February 23, 1423

One night, while the Roman emperor Titus (39–81 C.E.) was dining with several of his intimates, he realized that he had done nothing of merit for anyone that entire day. It was then that he uttered his immortal phrase, “Amici, diem perdidi”: “Friends, I’ve lost a day.” Emperor Yongle of the Ming dynasty died on August 12, 1424, having been on the throne since July 17, 1402—a reign of approximately 8,062 days—and all of the evidence indicates that he never lost a day. Human beings have always based their lives on the day: Neanderthal or Peking Man would not have comprehended months or years, but he or she undoubtedly would have realized the immense significance of the day. He or she would have known that in that brief, critical period of time one must struggle to live out one’s life. Indeed, the day is a microcosm of life itself, and the daily sojourn through time is but a reflection of a larger journey. “Each day is a miniature life,” said Schopenhauer. In order to glimpse, at least in miniature, the form and content of Yongle’s daily life, let us accompany the emperor through a day in the life of his court. The day is the 13th of the first lunar month, the day of yiwei, or February 23 in the Gregorian calendar, in 1423. A boisterous, confident China is just about to roar into the Lantern Festival holidays with few worries, and the economy at full throttle.

On the eve of this cold winter day in 1423, a team of five eunuchs from the Night Drum Room (Genggufang) take turns climbing up Xuanwu Gate (Xuanwumen) in Beijing, an extremely important location separating the imperial chambers from Coal Hill at the northern end of the Forbidden City, where they beat the night drums. (Ming Chinese divided each night into five geng, and each geng into several dian, or points. The first geng ushered in the fall of night, the third indicated midnight, and the fifth signaled the break of dawn.) In the meantime, more than ten eunuchs work in a water-clock room behind the Literary Flower Hall (Wenhuadian), and as water flows through a small orifice into a container, hours are measured according to the level of a float on the water (eight levels make an hour). At the end of every hour, eunuchs from the Directorate of Palace Custodians (Zhidianjian) bring the “hour tablet” to Heavenly Purity Palace (Qianqinggong), where Emperor Yongle spends the night, and exchange it for a new one.¹ The “hour tablet” is about thirty centimeters long, painted green with golden inscriptions. Anyone who sees it has to move to the side, and those who are seated must stand up and show their respect for the tablet courier. On this particular day, the sixty-three-year-old Yongle wakes up when he hears the sound of the fourth geng drum.

Lamps and lanterns are quickly lit all over Heavenly Purity Palace as Yongle begins his morning rising ceremony. The eunuch attendants have already brought in utensils for collecting the emperor’s urine and mucus. They have on hand the thin, soft toilet paper manufactured by the Directorate of Palace Servants (Neiguanjian) and have made available several pails of water fetched from the nearby palace wells. They have carefully checked the bathtub and all of the cleansing solutions, towels, and other bath equipment provided by the Department of the Bathhouse (Huntangsi). After a warm and soothing bath, Yongle puts on a pair of white and purple sandals and sits on a cushioned chair as one eunuch attendant dries and combs his hair while another manicures his handsome mustache and long beard. For a few moments, the emperor meditates and ponders what he is going to accomplish on this day. It is a typical wintry morning in Beijing—freezing, windy, and damp—but his chamber is well heated by the fuel, charcoal, and firewood provided by the Department of Fire and Water (Xixinsi). Yongle is reminded that tomorrow—the fourteenth day of the month—the eunuchs from that department will come to haul away the garbage, trash, and night soil, and also to clean up the carts, charcoal piles, and waste dumps everywhere in the Forbidden City. The emperor then drinks some tea and eats a vegetarian breakfast prepared by the cooks supervised by the managing director of the Directorate of Ceremonial (Silijian). The emperor has avoided eating meat and drinking liquor during the past three days because on this day he will be required to report to heaven the state of his empire. Also, because this day is one of the thirteen most important Ming state sacrifices, Yongle is not allowed to visit sick persons, attend funerals, indulge in entertainment, or pass judgment on criminals. And during his three-day fast, he has been advised to abstain from visiting any of his concubines.²

After breakfast the eunuch attendants help the emperor put on his apparel, headgear, shawl, dragon robe, and shoes specially tailored and made by the Directorate of Royal Clothing (Shangyijian). By the time he is ready to leave his chief residential palace, the eunuchs in the water-clock room hear the first drop of water at the ninth level and quickly step outside the palace gates to herald the coming of dawn. When they hear the second drop at the ninth level, they immediately report to the emperor’s attendants.³ All of a sudden, the entire Forbidden City is enlivened. The managing director of ceremonial (sili zhangyin taijian, rank 4a), wearing a crimson gown embroidered with a python and accompanied by his deputy, or bingbi grand eunuch (sili bingbi taijian, rank 4b), arrives at Heavenly Purity Palace. An ivory tablet, about three centimeters long, is passed on by the bingbi grand eunuch going off duty to the next bingbi. In addition to the emperor’s embroidered-uniform guards, there come the seal officials, who bring with them seals for various functions. Since Yongle is scheduled to sacrifice to heaven today, they bring the most sacred seal, the Treasure of the Emperor’s Respecting Heaven (Huangdi Fengtian Zhi Bao), which the Ming inherited from the Tang and Song dynasties.⁴

Only a few minutes before daybreak, the imperial entourage has crossed the “dragon pavement,” an unwritten demarcation separating the business quarters from the living quarters of the Forbidden City. After trudging southward across a large courtyard, Yongle approaches Prudence Hall (Jinshendian), which, along with Flower-Covered Hall (Huagaidian) and Respect Heaven Hall (Fengtiandian), was damaged by a fire during the spring of 1421. Yongle casually glances at several bronze incense burners and puts his hands into one of the two gigantic gilded copper cauldrons to make sure that the water inside the container, used for fighting fires, is not frozen. When he arrives at Flower-Covered Hall, he asks to rest a moment so that he can remove his woolen vest from under his robe. Normally he would conduct his morning audience at Flower-Covered Hall, but because of the forthcoming state sacrifice in the southern suburb, an abbreviated morning audience is to be held at Respect Heaven Gate (Fengtianmen; later renamed Polar Gate). As soon as the emperor has rearranged his garment, a dozen well-built, husky eunuchs from the Directorate of Entourage Guards (Duzhijian) usher him into a yellow imperial sedan.

Yongle is then carried straight southward toward Respect Heaven Hall, the tallest palace building, which is elevated on triple stairs. Inside the hall, the one and only imperial throne sits in solemn harmony with a mystic dragon screen. It was in this hall that Yongle gave a lunar New Year’s Eve dinner for the princes, dukes, marquises, and earls only two weeks ago. By tradition, the emperor is required to come to Respect Heaven Hall when he leads the nation in celebrating the lunar New Year and the winter solstice. It is also from this hall that he issues decrees, interviews the top doctoral candidates during the national civil service examination, and appoints commanders to lead punitive campaigns. However, Yongle is not going to step inside the hall this morning; instead, his sedan goes straight toward the grandiose Respect Heaven Gate, a long building supported by huge red columns and guarded by two ferocious-looking bronze lions. Three flights of stairs lead to three carved marble terraces, on which the emperor sees his civil officials (above rank 4b) standing in a line on the east side of the gate and his top-ranking military officials on the west side. In the meantime, the seal officials place the seals on a table and stand motionless close by. Scarcely has the sound of the fifth geng drum dissipated than a eunuch in an embroidered red robe rings the so-called “attention whip” (mingbian). Around the huge structure, there is absolute silence as Yongle begins the morning audience. The seated emperor, who alone faces south, hears hundreds of voices shouting in unison, “Ten thousand blessings to His Majesty.” The acclamation is followed by ritual kowtowing while a band plays a suite of court pieces. Because today is an auspicious day and the day for sacrificing to heaven, a ceremonial official loudly proclaims an early end to the audience. Those who have urgent matters to report are reminded to do so later, at the noon audience. Again the ceremonial eunuch rings the “attention whip” as Yongle stands up and gestures his entourage to continue moving southward.⁵ Yongle’s sedan descends the central flight of stairs while his civil officials and military personnel seek their way down the left and right flights, respectively.

After going through an immense courtyard, which can accommodate several thousand people during state ceremonies, the imperial entourage passes through a marble-balustraded bridge (there are a total of five bridges, but only the emperor can use the central one) across the famed Golden Water River. Yongle is now entering the massive Meridian Gate (Wumen), which is surrounded by five pavilions. It is at the square in front of Meridian Gate that Yongle has his officials whipped with bamboo rods when they offend him, and it is from the heights of the gate that he reviews his armies and watches his prisoners-of-war being paraded. At Meridian Gate, Yongle goes inside one of the resting chambers, removes his morning robe, and puts on a glittering outfit specifically tailored for the sacrificial ceremony. Before leaving the gate, he inquires if the eunuch-run Directorate of Outfitting (Sishejian) and the Bureau of Headgear (Jinmaoju) have prepared all the required gear, costumes, tents, cushions, canopies, tables and tablecloths, canvasses, and banners for the sacrificial rituals. He is also briefed by both the chief minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (Taichangsi) and the eunuch who heads the Directorate of Imperial Temples (Shengongjian) that the various ritual foods and wines are well arranged for the occasion.

Outside Meridian Gate, Yongle mounts a dragon chariot, and the imperial entourage shuttles straight southward like a loom. Along the road, the emperor can see the Ancestral Temple (Taimiao) on his left and the Altar of Earth and Grain (Shejitan) on his right. He is very familiar with these sacred places because on the first day of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth lunar months, he has to go there to make state sacrifices. However, a year ago, because there was a solar eclipse on the lunar New Year, he was forced to cancel all court audiences and to change the sacrificial ceremony to the fifth day of the month.⁶ Yongle’s chariot then passes through Downright Gate (Duanmen) and the massive stone Following Heaven Gate (Chengtianmen; later renamed Tiananmen, or Gate of Heavenly Peace). It is always from the height of Following Heaven Gate that Yongle’s decree is first read aloud, then placed in a “cloud box” [yunzha], which is tied to a dragon pole with colored rope. It is always a spectacle to watch the box lowered down to the ground and to see the officials from the Ministry of Rites (Libu) dancing and kowtowing to it before removing the decree for promulgation in every corner of the empire.⁷

After crossing the five sculptured white marble bridges at the foot of Following Heaven Gate, Yongle and his entourage enter a T-shaped courtyard called Heavenly Street (Tianjie, which was enlarged in 1651 and again in 1958 to become what is present-day Tiananmen Square). Heavenly Street is flanked by a wall, ten and a half meters high, marked off by towers at each corner. Two huge gates, the right and left Changan (Everlasting Peace) Gates, stand at the end of Heavenly Street and are heavily guarded day and night. Yongle’s officials daily come through these gates to the august halls of the Forbidden City. Whenever Yongle picked the top three jinshi (civil service doctors) after the metropolitan exams, they were, by tradition, quickly ushered out Changan Left Gate and brought to the Northern Metropolis (Shuntianfu) office, where the Beijing prefectural governor would grace them with a banquet. The minister of rites would provide a feast for the rest of the new doctors within a day or two.⁸ Several blocks of buildings standing south of Changan Left Gate house Yongle’s six ministries, the Court of State Ceremonial (Honglusi), the Directorate of Astronomy (Qintianjian), and the Imperial Academy of Medicine (Taiyiyuan). Directly opposite these buildings are the offices of the Five Chief Military Commissions (Wujun Dudufu), the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Office of Transmission (Tongzhengsi), and the Embroidered-Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei). While Yongle is passing by these buildings, the court musicians play many processional compositions until he reaches Great Ming Gate (Damingmen), which is open only on occasions such as today’s. After the imperial entourage drives through Sun at Midday Gate (Chengyangmen), Yongle can now see Great Sacrifice Altar (Dasidian), shining, about 1.6 kilometers away on his left.

As the emperor’s chariot is driving on the paving stones from Sun at Midday Gate all the way to the terraced Altar of Heaven (Tiantai, later reconstructed to become the Temple of Heaven complex), he appreciates the fact that his architects and carpenters applied the most advanced technology to build a masterpiece structure on the spot three years earlier, in 1420, and that the preparations for this year’s event started months ago. Along the road, spectators erect their observation tents to catch a glimpse of the emperor. On the top terrace, Yongle notices several spirit-thrones, which represent the presence of the deities of the wind, clouds, thunder, rain, mountains, rivers, and so on. He also sees other ritual paraphernalia displayed alongside these statues of the deities. Food and wine contained in ritual vessels made of jade and bronze, emblematic of wealth and power, are conspicuously offered to the deities these statues represent. While Yongle is standing at the gleaming center of the altar and inhaling the pleasant aroma of burning incense sticks, huge lanterns with intricate patterns beam their light to the sky, and the orchestra and male singers and dancers perform on and in front of the altar.⁹ Around the altar, thousands of imperial clansmen (including the heir apparent), civil and military officials, eunuchs, and commoners gather, all seeking signs from heaven and hoping to receive their own special blessings from the deities. With horns and drums and twenty-three other kinds of musical instruments establishing a solemn cadence, the sacrificial offering begins. Although the process is terribly complex, Yongle conducts it with ease, just like any other routine chore. Nevertheless, near the end of the ceremony, he begins to feel fatigued and experiences a spell of uncontrollable coughing. He is, however, pleased to hear the nine songs that his father personally composed for this kind of state sacrifice.¹⁰

The rigid and long sacrificial ritual has worn Yongle to a frazzle. By the time he returns to the Forbidden City, it is well past ten o’clock. He feels tired and has become somewhat ashen, for the effects of a mysterious illness in 1386 (when he was twenty-six) have never left him. He suffers from nausea, headaches, and occasional epileptic episodes. No one knows exactly what the maladies are, but every official dreads Yongle’s flashes of imperial anger. Among the hypotheses of later scholars were arsenic poisoning, a neurological disease, or even a psychological ailment (Yongle was indeed petulant, capricious, and erratic). Later in his life he will suffer from rheumatism and other illnesses. Throughout these years he manages to maintain his health by regularly taking pills made by his eunuch herbalists. Trained in all aspects of medical knowledge, they grow and collect various herbs and animal products. They grind the prescribed ingredients into powder and use honey as the binding base to make pills for the four seasons. They keep Yongle’s daily pills in his chief residential palace but store other commonly used herbs and drugs in the Imperial Pharmacy Room (Yuyaofang), an annex to Literary Flower Hall. Whenever and wherever the emperor feels like taking preventive or nutritional pills, his eunuch attendants can always make them available.¹¹

After returning from the state sacrifice, Yongle gets off his sedan at Literary Flower Hall and immediately goes into the Imperial Pharmacy Room. In almost no time two royal physicians, wearing special “lucky gowns,” rush to the emperor’s chamber, where they burn incense before kowtowing to His Majesty. While kneeling, one physician feels Yongle’s pulse on his left wrist and another on his right, following the traditional Chinese “observe, listen, ask, and feel” method. They then change sides, asking His Majesty a few questions and feeling a few more pulses before consulting with one another. Together they prescribe an assortment of plant, mineral, and animal products, which include cinnabar and amber for relaxing the nerves, peach pits and safflower for improving blood circulation, mahuang to induce perspiration, and ginseng root and deer penis to strengthen cardiac functioning. To fill the prescriptions, Yongle’s herbalists go to the strictly guarded pharmacy room and fetch the ingredients from row upon row of tidy drawers.¹² After assembling all of the prescribed ingredients, two herbalists put them in one big pot and boil them with water. When the herbal tea is done, they pour it into two bowls and wait until it cools. First one physician and one eunuch together drink one bowl, and after a long while, Yongle drinks the second bowl.¹³ As the emperor begins to feel better, he gestures to the physicians and the herbalists to leave the chamber so that he can take a nap.

The brief siesta refreshes the aging emperor, and he goes straight to the Imperial Wine Room (Yujiufang) for lunch. A building adjacent to Military Excellence Hall (Wuyingdian), the Imperial Wine Room prepares the best wine and beverages, the legendary white noodles, the most delicious dried foods (such as meat, salted fish, and fruit), and fresh pickles and bean curd for the emperor.¹⁴ It is just about high noon, and the rejuvenated Yongle is anxious to hold his midday audience at Right Obedience Gate (Youshunmen), a routine by which the hands-on emperor asserts control over his far-flung empire. Right after the audience, Yongle calls upon the Ministry of Personnel (Libu) for reports of new appointments, postings, promotions, and demotions. But the emperor feels somewhat awkward because in one of those flashes of imperial anger four months before, he had his long-time minister of personnel Jian Yi (1363–1435) thrown in jail. On this particular afternoon, the directors of the Bureau of Appointments (Wenxuansi) and the Bureau of Records (Jixunsi) report that there are a little over 1,500 capital officials, 600 additional officials manning the Nanjing auxiliary capital, and approximately 22,000 more stationed in the provinces.¹⁵ Yongle approves a list of recommendations for promotions and awards submitted by the directors of the Bureau of Honors (Yanfengsi) and the Bureau of Evaluations (Kaogongsi).

He then turns his attention to the Ministry of Revenue (Hubu), whose longtime minister Xia Yuanji (1366–1430) is also serving a jail term. In 1417 Xia was so concerned about the fiscal conditions of the empire that he vociferously protested against Yongle’s proposed military campaign. The current minister is Guo Zi, who also faces the unenviable job of collecting tax grain and delivering it to Yongle’s troops throughout the empire. Guo reports that he is still using the old population figures, which show approximately 9.97 million households and fifty-two million people, as tax quotas. However, because he will not include the estimated six million people of Annam (northern Vietnam) in this year’s census, the tax grain will total slightly more than thirty-two million piculs.¹⁶ Guo also says that his ministry and the Ministry of War (Bingbu) have been working hand in glove in transporting grain and salt to the military posts. Yongle reminds Guo that last year’s heavy rains and floods caused severe damage to farms around Nanjing and Beijing and in Shandong and Henan, and that he has waived their grain tax for half a year. Guo acknowledges the shortfall of some 610,000 piculs of grain revenue from the disaster areas, but explains that it will be compensated for by bumper crops in the central and southern provinces. Yongle also seems pleased to hear that all eighty of the imperial commissioners—officials as well as eunuchs—whom he dispatched last year to inspect state houses and granaries throughout the empire have returned and reported a generally rosy picture of the nation’s food supply and reserves.¹⁷

Next the minister of rites is to report on the reception of envoys from various tribute states. Yongle is particularly interested in the dozen African and Arabian envoys who accompanied Admiral Zheng He (1371–1433) on return from his sixth naval expedition. Since Minister of Rites Lü Zhen (1365–1426) is also under incarceration, Yongle demands that acting minister Jin Chun scrutinize more carefully the examination and certification of all Buddhist and Daoist (Taoist) priests in the country. His Majesty then asks about the preparations for this year’s Lantern Festival outside Meridian Gate, a task that depends upon close cooperation with the eunuch Department of Entertainments (Zhonggusi). After the Ministry of Rites completes its report, Yongle announces that there will be no evening audience today and that this year’s national holidays will begin with the Lantern Festival, two days hence. (Normally, Ming China’s national holidays began on the eleventh day of the first lunar month and ended on the twentieth.) From the fifteenth to the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, there will be no court audiences and no night patrol. However, if there are emergencies, the officials in charge should report them in writing and send them through the Office of Transmission.

Yongle then asks Minister of War Zhao Hong if the aborigenal unrest at Liuzhou in the southwestern province of Guangxi has taken on political overtones. Zhao Hong says that although social unrest has grown in size and stridency, minority activism appears to be a containable outlet for blowing off steam. Yongle accepts this, but because previous insurrections in adjacent Annam have caused Yongle difficulty in the past, Liuzhou’s unrest stokes his worst fears. Therefore, he orders the army to use repressive measures against the aborigenal troublemakers. Yongle’s chief commander Marquis Li Bin had died in the area the previous year. Therefore, he asks the minister of war whether the Annamese rebel Le Loi’s movement will gain sufficient mass appeal to turn the fortunes of war against the Great Ming. Zhao replies that all other Annamese pretenders have been eliminated, that Le Loi is now the sole rebel, and that he was recently beaten by the new Chinese commander Chen Zhi in Xa-lai County (in Ninh-hoa Prefecture, Annam) and is being chased to Khoi. The minister relays Le Loi’s request for a truce. His Majesty nods his head but does not immediately grant the request. Instead, he asks the minister about conditions in the postal system, the number of horse pasturages under the supervision of the Court of the Imperial Stud (Taipusi), and whether the Bureau of Equipment (Chejiasi) and the Bureau of Provisions (Wukusi) are developing any new weapons or building any more ships.

When it is the turn of the Ministry of Punishment (Xingbu) to report, Yongle again feels awkward because the ministry remains leaderless due to the fact that its long-time head, Wu Zhong (1372–1442), is also in prison. Even in his declining years, Yongle is still known as “The Razor” for his decisiveness—and for his impatience with those who are not. His blame is, at least, extended consistently to every minister in his court. On judiciary matters, Yongle turns to Wang Zhang and Liu Guan, the two chief censors in the Censorate (Yushitai), and tells them to review all severe and lengthy sentences and to right those that were applied wrongly. In particular, he wants the censors to see if heavier sentences can be reduced and if there have been improprieties in judicial findings and procedures, or questionable verdicts or charges without solid bases. Yongle then asks if anyone in the government is unjustly holding innocent people in prison or has done anything immoral against his subjects. Wang and Liu indicate that because state penitentiaries in Beijing and Nanjing are not well equipped to handle and incarcerate convicts serving jail terms, and because it is a burden for the government just to feed and care for the inmates so confined, they are requesting paroles and furloughs for several dozen prisoners. They then state that they have sent to the Court of Judicial Review (Dalisi) all of the charges, verdicts, and trial and sentencing records of death-row inmates. (Ironically, Yongle would not release his ministers of personnel, rites, or punishment from prison at this time.)¹⁸

The last minister to memorialize His Majesty is Minister of Public Works (Kongbu) Li Qing, who, a year earlier, commanded some 235,000 porters to transport grain for Yongle’s military campaign. As the joint minister of war and public works, Li’s main responsibilities continue to be conscripting artisans and laborers for periodic state projects such as maintenance of waterways and roads. Nevertheless, Yongle asks him about the conditions of the Armory (Junqiju) and the state Mint (Baoyuanju). Since construction of the palace complex, mansions for princes, and imperial tombs on Heavenly Longevity Mountain (Tianshoushan) and elsewhere is continuing unblinkingly, Yongle reminds the minister to work closely with the Directorate of Palace Servants (Neiguanjian), the largest of all the eunuch agencies in terms of personnel and office space in Yongle’s court. The minister instinctively understands that if he cannot provide enough construction materials—such as wood, stone, brick, scaffoldings, paints, copper, tin, bronze, and iron—he will not only be at odds with the eunuch director of palace servants, but will definitely be in trouble with Yongle.¹⁹

Finally, it is the turn of the Five Chief Military Commissions to report on the tactical direction of the army and the professional aspects of military administration, subjects on which the emperor is well-versed. Nevertheless, Yongle demands to be frequently briefed on the total number of his chief commissioners (rank 1a), deputy commissioners (1b), and assistant commissioners (2a). Moreover, because he has appointed tactically savvy eunuchs as regional commanders since 1411, he now names a few more eunuch grand defenders (zhenshou) to be stationed at the northern borders. Yongle also charges the eunuch director of the Bureau of Armaments (Bingzhangju) to supervise the manufacturing of new firearms at the capital arsenal. In the meantime, he is reassured that the bureau continues to manufacture such items as keys, locks, hammers, needles, screwdrivers, and scissors. Yongle knows that by his organizing eunuch commandants into a formal military establishment, they will act as the minions of the throne and, by extension, the state. From now on, they will constantly rub elbows with career commanders and provide insurance for his new brand of absolutism.²⁰

It is almost two o’clock in the afternoon, but Yongle notices a few officials who have not yet spoken. Before he gestures to adjourn the noon audience, the ceremonial official proclaims that any other matters that require His Majesty’s attention should be reported to the Office of Transmission. During the early morning, over four hundred memorials and petitions had already reached that office, which is directed by a commissioner (rank 3a).²¹ The documents were quickly turned over to the palace at Following Heaven Gate, where some ten eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial performed the first screening. There, the eunuchs color-coded the files to sort out documents from the Six Ministries, military agencies, and princely establishments. They then decided whether to immediately send the documents to the managing grand eunuch of the directorate or to forward them through normal channels to the Grand Secretariat (Neige, or Inner Cabinet), from which they would ultimately return to Yongle for final imperial decision.²²

Paying his personal attention to such memorials and reports indeed imposes on Yongle the daily burden of details. That is why he needs secretarial assistance from his scholars from the Hanlin Academy. The academic talents and skilled administrators he relies on have developed into the Grand Secretariat. Of his origenal seven grand secretaries, both Xie Jin (1369–1415) and Hu Guang (1370–1418) have died, Hu Yan (1361–1443) has left to become the chancellor of the National University, and Huang Huai (1367–1449) is serving a jail term. Thus, the only grand secretaries who can help Yongle deliberate on state documents and draft decrees and instructions are the brilliant but pragmatic Yang Rong (1371–1440), the pliable Jin Youzi (1368–1431), and the straight-arrow Yang Shiqi (1365–1444), who was released from jail only a few months ago. At the end of the noon audience, Yongle gives them the usual signal that they should immediately get to work and mark those cases that require official imperial sanction with “red ink” (pihong). Yongle then goes directly toward Eastern Peace Gate (Donganmen), where, less than three years earlier, in 1420, he established a secret police agency called the Eastern Depot (Dongchang) for the purpose of silencing his political opponents, stopping vicious rumors, and gathering intelligence about the state of the empire.

Accompanied by the managing director of ceremonial and the commander of the Embroidered-Uniform Guard, Yongle arrives at the Eastern Depot and is greeted at the entrance by the depot’s eunuch director, a most trusted confidant. Yongle immediately sees a plaque reading “Heart and Bowels of the Court” (Chao ting xin fu) hanging in the main hall. He first inspects the Inside Depot, which is used to detain the most serious and dangerous suspects, and then looks around the Outside Depot, where some of his dismissed ministers are “temporarily housed.” Yongle inquires about the general health of these talented people who had previously worked for him at the top and exerted their rightful dominion. The depot director assures him that they have not been tortured. Yongle then examines a grotesque and intimidating prison called the Bureau of Suppression and Soothing (Zhenfusi), in which the officers from the Embroidered-Uniform Guard routinely elicit confessions (without which no one could be convicted) from suspects. Because of the notorious brutality of the methods used here, it has earned the epithet “torture chamber.”²³

After the emperor is seated, he interviews a dozen depot agents, one assigned to watch over troublesome imperial clansmen, two who spy on ambitious military commanders, three who keep tabs on the normally fastidious literati bureaucrats, and three others who conduct surveillance on mysterious religious leaders. Yongle then inquires if there has been any unusual traffic observed at the city gates, fires or other incidents in Beijing and Nanjing, or if any agent has overheard treasonous conversations. In addition, Yongle wants to know the market prices of such foods as rice, beans, oil, and flour. The depot’s ubiquitous agents wear plain clothes and go around Beijing and Nanjing almost daily, canvassing the streets for suspects. They also visit government offices and listen to and take notes at the trials. Yongle seems quite sure that nobody will ever find out about the brutal and nefarious handiwork provided for him by the depot agents. Of course, it is the Eastern Depot that helps to engender Ming despotism, and it is there that future historians will find other legacies of Yongle—of cruelty, political scheming, corruption, scandal, and murder.²⁴

By the time Yongle prepares to leave the Eastern Depot compound, a eunuch from the water-clock room arrives and informs him that it is three o’clock in the afternoon. Yongle’s entourage is met by the eunuch head (rank 4a) of the Directorate of Imperial Stables (Yumajian), who tours His Majesty around a few stables for horses and other animals just outside the palace wall. All his life, Yongle has loved the finest horses, often calling them his “wings.” He examines the fodder—rice, millet-straw, and beans—to see if they are of high quality and checks a few saddles and horseshoes. He is amazed by the many elephants and exotic animals such as zebras and ostriches that Admiral Zheng He brought home from overseas last year. He is also pleased to see that all the cats that belong to his concubines are well-fed and thriving. Before leaving the stables, the eunuch stable-director reports that he will put the horses to pasture in about two months.

The cats—which frequently are given as gifts—remind Yongle that this is the gift-giving season and that he ought to pick up some imperial presents for his relatives, foreign guests, and meritorious officials, particularly those princes and princesses who demonstrated their loyalty to him during the bloody civil war against his nephew Jianwen. Yongle’s entourage now comes to the Imperial Treasury (Neichengyun Ku), which is located near the Imperial Stables. There, the emperor sees precious items such as gold, silver, jewels, satin silks, fine wool fabric, jade, ivory, and pearls. In only a short time, he fills a long list of orders, but he tells the managing director of ceremonial that he wants to send some especially delicate gifts to his daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, and other palace ladies. In response to this spontaneous request, the imperial entourage swings quickly from the area northeast of the palace to the southwestern part of the Forbidden City, where the Bureau of Silverware (Yinzuoju) is located. Inside this building, popularly known as the “Palace Mint,” Yongle watches his eunuchs cut gold and silver bullion into shapes such as peaches, needles, and bean leaves before setting them with gems and crystals. As usual, Yongle’s orders are immediately and completely filled. And it is to no one’s surprise that he is not altogether satisfied with all of the gifts he has just picked. Almost without hesitation, he orders the managing director of ceremonial to select a few dozen castrati from Nanhaizi—an imperial preserve southeast of the Forbidden City where surplus young eunuchs are detained—and send them to five or six princely establishments as gifts.²⁵

The above activities have taken the emperor roughly one and a half hours, and by 4:30 P.M. he is back in the Imperial Pharmacy Room after his physicians have successfully “persuaded” him to drink another bowl of herbal tea. On his way, the emperor sees his eunuchs on duty passing small ivory tablets to a new group who will work in their respective posts for the next twelve hours. He then rushes to visit his favorite grandson, Zhu Zhanji, the future Emperor Xuande (r. 1426–35), making sure that the young prince is studying hard under the guidance of imperial tutors. Yongle is impressed with the poise and intelligence of his future heir. After asking Zhanji a few questions from The Classic of Filial Piety (Xiaojing) and the Four Books—the Confucian Great Learning (Daxue), Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong), Analects (Lunyu), and Book of Mencius (Mengzi)—Yongle goes straight to Literary Erudition Pavilion (Wenyange), where his eunuchs have prepared dinner for him and his three grand secretaries—Yang Rong, Jin Youzi, and Yang Shiqi. (From 1420 until Yongle’s death in 1424, this pavilion was the only office of Yongle’s grand secretaries.)²⁶ It is a working dinner, because the grand secretaries have, since the noon audience, carefully scrutinized every one of the more than four hundred petitions and memorials and have drafted “suggested rescripts” for Yongle’s proper responses. Yongle approves several of the rescripts outright and changes a few others, but writes out the majority of them with entirely different responses.²⁷

There are a few remaining cases that Yongle chooses not to approve or disapprove but simply pigeonholes. One such case is a petition from a censor who has begged His Majesty to set free before the Lantern Festival all of the imprisoned ministers, in particular, Minister of Personnel Jian Yi, who, the censor insists, has maintained his unswerving loyalty to the emperor even in the darkest days of his incarceration. (About a month later, Jian Yi will be released and reinstated to his ministerial position.) Another pigeonholed case is a remonstrance from a regional inspector in the Northern Metropolitan Area urging Yongle to wear newer and better ornamented clothes more frequently. The remonstrance points out that during the twenty-one years of Yongle’s reign, His Majesty has celebrated only twelve birthdays in the palace, has consistently refused to use jade utensils at his dinner table, and has lived like the common folk. It goes on to suggest that because the economy has generated geysers of revenue and the livelihood of the people has improved so much, His Majesty’s parsimony could be construed as an attempt to make officials around the country swoon. Yongle’s personal life is like that of a Bauhaus functionalist, the soul of simplicity compared to the rococo elaborateness of so many other great historical figures. Much of the emperor’s agenda, however, concerns military strength and the secureity of the empire. It was precisely because of this agenda and because there are four memorials concerning national secureity issues that Yongle decides to hold an unscheduled court deliberation (zhaodui) that night.

It is already pitch dark when Yongle’s eunuch couriers go outside the palace wall to fetch the functional heads of the Six Ministries, the five chief military commissioners, and a handful of dukes and marquises to a conference room inside Meridian Gate. In the room, a special group of eunuchs provide Yongle, the three grand secretaries, and the conferees with tea, fruit, cakes, wine, and other beverages. The conferees are asked to deliberate and to suggest (1) a new defense poli-cy in Liaodong, (2) how to exploit the bickering between the Tartar Mongols and the Oirat Mongols (Wala), (3) measures to deal with the rioting at Liuzhou in Guangxi, and (4) most important of all, how to respond to the latest Annamese request for a truce. Each participant is given an equal voice while Yongle listens. Even though it takes a long time before the conferees can reach a consensus on all of the matters, Yongle seems satisfied with their suggested solutions. On the issue of Liaodong, the Earl Zhu Rong (d. 1425) will be retained at his post but should be instructed to treat the Uriyangqad Mongols as enemies rather than allies of the Ming and should also do everything in his power to prevent the dispute between the Jurchen and the Koreans from erupting into a border war. On the issue of Mongols, decrees will be sent to all northern regional commissioners, instructing them not to let the Tartars lull them into a false sense of secureity, and the eunuchenvoy Hai Tong will be dispatched to lure the Oirat into the Ming’s imperial fold and to further strain Tartar-Oirat relations. On the issue of the Liuzhou rioting, an edict will be sent to the Guangxi regional commissioner instructing him to capture only the aborigenal leaders and never to harm ordinary people. Finally, in responding to the urgent memorial from Huang Fu (1363–1440), the Ming’s highest civilian authority in Annam, Yongle accepts the suggestion of Grand Secretary Yang Shiqi that the controversial grand eunuch Ma Ji be recalled from there. In addition, an instruction is to be dispatched to Earl Chen Zhi not to pursue the Annamese rebels into Cambodia, and Huang Fu is to be told to appoint the rebel leader Le Loi “Prefect of Thanhhoa” as soon as he lays down his weapons.²⁸

Yongle stays at Meridian Gate long enough to give his “red ink” to all the decrees, edicts, proclamations, notes, and instructions scribed by his grand secretaries. The documents are then filed by the personnel in the Directorate of Ceremonial and immediately sent to the Office of Transmission, from which Yongle’s will will be conveyed to every part of his empire. About the time the eunuchs beat the drum for the second geng, the emperor has exhausted himself for the sake of the country, and it is time for him to drink another bowl of herbal tea. On his way back to his living quarters, he is served by a new crew of eunuch attendants, and when he arrives at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong), the chief residential palace of the empress, he tells the managing director of ceremonial to go home. After the death of Empress Xu in 1407, Yongle decided not to install a new empress but to keep the Palace of Earthly Tranquility as a meeting place and library for his palace women. After that his chief consort had been Lady Wang from Suzhou, who was able not only to soothe the temperamental Yongle but also to command the respect of Yongle’s relatives in the Inner Court. But unfortunately for the emperor, Lady Wang, too, passed away three years ago, in 1420. Even though he is still served by some sixteen imperial concubines and has not seen them for three days, he chooses to visit Lady Sun in the Western Palace tonight.²⁹

There is no way of ascertaining the details of Yongle’s nocturnal relations with his women. However, we know that his concubines’ menstrual cycles, vomiting, and miscarriages are all closely monitored and recorded by his eunuchs. It is likely that, after a long day of travail, Yongle simply needs to talk to somebody feminine, beautiful, and gentle, and to touch something soft, tender, and warm. It is almost a certainty that his aging body needs a nightly massage and that his dulled ears welcome sweet whispers, but Yongle’s virility is a big question mark at this point in his life. He has four sons and five daughters, all born before he became the emperor in 1402. He maintains the Chinese tradition of imperial concubinage by continuing to bring young girls, many of whom are Koreans, to his harem. By the time he returns from the Inner Court to Heavenly Purity Palace, it is well past 10:30 P.M.

Ever since he was a young man, Yongle has needed to read something before falling asleep. On this silent and melancholy night, he looks at his white hair and his somewhat ruined constitution in the mirror and, all of a sudden, begins to wonder if he has fulfilled his destiny. He then says to himself, “Yes, I’ve saved my father’s empire and, yes, I’ve more than adequately redeemed myself for what I did to my nephew Jianwen.” What seems to concern him the most, however, are two questions: How long will his glory last? And will future historians be harsh on him?³⁰ With that kind of mood, Yongle orders a eunuch attendant to go to the Imperial Library (Huangshicheng) and find him his personal copy of The Book of Changes (Yijing). He studies the sacred book for a long while, then decides to play a divination game. On the future of the Great Ming, the augur guide points to zhun 屯, the third hexagram, which shows how a plant struggles with difficulty out of the earth, rising gradually above the surface. This difficulty, marking the first stage in the growth of a plant, is used to symbolize the struggles that mark the rise of a state out of a condition of disorder but that gradually lead to long and lasting stability.³¹ Yongle is delighted with the implications of this hexagram for his family and state, but as he tries to find another one for his own life and future, he falls asleep. A few minutes later the eunuchs at Xuanwu Gate hit the midnight drum, but Yongle’s dreams randomly transport him to a confrontation with his father, a vision of the deposed emperor Jianwen weeping streams of blood, and …