A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chu Hou-chao
444 Chu Hou-chao 朱厚照. A.D. 1491-1521. Son of Chu Yu-t'ang, whom he succeeded in 1487 as tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He devoted himself entirely to pleasure, and his exorbitant demands for money caused frequent rebellions, until in 1511 Peking was in danger and many provinces were harassed by bandits. The people found the troops worse than the rebels; and they said in Hu-Kuang that the rebels combed them with an ordinary comb, the Imperialist troops with a tooth-comb, and the officers with a razor. Eight eunuchs, known as the Eight Tigers, encouraged their master's vagaries, and bribery and corruption were rife, until in 1510 the chief eunuch was executed for treason and his vast treasures confiscated. The Emperor learnt Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchu, and gave himself titles in these languages, besides taking the Buddhist style of Prince of the Law. In 1517 and 1518 he travelled incognito to Hsüana Fu, and was nearly captured in a Tartar raid. He next gave orders to himself, under the name 朱壽 Chu Shou, to go on a southern tour; and when Wang Shou-jen put down a serious rising in Kiangsi, he proposed to have the rebel leader left at large on the Po-yang lake until he could proceed thither and smite him in person. He died from the effects of being upset from his fishing-skiff. Canonised as 武宗毅皇帝.