One of the characteristics of Chinese emperors is having a lot of wives. Among them, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty and Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty had so many concubines that they could form an entire division. Even if they were as bad as Emperor Guangxu, he still had one empress and two consorts. The concept of one husband and one wife seemed irrelevant to emperors. However, among hundreds of Chinese emperors, there was indeed one who only married one wife throughout his life - Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty (Zhu Youchang), whose only wife was Empress Zhang.
Zhu Youchang's reason for doing so has much to do with his difficult childhood.
Zhu Youchang (1470-1505) was the ninth generation emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the third son of Emperor Xianzong. During his 23-year reign, Xianzong favored Consort Wan, who was more than ten years older than him. She had been serving Xianzong since she was young. Although she was not beautiful, with a waist like a barrel and a face like a middle-aged woman, she had all of Xianzong's favor in the palace.
Empress Dowager Zhou, Xianzong's mother, once asked why Xianzong favored Consort Wan, to which Xianzong replied that he slept better with her around. Later generations speculated that Xianzong suffered from a hernia disease, and Consort Wan was skilled at massage, making it impossible for Xianzong to leave her. Consort Wan once became pregnant when she was young, but unfortunately miscarried. Due to her age, she was unable to bear children again. As a result, she was heartbroken and vented her anger on other concubines, secretly poisoning or finding excuses to kill those who were pregnant. Even the crown prince could not escape her wrath.
By the sixth year of Xianzong's Chenghua era, he had no heirs. In the third year of Chenghua, Xianzong had once favored a lowly palace maid named Ji. When Ji became pregnant, Consort Wan found out and sent people to harm her. However, Ji had good relations with others, and the palace maid sent by Consort Wan couldn't bring herself to harm Ji. She lied to Consort Wan, claiming that Ji had a tumor in her stomach instead of being pregnant. Thus, Ji secretly gave birth to a later prince Zhu Youchang. Under the care of many palace maids, the young prince grew up to be six years old without Consort Wan ever knowing about it.
Xianzong's sons kept dying one after another, causing him great sorrow. One day in the ninth year of Chenghua, when Xianzong was already thirty years old, he summoned eunuch Zhang Min to comb his hair. Looking at his haggard reflection in the mirror, Xianzong lamented to Zhang Min about his age and the lack of a crown prince. Zhang Min immediately knelt down and revealed the existence of Ji's son. Eunuch Huai En from the Office of Ceremonial also testified for Zhang Min. Xianzong was overjoyed and immediately ordered someone to fetch the young prince.
The young prince was very intelligent. Upon seeing Xianzong, he bowed and called him father. Xianzong then announced to the cabinet the birth of the prince and granted a general amnesty. Upon hearing this, Consort Wan cried uncontrollably, clenching her teeth in hatred and vowing revenge. She soon poisoned Ji to death. Knowing his eventual fate, eunuch Zhang Min swallowed gold and committed suicide. The young Youchang, however, was fortunate and blessed. He was quickly (in 1475) established as the crown prince and taken back to the inner palace by Empress Dowager Zhou for upbringing. Despite several attempts by Consort Wan to harm him, they were unsuccessful. Under the protection of Empress Dowager Zhou, Youchang grew up healthily, studying and practicing martial arts, laying a solid foundation for becoming a renowned monarch in the future.
Once, Consort Wan invited the crown prince to her palace for some snacks. Youchang refused to eat, saying he feared they were poisoned. Consort Wan was greatly frightened, realizing that after Xianzong's passing, she would surely meet her end. She began to defame Youchang in front of Xianzong. By then, Xianzong already had several princes, giving him flexibility in choosing a new crown prince. After repeated persuasion by Consort Wan and eunuch Liang Fang, Xianzong finally decided to change the crown prince and summoned Huai En, the grand eunuch of the Office of Ceremonial, to draft the edict. Unexpectedly, Huai En refused by banging his head on the ground. Xianzong helplessly removed Huai En from his position as the head of the Office of Ceremonial and planned to continue changing the crown prince. At this critical moment, an earthquake occurred at Mount Tai, the East Peak. The Astronomical Bureau reported that the earthquake was related to the crown prince. Being superstitious, Xianzong feared offending heaven and thus abandoned the idea of changing the crown prince.
Consort Wan's failure to seize the crown prince position led to her falling ill in the spring of the twenty-third year of Xianzong's reign and soon passed away in despair. Upon hearing the news, Xianzong sighed dejectedly, "Now that Consort Wan is gone, I won't live long either." Indeed, in April of the same year, Xianzong fell ill. In July, he summoned the crown prince to assist in governance, and in August, Xianzong passed away, following his beloved Consort Wan to the netherworld. Emperor Xiaozong Youchang ascended the throne, adopting the era name Hongzhi.
Since his childhood, Xiaozong endured numerous hardships and survived countless dangers. Therefore, after ascending the throne, he was clean and wise, especially in his private life. Throughout his life, he only had Empress Zhang by his side, without any other concubines. Xiaozong and Empress Zhang were companions through adversity, a loving couple. Every day, they would wake up and go to bed together, read poetry, paint, listen to music, watch dances, discuss ancient and modern topics, and spend their days together. This unintentional act created a unique record throughout history and served as one of the evidences of Zhu Youchang's status as a wise ruler.