Zhu Wenjin

Biography

Early Life

Zhu Wenjin's early life is not well documented. By the time King Yanjun of Min was on the throne, he had already become the commander of the Gongchen Command of the Imperial Guard. The Gongchen Command and the Konghe Command were composed of former subordinates of King Taizu of Min, Wang Shenzhi, and served as the emperor's personal troops. Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu, the commander of the Konghe Command, jointly led these two personal guard units. In the third year of Tongwen (938), Zhu Wenjin was appointed Commissioner of the Internal Guest Office by King Jipeng of Min and dispatched to Jinling (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) to congratulate the establishment of Southern Tang.

Two Regicides

King Jipeng of Min had seized the throne by killing his father and did not trust the Gongchen and Konghe Commands, which had been the personal troops of King Yanjun. He formed a new personal guard unit, the Chenwei Command, which received better treatment than the Gongchen and Konghe Commands. He even attempted to transfer the latter two to garrison Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, causing dissatisfaction among the troops. Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu, having been repeatedly insulted by King Jipeng, often used words to incite the troops, exacerbating their resentment.

In the fourth year of Tongwen (939), a great fire destroyed the Northern Palace. King Jipeng suspected Lian Chongyu of involvement in the arson and intended to execute him, but the plan leaked. Lian Chongyu struck first. Taking advantage of the night watch, he led the Gongchen and Konghe Commands to burn the Changchun Palace and raise a rebellion. He called in the outer camp troops to attack King Jipeng and installed his uncle, King Yanxi, as the new ruler. King Jipeng was defeated and fled, but was caught and killed by pursuing troops. In this coup, although Zhu Wenjin did not participate directly, he continued to command the Gongchen Command afterward. Lian Chongyu was promoted to Commissioner of the Gate, and the Konghe Command was taken over by his confidant Wei Conglang. To consolidate their power, Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu formed a marriage alliance. However, King Yanxi later killed Wei Conglang while drunk and showed suspicion toward Lian and Zhu.

In the sixth year of Yonglong (944), Empress Li, dissatisfied with King Yanxi's deep favoring of Consort Shangxian, intended to kill King Yanxi and install her son, Wang Yacheng. She exploited the conflict between Lian/Zhu and King Yanxi, deliberately spreading the rumor that King Yanxi had prepared to eliminate them. Seeking self-preservation, Lian and Zhu, in the third month of that year, took advantage of King Yanxi leaving the palace and ordered Qian Da, the Cavalry and Infantry Commissioner of the Gongchen Command, to kill King Yanxi.

Usurpation of Min

After King Yanxi's death, Lian Chongyu did not install Wang Yacheng but instead proposed Zhu Wenjin as the ruler of Min. He gathered the officials in the court and declared that King Taizu, Wang Shenzhi, had founded the state, but his descendants were licentious and unprincipled. Heaven had grown weary of the Wang clan, and a virtuous ruler should be sought to pacify the land. The officials dared not speak. Lian Chongyu then pushed Zhu Wenjin onto the imperial throne and led the officials to bow and declare their submission. Zhu Wenjin styled himself the Master of Min and appointed Lian Chongyu to "command the six armies," giving him control of the Imperial Guard.

Downfall

The usurpation and regicide by Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu were opposed by Wang Yanzheng, the younger brother of King Yanxi. Wang Yanzheng was stationed in Jianzhou and had previously declared himself emperor, with the state name Great Yin. He sent Wu Chengyi to attack Fuzhou, but the campaign failed. He then stationed troops in Youxi, Gutian, and Changxi, waiting for an opportunity to attack again.

Zhu Wenjin sought external support by sending envoys to Southern Tang, but Southern Tang imprisoned the envoys. He then submitted to Later Jin under the title of Acting Military Commissioner of Wuwei, using the Tianfu era name. Later Jin appointed him Military Commissioner of Wuwei and Administrator of Min Affairs, later adding the title of Participant in Determining Government Matters and investing him as King of Min.

However, Zhu Wenjin's rule faced resistance from local generals. Liu Congxiao, the Commander of Quanzhou, and others captured and killed Huang Shaopo, the Inspector of Quanzhou appointed by Zhu Wenjin. They installed Wang Jixun, a descendant of the Wang clan, to head the military administration and submitted to Wang Yanzheng. The general of Zhangzhou, Cheng Mo, killed the Inspector Cheng Wenwei and installed Wang Jicheng. Together with Xu Wenjin, the Inspector of Tingzhou, they surrendered to Wang Yanzheng. By this time, Wang Yanzheng controlled four of the five prefectures of Min, while Zhu Wenjin only controlled Fuzhou.

Zhu Wenjin sent troops to attack Quanzhou but was defeated by the Quanzhou army. Wang Yanzheng took the opportunity to attack Fuzhou again. On the 29th day of the intercalary 12th month of the first year of Kaiyun (February 14, 945), Lin Renhan, the Chief Attendant of the Southern Corridor, launched a military mutiny. He led his men to attack Lian Chongyu's residence. Lian Chongyu prepared his troops for defense but was eventually stabbed to death by Lin Renhan. Lin Renhan displayed his head to the public and called on everyone to kill Zhu Wenjin to atone for their sins. The crowd responded and rushed into the palace to kill Zhu Wenjin. They then opened the city gates and welcomed Wang Yanzheng's army into Fuzhou.

Although King Yanxi was installed by Lian Chongyu and Zhu Wenjin, he was extremely suspicious of them. He not only killed their confidant Wei Conglang while drunk but also, during a banquet with the officials, publicly recited a line from Bai Juyi: "Only between the human heart and the face, the feelings within a foot's distance cannot be gauged." He then raised his cup to toast Lian and Zhu. Hearing the sarcasm, Lian and Zhu quickly left their seats, bowed, and shed tears, saying, "Your servants serve the sovereign-father and dare not harbor a second heart." King Yanxi paid no attention. Lian and Zhu were greatly alarmed and ultimately decided to strike first and kill the king.

Zhu Wenjin had been a commander of the Min state's palace guards, rising to be general of the Gongchen battalion and sharing command of the emperor's personal troops with Lian Chongyu, general of the Konghe battalion — troops formed from the old following of the founder Wang Shenzhi. In 938 he was given an inner court post by Emperor Kangzong, Wang Jipeng, who had himself seized the throne by murdering his father, and whose suspicions and killings left the guard commanders in constant fear. In 939 Lian Chongyu murdered Wang Jipeng, Zhu Wenjin standing by, and afterward married into Lian's family, which drew the suspicion of the succeeding Emperor Jingzong, Wang Yanxi.

In the third month of 944 Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu together killed Emperor Jingzong, and Zhu Wenjin declared himself ruler of Min, seizing the government. Seeking outside support he submitted to the Later Jin of the central plains and was enfeoffed by it as King of Min, becoming the de facto ruler of the state for nearly a year. He did not, however, win the allegiance of the provinces and was attacked by Wang Yanzheng from Jianzhou, his power shrinking; in the intercalary twelfth month of the same year (February 945) a mutiny broke out at Fuzhou and he was killed in the disorder. Later historians do not recognize his standing, and no source lists him among the legitimate rulers of Min.

The politics of Min grew steadily worse under the double tangle of the Wang brothers and the guard commanders: Wang Yanhan, Wang Yanjun, Wang Jipeng and Wang Yanxi came to the throne in turn, most ending in internal strife and slaughter, and the two murders of emperors by Lian Chongyu and Zhu Wenjin were the product of that situation. Soon after Zhu Wenjin's death the Southern Tang sent troops in 945 and destroyed Min, its lands divided between the Southern Tang and Wuyue.

The founder of Min was Wang Shenzhi, who entered Fujian with his brother Wang Chao at the end of the Tang, took possession of the province and was enfeoffed as King of Min by the Later Liang in 909; under his rule refugees were resettled and maritime trade developed, making Fuzhou and Quanzhou prosperous. After his death his sons fought over the succession: Wang Yanhan was killed, Wang Yanjun took the imperial title and named the state Great Min, Wang Jipeng murdered his father to seize the throne and Wang Yanxi killed his nephew to take it, the slaughter among brothers and uncles continuing without pause, and it was in this setting that the guard commanders Lian Chongyu and Zhu Wenjin twice murdered emperors.

Once he styled himself king, Zhu Wenjin did not in fact win recognition from the provinces. Real power in Min was divided among Jianzhou, Quanzhou and Fuzhou, where Wang Yanzheng set up a rival regime, so that several centers of authority existed at once. He submitted to the Later Jin and was enfeoffed as King of Min, gaining nominal recognition but no power to command the provinces; when the mutiny came at Fuzhou his rule ended. After the Southern Tang destroyed Min, its lands long remained an object of contention and consolidation among the Southern Tang, Wuyue and later the Northern Song, a history resembling that of the other southern states of the Ten Kingdoms.

The Min line ran only a few decades from Wang Chao and Wang Shenzhi, and internal strife scarcely ceased. Wang Shenzhi died in 925 and his eldest son Wang Yanhan succeeded, only to be killed by his brother Wang Yanjun, who took the imperial title in 933 with the state named Great Min and was later murdered by his son Wang Jipeng; Wang Jipeng's suspicions of his kinsmen and commanders brought his own death at Lian Chongyu's hands, and his successor Wang Yanxi, also distrustful of the old guard, provoked the second regicide by Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu. Such repeated killing and usurpation made the local powers and the guard commanders the real masters of the state.

Zhu Wenjin showed no distinctive achievement among such men; his rule is remembered precisely as the last link in this chain of regicides. The brief regime he set up at Fuzhou had neither a sound financial base nor the support of the clan or gentry, and rested only on the diplomatic recognition won by submitting to the Later Jin, which could not hold it together. After his fall Min was quickly swallowed by the Southern Tang, Wuyue taking the Fuzhou area in the same period, and Fujian entered a phase of divided rule between them.

After seizing power he issued no new era name and built no effective system of documents or offices, depending chiefly on the support of Lian Chongyu and the other guard commanders. When the mutiny came at Fuzhou he and Lian were killed together, ending the struggle between the clan and the commanders; Min lost its independence with them. Such examples of guard commanders murdering their sovereign, taking power and swiftly falling are common in the Ten Kingdoms period — the mutinies at the turn of the Liang and Tang, the palace troubles of the Southern Han and Min alike — their common background being the fusion of military and civil authority and the absence of stable institutional restraints between commander and ruler.

That Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu could kill two emperors is directly bound up with the military structure of the later Min. Local military government was divided among commissioners, prefects and guard commanders, while the princes of the clan each held prefectures, so that a ruler's control of the army rested on personal prestige rather than institutions; after Wang Shenzhi's death rulers changed frequently and lacked prestige, leaving the guard commanders the power to decide who reigned. The Gongchen battalion under Zhu Wenjin and the Konghe battalion under Lian Chongyu had been created to guard the palace and ended as instruments of regicide — a typical form of guard interference in politics in the Ten Kingdoms period.

The finances and overseas trade of Min had been the basis of its statehood. Fuzhou and Quanzhou were already important trading ports in the Tang, and Wang Shenzhi and his sons attracted maritime merchants and developed the maritime trade office, Quanzhou growing into a great port of the southeast coast in the Five Dynasties. After Zhu Wenjin's usurpation these economic foundations were not destroyed, but the political turmoil left local powers to their own devices, affecting the collection of duties and taxes. After the Southern Tang destroyed Min, the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou area passed successively to such local figures as Liu Congxiao and Chen Hongjin, and Fujian was only reunified when Chen Hongjin surrendered his lands to the Song in 978.

Major Activities

Regicide and Usurpation

Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu exploited the conflict between King Yanxi and the Imperial Guard generals to kill King Yanxi of Min in the third month of 944. Subsequently, Lian Chongyu, citing "Heaven's weariness of the Wang clan," installed Zhu Wenjin as the Master of Min. After taking the throne, Zhu Wenjin executed more than fifty members of the Wang clan in Fuzhou, including Wang Yacheng and Wang Yanxi, to eliminate potential threats.

Diplomacy and Submission

To consolidate his rule, Zhu Wenjin sought support from Southern Tang and Later Jin. Southern Tang imprisoned his envoys and offered no support. Zhu Wenjin then submitted to Later Jin and was invested as Military Commissioner of Wuwei, Participant in Determining Government Matters, and King of Min. Although this move gained recognition from the Central Plains dynasty, it failed to recover the popular support and territory he was losing in Min.

Suppression and Loss of Territory

Zhu Wenjin attempted to win hearts by releasing palace maids, halting construction projects, and reversing the chaotic policies of King Yanxi, but the effect was limited. He sent Lin Shouliang and Li Ting'e to attack Quanzhou. Although the campaign was initially grand in scale, it ended in a great defeat. Lin Shouliang died in battle, and Li Ting'e was captured. Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Tingzhou successively defected and submitted to Wang Yanzheng, reducing Zhu Wenjin's control to only the prefecture of Fuzhou.

Personal Relations

• Wife**: Wang clan
• In-laws**: Lian Chongyu (historical records state the two "formed a marriage alliance"; his wife was of the Zhu clan, possibly of the same clan)
• Predecessor**: King Yanxi of Min (killed by Zhu Wenjin)
• Successor**: King Tiande of Min, Wang Yanzheng (attacked and replaced Zhu Wenjin)
• Key Generals**: Qian Da (executor of the regicide), Lin Shouliang (Commander of the Army), Li Ting'e (Commissioner of the Internal Guest Office)
• Key Adversaries**: Wang Yanzheng (Military Commissioner of Jianzhou / Emperor of Yin), Liu Congxiao (Commander of Quanzhou)

Historical Assessment

Cai Dongfan, in Lichao Diwang Tongji, evaluated: "Just as the situation in Min, it arose from usurpation and regicide. If a son can kill his father, why can't a younger brother rebel against his elder brother? Why can't a subject harm the sovereign? The two rebels, Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu, killed two rulers in succession. They thought themselves invincible in their ferocity, but ultimately were executed and exterminated. The retribution was exact, and public reason remains."

Later historians did not recognize Zhu Wenjin's status as a monarch. Various historical sources generally did not view him as the legitimate ruler of Min, but only as a usurper or de facto ruler.