| dc.description.abstract | On the 17th year of the reign of Emperor Chongzhen (Temple name: Ming Sizong) of the Ming Dynasty, there were as many as 50 members in the cabinet, they are the so-called ＂Chongzhen 50 prime ministers＂, the cabinet ministers went through constant replacements, the extent to which the Emperor values and relies on the cabinet ministers, influenced how the cabinet votes and make decision.
At the end of November of the 7th year of Tianqi (1627), Sizong asked the court to nominate cabinet members, followed the “Mei Pu” ceremony as ancient times, and picked six cabinet scholars. On the first year of Chongzhen (1628), Si Zong decided to hold another “Mei Pu” ceremony to name cabinet members. Under the strong operations of the ＂Donglin People＂, Zhou Yanru (1593~1644) and Wen Tiren (1573~1638) were not included in the list, Wen Tiren thus took this opportunity and proposed an impeachment against Qian Qianyi (1582~1664) of fraud, this leads to the end of the “Mei Pu” ballot. The following year Sizong appointed Zhou Yanru to enter the cabinet. In June, the third year of Chongzhen, Wen Tiren was also admitted to the cabinet.
During the “Mei Pu” ballot, Wen Tiren and Chu Yanru’s joint attack on Quan Quanyi and the “Donglin People” has initiated an ongoing party struggle. In September, the 3rd year of Chongzhen (1630), the prime minister Cheng Jiming retires, Zhou Yanru took over. However, Zhou was forced to retire after the strife of Wen Tiren. Wen served as the prime minister for 7 years in total, since June, the 3rd year of Chongzhen (1630) until June, the 10th year of Chongzhen (1637). He was the prime minister who has served the longest period of time. He died of illness at home one year after his retirement. Chongzhen named him the Grand Tutor and gave him a posthumous title “Wenzhong”. However, according to the “Ming History” written by Zhang Tingyu (1672~1755), Wen Tiren was listed in the Traitors Biography. The focus of this article will cover the political responsibilities and accomplishments of Wen Tiren, and his conflicts with the “Donglin People”. | en_US |