The mystery of Zhu Yunwen?
China News Service, August 25. In Chinese history, during the "Jingnan Incident" in the early Ming Dynasty, the whereabouts of Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen has always been a mystery. An unsolved mystery. After being usurped from the throne by his uncle, the later Yongle Emperor Zhu Li, where did Emperor Jianwen go? Did he burn himself to death or become a monk? Or even lived overseas. There are various theories, and historians have their own opinions. No one knows. No one could be convinced, thus making this unsolved case one of the "four major mysteries" in Chinese history.
According to the Jinling Evening News, a few days ago, Mr. Jean Qingguang, an 84-year-old retired engineer from Nanjing Cable Power Plant, came to the reporter with a copy of "The Jean Family Tree" that he had kept for many years. He opened the family tree and Mr. Jean told Reporter, Emperor Jianwen did not burn himself to death that year, but escaped from Nanjing, changed his name to Rangluan, and settled in Hunan and Hubei. After generations of reproduction, Mr. Qingguang himself is the fifteenth generation grandson of Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Jianwen escaped from Nanjing and changed his surname to "Rang"
Mr. Rang Qingguang pointed to the family tree and told reporters the historical origins of the surname "Rang" created by Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen. Rang Qingguang said that the ancestor of the Rang family, Zhu Yunwen, was the second generation emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His father, Zhu Biao, was the eldest son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. He was established as a prince in his early years, but unfortunately died young in middle age. Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Yunwen the emperor's grandson according to the feudal etiquette tradition. In 1399, Zhu Yuanzhang died, and the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen came to the throne, known as "Emperor Jianwen" in history. However, after only four years in office, Emperor Jianwen's fourth uncle, King Yan Zhu Di, launched the "Jingnan Rebellion" and overthrew Zhu Yunwen by force.
After Zhu Yunwen was ousted from power by Zhu Di, he did not burn himself to death in the palace as many historians said. Instead, he escaped from the palace through the tunnels, left Nanjing, lived in seclusion among the people, changed his name to "Rang Luan", pretended to be a monk, and traveled around Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Hubei provinces. While traveling to famous mountains and rivers, Rang Luan He also wrote many poems and symbols, alluding to the world that he was Emperor Jianwen. In his later years, Rang Luan lived in seclusion in Wuchang and was buried in Hongshan, Wuchang. The above things are clearly recorded in the "Rang Family Tree".
As for why Emperor Jianwen changed his surname to "Rang" and "Luan" after he left the palace and lived in seclusion, Jean Qingguang explained that Emperor Jianwen believed that he abdicated his country and ceded the country, so Changing his name to "Rang Luan" means giving up the throne.
Jianwen Cemetery Hidden in the Mountains and Forests
In order to convince reporters that he was indeed a descendant of Emperor Jianwen, Qingguang also cited some examples. Let Qingguang say that he was born in Wuchang, and his ancestor Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen was buried next to the pagoda of Baotong Temple in Hongshan. Qingguang still remembers that when he was a child, the monks at Baotong Temple knew the specific location of Emperor Jianwen's tomb, and the monks also directed Qingguang's ancestors to go and pay homage. However, after so many years of turmoil, this imperial mausoleum hidden among the people can no longer be found.
In 1945, a descendant of the Rang family, Rang Lianxiu, compiled a book called "The Rang Family Tree" based on the descriptions of the oral traditions passed down by the ancestors of the past dynasties and the family collection of Zhongyuan Shao Bao Shen (with the names of the ancestors of the past dynasties). Famous scholars Zhang Qiyun and Chang Peter agreed. Zhang Qiyun wrote the title of the family tree, and Chang Peter wrote the "Narrative of the Genealogy of the Rang Family", which affirmed that the Rang family was a descendant of Emperor Jianwen. Rang Qingguang's uncle, Professor Chen Wannai from Taiwan, once wrote "A Research on the Death of Emperor Hui of the Ming Dynasty", which was published by Taipei Baicheng Bookstore in 1950. The book maintained that the Rang family was a descendant of Jianwen, but unfortunately it did not attract sufficient attention from the Ming history academic community.
According to the reporter's understanding, the decipherment of the mysterious stone inscription "Hongya Tianshu" near the Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou also provides evidence to confirm that Emperor Jianwen did not burn himself to death. Lin Guoen, an engineer in Shanghai, discovered through research that the "Red Cliff Heavenly Book" was actually an edict issued by Emperor Jianwen to attack King Zhu Di of Yan after his abdication, indicating that after Emperor Jianwen escaped from Nanjing, he lived in the southwest and could possibly reproduce.
A secret that has been sealed for 7,600 years
Mr. Qingguang has heard his father talk about this part of his family’s history since he was a child, but he has always kept it deep in his heart and treated it as a secret. . Jean Qingguang said: "After our ancestors were deprived of the throne, Zhu Di searched for them in many ways and wanted to eradicate them. During the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors naturally did not dare to reveal their identities.
In the Qing Dynasty, one could not even claim to be a descendant of the Ming Dynasty royal family. For the past 600 years, the Rang family had to conceal the identity of their ancestors, and the family history could only be passed down orally. The "Rang Family Tree" was not publicly compiled until the 1940s. "
As of this year, 602 years have passed since the "Jingnan Incident". Jean Qingguang said that it is time for the descendants of Emperor Jianwen to step forward and solve this eternal mystery. According to Jean Qingguang said that there are currently two Rang clans in the country, one in Hubei and Hunan, and the other in Juye, Shandong. It is still unknown whether the Rang clan in Shandong are descendants of Emperor Jianwen. Although the number of Rang clans is not large, most of them are high-ranking. Many of the intellectuals have settled overseas.
Experts from the Academy of Social Sciences testified that the "Rang Family Tree" was held over the past two days. The paper submitted to the conference by a doctoral tutor of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences and a researcher of business biography is a paper titled "The Genealogy of the Rang Family and the Death of Emperor Jianwen"
In the paper, the researcher of business biography introduced. Having discovered "Rang's Family Tree", an important material that helps solve the mystery of the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen, a commercial biography researcher fully affirmed the value of "Rang's Family Tree". He told reporters: ""Rang's Family Tree" is still in the Ming history academic circles. Almost no one knows about it, so after my paper is published, it will definitely cause quite a stir!"
However, the business biography also pointed out that in order to thoroughly understand the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen, further research work is needed. Although the "Rang Family Genealogy" clearly states that he is a descendant of Jianwen, no physical evidence from that year has been found to prove this. The "Rang Family Genealogy" says: "The public (referring to Emperor Jianwen) was very good at calligraphy during his lifetime and was a candidate for Wuchang. Yamen Zhongyu's family has an ancestral couplet, which is his calligraphy treasure. After his death, he was buried in Yangyang, Hongshan, Wuchang. His life and death are unknown, but it is known that he lived to be a hundred years old. "It can be seen from this that the ancestor of the Rang family, Emperor Jianwen, has a couplet handed down from generation to generation and has a cemetery in Wuchang. If this couplet or the tomb can be found, it will help to completely solve this mystery.