which made it impractical to adopt their era names to identify them posthumously, but starting from the Ming, emperors began to adopt one era name per reign.
 
As Zhū Hòucōng's era name, Jiājìng is not one of his actual names, but the name of his regnal years. Thus, it is incorrect to call him "Emperor Jiajing" or even "Jiajing" rather than "the Jiajing Emperor" (i.e. "Emperor of the Jiajing era"). This mistake is repeated several times in ''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''{{'}}s [[database]] entries and documents. In the era name Jiājìng (嘉靖), the first component jiā (嘉靖) means 'excellent, auspicious, favorable' while jìng (靖) describes an environment that is calm, quiet, and peaceful. Era names were chosen to reflect what the emperor's court desired of his reign upon his ascendance but did not necessarily reflect its actual course.
 
==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" widths="180">
AC Blade of Shao Jun - Jiajing Emperor.png|The Jiajing Emperor in ''Blade of Shao Jun''
</gallery>
 
==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' {{1stm}}
*[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' novel]] {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]'' {{Mdat}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: The Ming Storm]]'' {{c|non-canon}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Characters]]
{{Templars nav}}
[[Category:Templar Allies]]
{{ACC}}
[[Category:Historical Characters]]
{{ACBoSJ}}
{{ACMS}}
[[Category:1507 births]]
[[Category:1567 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Ming people]]
[[Category:Han Chinese]]
[[Category:Emperors of China]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty]]
[[Category:Templar puppets]]
[[Category:Zhu (朱) lineage]]
 
<!--[de:Kaiser Jiajing]
[es:Jiajing]
[fr:Jiajing]
[it:Jiajing]
[pl:Zhu Houcong]
[zh:朱厚熜]-->

Latest revision as of 17:12, 23 May 2026

Zhu Houcong (朱厚熜; 1507 – 1567), the Jiajing Emperor (嘉靖帝), was the 11th Ming dynasty Emperor of China who ruled from 1521 until his death in 1567. His ascendance as emperor was aided by the Chinese Rite of the Templar Order.[1]

Biography[edit | edit source]

Early reign[edit | edit source]

Zhu Houcong, a cousin of the Zhengde Emperor, was made the new emperor through the influence of Zhang Yong and the Eight Tigers, a group of powerful Templar eunuchs. His disdain for an emperor's duties was perfect for the Tigers, as they would rule in his stead, making important decisions while he spent his time in brothels and private palaces.[2]

In 1524, tired of the Chinese Assassins' meddling, the Eight Tigers triggered the Great Rites Controversy, which led to the Jiajing Emperor hunting down many officials to destroy all who opposed him. As a byproduct of this, the entire Chinese Assassin branch was almost eradicated.[1]

At one point during the Great Rites Controversy, the Assassin Shao Jun and her Mentor Zhu Jiuyuan infiltrated the Forbidden City to rescue the Jiajing Emperor's concubines. Aware of the Emperor's cruelty and being a former concubine herself, Shao Jun hoped to save the women from the grim fate that awaited them, but she arrived too late, as most had already been tortured and killed via lingchi.[3]

To her relief, Shao Jun discovered that her childhood best friend Zhang Qijie had been spared and tried to convince her to escape the Forbidden City with her. However, Qijie declined the offer, as she was fortunate enough to please the Emperor and was now the Imperial Consort, the highest rank among concubines behind the Empress.[4]

When Shao Jun and Zhu Jiuyuan left China and traveled to Italy to seek help from the local Assassins in rebuilding their Brotherhood, the Jiajing Emperor sent men in pursuit of them. In Venice, his agents ambushed and killed Jiuyuan,[5] but Shao Jun managed to escape and soon met the Italian Assassins' retired Mentor Ezio Auditore, who trained her and helped her fend off the Emperor's agents who had followed her, both in Florence and at his villa in Tuscany.[3]

Following Shao Jun's return to China in 1526, she embarked on a quest to hunt down the Eight Tigers and rebuild the Chinese Brotherhood.[6] She was eventually successful in 1532, depriving the Jiajing Emperor of his Templar supporters.[7]

Later life and death[edit | edit source]

From 1542 to 1550, the Mongol leader Altan Khan and his forces harassed China's borders. The Jiajing Emperor ended the conflict by offering him special trading rights. After the conflict ended, the Emperor expanded Peking by building the Outer City.[8]

Near the end of his life, the Jiajing Emperor developed an interest in alchemy and immortality drugs. In 1567, the Chinese Assassins, playing on his desire to find the elixir of life, presented him with what they claimed to be the miraculous concoction. The Emperor foolishly believed them and ingested the gift, which was actually concentrated mercury, and promptly succumbed to mercury poisoning.[7]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

In 2012, a message that Clay Kaczmarek wrote in blood prior to his suicide on the wall of Desmond Miles' cell at the Animus Project laboratory in Rome stated that "Within Emperor Jiajing's sin and Quetzalcoatl's hunger lies the answers."[9]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

The Jiajing Emperor's birth name is Zhū Hòucōng (朱厚熜). His family name, Zhū (朱), refers to the color vermilion. Hòucōng (厚熜) is his personal name. The former component Hòu (厚) literally means 'thick' though in the context of a name can mean 'profound' and 'substantial'. Cōng (熜) is an archaic word for 'chimney' and thus taken together, his name literally means 'thick chimney' though it is likely to have a figurative meaning.

Jiājìng (嘉靖) is Zhū Hòucōng's era name. Historically, Chinese emperors were given posthumous names, temple names, and era names. The former two were given only after death, and while living, the emperor would only be known as 'the Emperor' or 'his imperial majesty' to all but his close friends and relatives. In English, it is conventional to refer to early Chinese monarchs by their posthumous names. However, after the Tang dynasty, posthumous names became increasingly long and tedious to read and write, spanning at least seven characters. From the Tang up until the Mongol Yuan dynasty, emperors are conventionally referred to by their temple names, whereas the emperors of the last two dynasties, the Ming and Qing, are commonly referred to by their era names. Emperors of dynasties before the Ming tended to have multiple era names, which made it impractical to adopt their era names to identify them posthumously, but starting from the Ming, emperors began to adopt one era name per reign.

As Zhū Hòucōng's era name, Jiājìng is not one of his actual names, but the name of his regnal years. Thus, it is incorrect to call him "Emperor Jiajing" or even "Jiajing" rather than "the Jiajing Emperor" (i.e. "Emperor of the Jiajing era"). This mistake is repeated several times in Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China's database entries and documents. In the era name Jiājìng (嘉靖), the first component jiā (嘉靖) means 'excellent, auspicious, favorable' while jìng (靖) describes an environment that is calm, quiet, and peaceful. Era names were chosen to reflect what the emperor's court desired of his reign upon his ascendance but did not necessarily reflect its actual course.

Gallery[edit | edit source]

  • The Jiajing Emperor in Blade of Shao Jun
    The Jiajing Emperor in Blade of Shao Jun

Appearances[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: The Jiajing Emperor
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: Embers
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 11
  5. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 14
  6. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – The Escape
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Vengeance
  8. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
  9. ↑ Assassin's Creed – Modern day

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