the Longqing Emperor's son. His rule of 48 years would be the longest in the Ming dynasty and it witnessed the steady decline of the dynasty.
Wanli also saw the arrival of the first Jesuit missionary in Beijing, Matteo Ricci.
Wanli ascended the throne at the age of 9. For the first ten years of his reign, the young emperor was aided by a notable statesman, Zhang
Juzheng (張居正). Zhang Juzheng directed the path of the country and exercised his skills and power as an able administrator. After Zhang's
death in 1582, Wanli felt that he was free of supervision and reversed many of Zhang's administrative improvements.
After Zhang's death, Wanli seldom attended state affairs and for years at a time would refuse to receive his ministers or read any reports sent to
him. Wanli also extorted money from the government, and ultimately his own people, for his personal enjoyment. One example was the close
attention he paid to the construction of his own tomb, which took decades to complete. The Wanli Emperor then became disenchanted with the
moralistic attacks and counterattacks of officials, becoming thoroughly alienated from his imperial role. He finally resorted to vengeful tactics of
blocking or ignoring the conduct of administration. For years on end he refused to see his ministers or act upon memorials. He refused to make
necessary appointments, and eventually became so obese he was unable even to stand without assistance. [1] The whole top echelon of Ming
administration became understaffed. In short, Wanli tried to forget about his imperial responsibilities while squirreling away what he could for his
private purse. Considering the emperor's required role as the kingpin of the state, this personal rebellion against the bureaucracy was not only
bankruptcy but treason.
The Wanli emperor’s reign is representative of the decline of the Ming. He was an unmotivated and avaricious ruler who allowed his country to
fall apart under his rule. His reign was plagued with fiscal woes, military pressures, and angry bureaucrats. He also had sent eunuch supervisors
to provinces to oversee mining operations which actually became covers for extortion. Discontent with the lack of morals during this time, a
group of scholars and political activists loyal to Zhu Xi and against Wang Yangming, created the Donglin Movement, a political group who
believed in upright morals and tried to affect the government. During the closing years of Wanli's reign, the Manchu began to conduct raids on
the northern border of the Ming Empire. Their depredations ultimately led to the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1644. The Wanli Emperor died
in 1620 and was buried in Dingling (定陵) located on the outskirts of Beijing. His tomb is one of the biggest in the vicinity compared and is one of
only two that are open to the public.
