元傑 Yuánjié

Yuanjie, Prince of Yue

Yuanjie, Prince Wenhui of Yue, courtesy name Mingzhe, was first named Dehe. In the eighth year of Taiping Xingguo he left the palace to set up his own household and changed his name. He was made Acting Grand Guardian and Joint Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery, and enfeoffed as Prince of Yi. At the beginning of Duangong he was given the added titles of concurrently Chancellery Director, Governor of Chengdu, and Military Commissioner of Jiannan East and West Chuan. In the Chunhua years his fief was moved and he became Prince of Wu, serving as Administrator of the Grand Area Commands of Yang and Run and Military Commissioner of Huainan and the Zhenjiang Army. In the second year of Zhidao he was made instead Grand Area Commander of Yang Prefecture and Military Commissioner of the Huainan Zhongzheng Army. When Zhenzong came to the throne, he was made Acting Grand Commandant and concurrently Secretariat Director, Grand Area Commander of Xu Prefecture, and Military Commissioner of the Wuning, Taining and other armies, and his fief was changed to Prince of Yan. In the Xianping years, at both of the suburban sacrifices he made the final offering, and he was given the added title of acting Grand Guardian. In the seventh month of the sixth year he died suddenly, at the age of thirty-two. Edit

Yuanjie was quick-witted and fond of learning. He wrote well, and was skilled in cursive, clerical and "flying white" script. He built a library holding twenty thousand scrolls of books, and pavilions and terraces as places to stroll and rest. Once he had an artificial hill made, and when it was finished he set out wine and invited his staff to view it. Only the Tutor Yao Tan kept his head bowed and would not look. When Yuanjie pressed him, Tan said: "I see a hill of blood. How can I see an artificial hill?" He meant that the prefectures and counties flogged the humble people to collect taxes, and that the artificial hill had in truth been made with those taxes. The words are given in the biography of Yao Tan. Edit

When he died, Zhenzong, hearing of it, was shocked and grieved. Without waiting for daybreak, he walked as far as the Middle Palace Gate before taking a litter to go and see him, and his grief moved all around him. Court was suspended for five days. Yuanjie was posthumously made Grand Commandant and Director of the Department of State Affairs, and given the title Prince of An, with the posthumous name Wenhui; later he was made Prince of Xing, and later again Prince of Chen. He had no son. Renzong made Zongwang, grandson of Prince Gongxian and son of Yunyan, his heir. Edit

Zongwang

Zongwang, courtesy name Ziguo, ended his career as General-in-Chief of the Right Militant Guard and Defence Commissioner of Shuzhou, and was posthumously made Surveillance Commissioner and Acting Military Commissioner of the Anhua Army and Duke of Gaomi Commandery. Renzong once sat in the Yanhe Hall to test the calligraphy of the young men of the imperial clan, and placed Zongwang first. Zongwang also often presented his writings; the emperor gave him books from the Directorate of Education, and gave him the four characters "Fond of Learning and Delighting in Goodness" written in his own hand on gilded patterned gauze. A pavilion for the imperial writing was built at his residence, and the emperor wrote the name board for it. Edit

Zhongge

His son Zhongge succeeded him. In the third year of Xining, on the same day as Zongsu, grandson of Prince Gongjing of Shang, and others, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Chen. He rose to be Surveillance Commissioner of Chen Prefecture. When he died he was given the posthumous name Liangxi. Edit

Shiguan

His son Shiguan succeeded him. When his father died, he walked several hundred li escorting the coffin, and those who saw him on the road sighed with pity. When he died he was posthumously made Surveillance Commissioner of Chen Prefecture. When Huizong came to the throne, the title Prince of Chen was changed to Prince of Yue. Edit