Gegeen Khan
| Emperor Yingzong of Yuan 元英宗 Gegeen Khan 格堅汗 ᠭᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ | |
|---|---|
| 9th Khunggirat |
Gegeen Khan (
Early in his short reign, the
Peaceful succession
Prince Shidibala was the eldest son of
Shidibala's powerful grandmother Dagi installed Shidibala as Crown Prince in 1316, and then as Khan, since he was mothered by a Khunggirad khatun. He was made the nominal head of both the Secretariat and the Bureau of Military Affairs one year later.[2] At one time, his father Ayurbarwada had even toyed with the idea of abdicating the throne in favor of Shidebala.[3] Dagi's protégé Temuder was made as tutor to the heir apparent, Shidibala, after he failed to increase tax revenue.
Between Ayurbarwada's death in March 1320 and his own death in October 1322, Temüder attained a great power with the full support of Dagi. Immediately after her grandson's succession, Dagi reinstated Temüder as Minister of the Secretariat and took politics into her own hands more openly than during Ayurbarwada's reign.
Puppet regime
As Gegeen Khan, Prince Shidibala succeeded his father on April 19, 1320. Empress Targi (Dagi) reappointed Temuder senior grand councillor. While Temuder's persecution of his opponents in the censorate alienated the new Emperor, Temuder remained in power until his death, which came only two years later.[4]
The return to power of Temudar was signalised by fresh excesses, and by the execution of several of those whom he suspected of having been the cause of his late trial. At length the young prince began to feel the leading strings of the
From the beginning of his reign, Shidebala showed a political independence and resolution beyond his years. In a masterly move to counter the influence of the Grand Empress Dowager and Temüder, Gegeen appointed the 21-year-old Baiju, a
Gegeen Khan, the young emperor, however, did not sit with folded hands. The throne soon became the focus of loyalty for the
Besides
The growing influence of Baiju greatly disgusted Temuder. Baiju went to Liau Tung to put up a monument to his ancestors. Temudar thought this a favourable opportunity of regaining his influence at the Yuan court, and presented himself at the palace, but was refused admittance, and died shortly after that. The Empress, Dagi (Targi), died about the same time in 1322–23.[8]
He continued his father's policy, ordering the abolition of government offices made during
Self-assertion
In 1322, the deaths of Dagi and Temüder enabled him to seize full power. He was able to dismantle the Khunggirad faction from the Gegeen-led new administration. The severe suppression of the powerful faction including the deprivation of Temüder's titles and estates, the execution of his son drove it into the corner. On the other hand, he appointed Baiju as the grand councillor of the right. As the sole grand councillor throughout the rest of Gegeen's reign, Baiju became a powerful ally of Gegeen. They eliminated many offices subordinate to the personal establishments of the Empress Dowager.[10] The increasing influence of Neo-Confucianism saw greater limits placed on Mongol women who were allowed to move about more freely in public.[11]
Soon after becoming his own master and with the help of Baiju, Gegeen Khan began to reform the government based on the Confucian principles, continued his father Ayurbarwada's policies for active promoting Chinese cultures. He and Baiju recruited for the government a great number of Chinese scholar-officials, many of whom had resigned when Temüder was in power. Heading of this list, Zhang Gui, a veteran administrator, was reappointed manager of governmental affairs and became Baiju's chief partner in carrying out reforms. Apart from the three elderly scholars appointed as councilors to the Secretariat, seven famous scholars were appointed to the Hanlin Academy. It was approximately at this same time that the Da Yuan Tong Zhi (大元通制, "the comprehensive institutions of the Great Yuan"), a huge collection of codes and regulations of the Yuan dynasty began by his father, was revised in order to rationalize the administration and facilitate the dispensation of justice.
Furthermore, to relieve the labour burdens of small landowners, Gegeen's administration stipulated that
Death
Regardless of the merits of Shidibala's reign, it came to a tragic end on September 4, 1323, known as the "Coup d'état at Nanpo".[13] A plot was formed among Temuder's supporters, who were afraid of vengeance overtaking them. It was headed by Temüder's adopted son Tegshi. Besides the high-ranking officials, five princes were involved: Altan Bukha, the younger brother of the former prince of An-si, Ananda, who was executed by Ayurbarwada's faction; and Bolad, a grandson of Ariq Böke; Yerutömör, a son of Ananda; Kulud Bukha; and Ulus Bukha, a descendant of Möngke Khan.[14]
When Gegeen stayed at Nanpo on his way from the summer palace
Gegeen's reign was short; his direct rule lasted only for a year after Dagi's death. But he was glorified in Chinese records since he and his father, aided by their sinicized Mongolian ministers and Chinese scholar-officials, had made vigorous efforts to transform further the Yuan along traditional Confucian lines. From that point of view, Gegeen's assassination was sometimes explained as the struggle between the pro-Confucian faction and the opposite steppe elite faction, for Yesün Temür Khan had ruled Mongolia before succession and his policies appeared relatively unfavorable for Chinese officials.
His marriage to Sugabala, produced no children to succeed him.
See also
- List of emperors of the Yuan dynasty
- List of Mongol rulers
- List of rulers of China
References
- ^ Yuan shi, 31. p. 639.
- ^ Herbert Franke, Denis Twitchett, John King Fairbank The Cambridge History of China: Alien regimes and border states, 907–1368, p. 527.
- ^ Wei su-Wei tai-pu wen hsu chi, Yuan jen wen chi chen peng tsung khan. pp. 17b–18a.
- ^ C. P. Atwood Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, p. 532.
- ^ Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger The History of China, p. 383.
- ^ Mongolia Society Occasional Papers, p. 58.
- ^ Denis Twitchett, Herbert Franke, John K. Fairbank, in The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p530-532.
- ^ Yuan Chen, Hsing-hai Chʻien, Luther Carrington Goodrich Western and central Asians in China under the Mongols, p. 113.
- ISSN 1479-5914.
- ^ Yuan shi, 26. pp.625
- ^ Peggy Martin AP World History, p. 133.
- ^ Huang Chin-Chin-hua Huang hsien sheng wen chi, p. 9b.
- ^ Henry Hoyle Howorth, Ernest George Ravenstein History of the Mongols: From the 9th to the 19th Century, p. 382.
- ^ Yuan shi, 114. p. 2876.