Borjigin Asu-Jiba

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Asu-Jiba was born into the Mongol “Golden Family” and was a direct descendant of Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of Yuan. His grandfather was Gammala, Prince of Jin, the eldest son of Kublai’s crown prince Zhenjin. His father Yesun Temur was enthroned after Emperor Yingzong of Yuan was assassinated in 1323 and became the Taiding Emperor. His mother Babukhan belonged to the Khongirad clan and was the daughter of Ganliucha'er, as the name is transcribed in the Chinese source, a descendant of Anchen of the Khongirad.

Asu-Jiba was born at the princely residence of the Prince of Jin on the Mongolian steppe. Chinese-language historical sources do not record the exact date of his birth, placing it around 1320. On the twentieth day of the third month of 1324, the Taiding Emperor held an investiture ceremony in Daming Hall, making Babukhan empress and the young Asu-Jiba crown prince. The History of Yuan: Basic Annals of the Taiding Emperor records: “On bingwu, the emperor attended Daming Hall, invested Lady Babukhan as empress, and made the imperial son Asu-Jiba crown prince.” The Taiding Emperor placed high hopes in his heir and specifically ordered Hanlin officials including Alian Tiemu'er (Chinese-source transcription) and Xu Sijing to translate Emperor Taizong of Tang’s Difan into Mongolian, retitling it Huangtu Daxun, so that the crown prince could study principles of rulership.

During the Taiding Emperor’s reign, the court followed a relatively relaxed political approach, while the emperor also made arrangements intended to ease the crown prince’s future succession. He relied heavily on his trusted Muslim minister Dawlat Shah as Left Grand Councilor of the Secretariat, hoping thereby to strengthen imperial authority. The source states that this arrangement also created conditions for Dawlat Shah’s later dominance and for the outbreak of the War of the Two Capitals.

Years as Crown Prince and the Death of the Taiding Emperor

After Asu-Jiba was made crown prince, the Taiding Emperor selected teachers for him. During imperial lectures the young prince occupied the central position as the student. The source interprets the emperor’s relatively relaxed political style in part as an effort to create a stable transition for his young heir. The Taiding Emperor’s health was poor, however, and after only five years on the throne he became seriously ill.

On the tenth day of the seventh month of 1328, the first year of Zhihe, the Taiding Emperor died at Shangdu at the age of thirty-six. After his death, Grand Councilor Dawlat Shah monopolized power and delayed enthroning the young crown prince. He allied with Prince Toqto’a of Liao, Prince Wangchan of Liang, and others to attack opponents and cultivate his own faction, arousing resentment among many Mongol nobles. Meanwhile, El Temür, serving in Dadu, conspired with Prince Aratnaširi of Xi’an and others, sending messengers south to bring Tugh Temür, the second son of Emperor Wuzong, north to succeed to the throne.

The War of the Two Capitals and Accession

In the eighth month of 1328, El Temür launched a coup in Dadu, arrested officials stationed there, and seized control of the capital. On the thirteenth day of the ninth month, Tugh Temür was enthroned in Dadu, proclaimed the Tianli era, and became Emperor Wenzong of Yuan.

Faced with the challenge from Dadu, Dawlat Shah enthroned the nine-year-old crown prince Asu-Jiba at Shangdu on October 4, 1328, the third day of the tenth month of the first year of Tianshun, and proclaimed the Tianshun era. The Yuan dynasty now had two rival emperors: Asu-Jiba at Shangdu and Tugh Temür at Dadu. The War of the Two Capitals began in full.

The Shangdu side initially held the advantage. Prince Toqto’a of Liao, Prince Balashili of Xiangning, Prince Mazha'erhan of Zhao, the Shaanxi Branch Censor-in-Chief Yexian Tiemu'er, the Sichuan Branch Secretariat administrator Nangjiatai, and others responded, forming a broad arc of pressure on Dadu from the northeast through the northwest to the southwest. Wangchan, together with Defender-in-chief Buqa and Grand Councilor Tashi Tiemu'er, attacked Juyong Pass; Shuwentai attacked Gubeikou; forces led by princes from Liaodong under Duoluotai approached Tongzhou; and princes including Hulatai broke through Zijing Pass from Shanxi and captured Zhuozhou. El Temür led the Dadu forces in persistent resistance. Although they suffered defeats, they managed to hold their defensive line, and for a time the situation was highly unfavorable to the Dadu faction.

Fall of Shangdu and Final Fate

While the two sides remained locked in combat, the Prince of Qi whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Yuelu Tiemu'er and the eastern-route Mongol commander Buqa Temür, an uncle of El Temür, suddenly led troops to besiege Shangdu. The Shangdu regime had been operating offensively and had left its rear vulnerable, with roughly half of the elite troops accompanying the court transferred to the front. Caught unprepared, Dawlat Shah was forced on November 14, 1328, the thirteenth day of the tenth month of Tianshun, to “come out and surrender bearing the imperial seal.” Prince Wangchan of Liang fled, Prince Toqto’a of Liao was killed by the Prince of Qi whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Yuelu Tiemu'er, and the young emperor Asu-Jiba disappeared from the record.

Chinese-language historical sources do not record Asu-Jiba’s final fate. The New History of Yuan states that “the young emperor’s end is unknown.” Mongolian historical works such as the Altan Tobchi and Flow of the Ganges state that he died in the fighting, while the Yuan-period Tibetan Red Annals records that he was killed by the Prince of Qi whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Yuelu Tiemu'er. On December 26, 1328, the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh month of the first year of Tianli, Dawlat Shah and supporters including Wangchan, Ma Mousha, Niuze, Sademishi, and Yexian Tiemu'er were executed. The War of the Two Capitals ended in the complete defeat of the Shangdu regime.

Asu-Jiba’s reign lasted only forty-two days. He received neither a posthumous name nor a temple name and became known in history by his era name as the “Tianshun Emperor.”

Major Activities

As Crown Prince

Asu-Jiba was invested as crown prince in 1324 and was the Taiding Emperor’s only formally designated heir. The emperor had the Difan translated for him as Huangtu Daxun, established imperial lectures, and ordered senior officials to teach him, indicating the expectations placed on him as heir.

Symbolic Role in the War of the Two Capitals

Asu-Jiba, as the Taiding Emperor’s eldest legitimate son, was enthroned by Dawlat Shah during the War of the Two Capitals and served as the legal symbol of the Shangdu regime. He was only nine years old and had no practical capacity to govern, functioning entirely under Dawlat Shah’s control. The source states that the Shangdu side’s ability to rally princes of Liao, Liang, Xiangning, Zhao, and other forces rested substantially on the legitimacy associated with the deceased emperor’s presence and on the political capital accumulated by the Prince of Jin’s long-standing position on the Mongolian steppe.

Brief Reign and Fate

Asu-Jiba was enthroned on October 4, 1328, the third day of the tenth month of Tianshun, and Shangdu fell on the thirteenth day of the tenth month, November 14. His reign lasted only forty-two days, making him one of the shortest-reigning emperors in Yuan history. After the fall of Shangdu his fate became unknown. One account says that Prince Yuelu Temür killed him; another that he died in the fighting.

The politics of his reign centred on the confrontation between the two capitals: after his accession in 1328 (first year of Tianshun) the Shangdu court was led by Daulashah as chancellor while Tugh Temür (Wenzong) established a rival court at Dadu, so that two governments stood side by side, exchanging military blows, with Shangdu at a disadvantage in both finances and troops. On the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the same year (14 November 1328) the Prince of Qi, Örüg Temür, besieged Shangdu, Daulashah came out and surrendered the imperial seal, and Asukjaba disappeared, one account saying he was killed by the Prince of Qi and another that he died in the fighting. His reign of forty-two days is recorded in later histories as an episode within the war of the two capitals rather than as an independent reign.

The outcome of the war of the two capitals also changed the imperial succession in the Yuan thereafter: after Tugh Temür, the Wenzong, prevailed on the Dadu side and took the throne, the princes and ministers of the Shangdu court were executed or dismissed, and Asukjaba's name received no independent annals in the standard history. The fate of his mother, Empress Bikhan, is likewise unrecorded, only Daulashah's surrender being certain. Coming to the throne at the age of eight and reigning forty-two days, his career was determined by this episode of two courts standing side by side.

The very existence of two courts shows that imperial succession in the middle period of the Yuan no longer depended on a single political centre: Dadu controlled the taxes, bureaucracy and supplies of the Chinese lands, while Shangdu rested on the old steppe following and some of the princes. Once such a confrontation took shape, victory usually went to whichever side first gained the advantage in revenue and grain transport, not merely in nominal legitimacy. After Shangdu surrendered, Daurashah and others were executed and the accompanying princes were mostly dismissed, so that the child emperor's titles survive in the record only as fragments. Later accounts treat this episode under the heading of the war of the two capitals rather than as the governance of a particular emperor, and this is precisely why.

Personal Relations

• Great-great-grandfather: Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of Yuan
• Great-grandfather: Zhenjin, posthumously Emperor Yuzong of Yuan
• Grandfather: Gammala, posthumously Emperor Xianzong of Yuan
• Grandmother: Khongirad Puyan Qielimishi (Chinese-source transcription), posthumously Empress Xuanyi Shusheng
• Father: Borjigin Yesun Temur, the Taiding Emperor of Yuan
• Mother: Khongirad Babukhan, empress of the Taiding Emperor
• Maternal grandfather: Khongirad Ganliucha'er (Chinese-source transcription)
• Dawlat Shah: trusted minister of the Taiding Emperor and Left Grand Councilor of the Secretariat; principal figure behind Asu-Jiba’s enthronement, later surrendered and was executed
• El Temür: Kipchak official of the Bureau of Military Affairs who launched the Dadu coup and became a powerful minister under Emperor Wenzong
• Tugh Temür: Emperor Wenzong of Yuan and rival claimant to the throne
• the Prince of Qi whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Yuelu Tiemu'er: led the siege of Shangdu and, according to one account, killed Asu-Jiba
• Buqa Temür: eastern-route Mongol commander, uncle of El Temür, who took part in the siege of Shangdu
• Prince Toqto’a of Liao: supporter of the Shangdu regime, killed after its defeat
• Prince Wangchan of Liang: supporter of the Shangdu regime who fled after defeat
• Prince Balashili of Xiangning: supporter of the Shangdu regime, later captured
• Prince Mazha'erhan of Zhao: supporter of the Shangdu regime, later captured

Historical Assessment

Yuan / Contemporary

• The Tibetan Red Annals, a Yuan-period source, records that Asu-Jiba was killed by the Prince of Qi whose name is transcribed in the Chinese source as Yuelu Tiemu'er and is one of the few contemporary sources to state his fate explicitly.
• The official Yuan position did not recognize Asu-Jiba as a legitimate emperor. Historical compilation under Emperor Wenzong gave him neither a posthumous name nor a temple name and referred to him only as the “Young Lord.”
• After the War of the Two Capitals, the Wenzong court purged supporters of the Shangdu regime. Dawlat Shah and others were executed, and Asu-Jiba, as the ruler of the defeated side, was largely erased from the official historical narrative.

Ming and Qing Periods

• The Ming-compiled History of Yuan placed Asu-Jiba within the “Basic Annals of the Taiding Emperor” rather than granting him a separate imperial annal, referring to him as “the imperial son Asu-Jiba, crown prince” and not formally recognizing his imperial status.
• The Qing historian Bi Yuan’s Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance recorded the War of the Two Capitals and treated Asu-Jiba’s fate sympathetically.
• The Qing historian Zeng Lian wrote in Book of Yuan: “Though honored as Son of Heaven and rich in all under Heaven, he could not protect his wife and children… The gentleman therefore does not praise Zimeng, but delights in recounting the good entrustment of Emperor Xiaowu.” The comment criticized the Taiding Emperor for entrusting his young heir to unsuitable ministers and failing to arrange proper guardianship.
• Qing historians Shao Yuanping in Classified Compilation of Yuan History and Wei Yuan in New Compilation of Yuan History both recorded the War of the Two Capitals in detail and expressed regret over Asu-Jiba’s extremely brief reign.

Modern Period

• Tu Ji’s Historical Records of the Mongols, written in the late Qing and early Republican period, gave a relatively detailed account of Asu-Jiba and regarded him as a victim of palace factional struggle.
• The Republican-era officially compiled New History of Yuan states that “the young emperor’s end is unknown,” leaving his fate unresolved.
• A modern work, A Correct Account of the Fifteen Emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, comments: “Asu-Jiba was born into a Golden Family filled with complex conflicts and even deep hatred; at such a young age, he was only a pawn in palace struggle.”
• Song Yushan’s Reading Yuan History from a New Perspective states: “By chronology, the Tianshun Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Yuan dynasty, but his reign was extremely short and largely nominal… The pitiable Tianshun Emperor was an emperor in name for only two months before losing his life; there was nothing ‘smooth’ about Tianshun.”