Hongxi Emperor
emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1424 to 1425
The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), personal name Zhu Gaochi, was the fourth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1424 to 1425. He was the eldest son of the Yongle Emperor and ascended the throne after the death of his father, but his reign lasted less than a year.
As a prince, the Hongxi Emperor received a traditional Confucian education and was noted for his literary abilities. He served as regent in either Nanjing or Beijing during the Yongle Emperor's campaigns in Mongolia. After ascending the throne, he discontinued Zheng He's treasure voyages and halted the trade of tea for horses with Asian nations. He pardoned officials who had been disgraced by the previous regime and restructured the government, appointing his trusted advisors to key positions. He also strengthened the authority of the Grand Secretariat, the highest governing body. He abandoned his father's unpopular militaristic policies, reformed the financial and tax system, and encouraged the return of displaced peasants, particularly in the lower regions of the Yangtze River. His efforts to promote Confucian ideals influenced the style of governance for the next century.
The Hongxi Emperor decided to relocate the capital back to Nanjing, but died in May 1425, reportedly from a heart attack.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hongxi Emperor” as emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1424 to 1425. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1424 to 1425. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9972. VIAF identifies the subject as 2263171935876916040001. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1378, 1425 and 1424.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hongxi Emperor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.