On August 17, 42, Jiajing, a series of crisp cries came from inside the Palace of The Yu Palace in Beijing, and a new life fell to the ground, this person was the future Wanli Emperor! However, at this time, the identity of the Wanli Emperor was very embarrassing, because his father was never made crown prince, but only the prince of Yu. Seeing that his son was born, Yu Wang was very happy, but he did not name the child, resulting in the Wanli Emperor not having a name for four or five years!
It was not until the eighteenth day of the first month of the first year of Longqing that Emperor Mingmuzong, who had already become emperor, decreed that the Wanli Emperor should be given the name, that is, Zhu Yijun. According to the ancestral system determined by Zhu Yuanzhang, "having children and grandchildren, that is, the above news, Fu Zongrenfu", all children born in the Ming Dynasty clan must report to the zongren mansion of the imperial court at the first time, but when asking for a name, even the local yuanzhi clan kings also follow this principle. The Wanli Emperor was the grandson of the Jiajing Emperor and was very close, so why didn't he ask for a name?
It is often said that "intergenerational relatives", that is, the closeness between grandchildren is higher than between father and son. However, this principle did not apply between the Jiajing Emperor and the Wanli Emperor! In the TV series "Daming Dynasty 1566", there is a plot in which the seriously ill Jiajing Emperor summons his son Yu Wang and the Wanli Emperor, and there is an exchange between the three generations of grandchildren. Unfortunately, this plot is fictional, because the Jiajing Emperor has never met the Wanli Emperor, and even has a great dislike for this grandson!
The reason why the Wanli Emperor did not have a name during the reign of his grandfather, the Jiajing Emperor, was related to a taboo in the Jiajing Emperor's palace! Things have to start from the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, when the second son of the Jiajing Emperor, that is, Zhu Zaiyuan, suddenly fell ill and died. The Jiajing Emperor was very sad because he had high hopes for this son. At this time, the Jiajing Emperor only had two sons left, namely the third son of the emperor, Yu Wang, and the fourth son of the emperor, King Jing, and according to the order he should make the third son of the emperor crown prince.
However, the Jiajing Emperor did not like Mu Ne's third son, and at the same time he was also "the former prince of the past is not eternal, late". The Jiajing Emperor also remembered the words of the Taoist tao Zhongwen, that is, "The two dragons do not meet." As a result, the Jiajing Emperor never summoned his sons again, and at the same time "drove them out" of the palace and moved them to live in the palace. Since then, the Jiajing Emperor has not been crown prince, and those who proposed it have been punished.
Before the birth of the Wanli Emperor, Yu Wang had two sons, but they both died prematurely, and although they took names, the Jiajing Emperor behaved very coldly. It was only after the death of his two grandsons that he was posthumously honored as Yu Shizi and Lantian King. When the Wanli Emperor was born, the Jiajing Emperor had already entered his old age, his physical condition was very poor, and his mentality was very superstitious, "secretive words are stored, and those who are involved in a word die." Under these circumstances, King Yu did not dare to tell his father the news of his son's birth.
According to ancient rules, princes held a solemn ceremony shortly after birth, and then cut off the fetal hair. Since the Wanli Emperor was a "black household" and had no name, he did not cut his hair for two months. There was a palace girl beside the Jiajing Emperor who was more favored, and she once took advantage of the jiajing Emperor's happiness to indirectly tell the news of the birth of the emperor's grandson. Unexpectedly, the Jiajing Emperor was furious and directly expelled him from the palace, causing panic among the people in the palace.
The Jiajing Emperor had always pursued immortality, but the years were merciless, and he was still old. At this time, the Jiajing Emperor not only hid his illness and avoided medical treatment, he was even more reluctant to see the growth of his descendants, the two dragons could not meet each other, and now the three dragons were born, because it meant that he did not have much time. It was not until December 14, 45, when the Jiajing Emperor swallowed his last breath, that the Wanli Emperor ushered in a new life, because his father Yu Wang became the new emperor, and he was about to become the crown prince.
References: 1. "Ming Shilu"; 2. "Guoyu"; 3. "Gushan Pen Crane"