Prince of Ning rebellion

Prince of Ning rebellion
Map of the rebellion:   Prince of Ning's army advances,   Prince of Ning's army retreated,   Wang Yangming's army advances,   Wang Yangming's army retreated.
Date 10 July – 20 August 1519 Location Modern day Jiangxi Province, Southern China Result Prince of Ning defeated
Belligerents
Prince of Ning	Ming dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Zhu Chenhao Li Shishi Liu Yangzheng	Wang Yangming Wu Wending Zhang Wenjin
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	寧王之亂
Simplified Chinese	宁王之乱
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Níng wáng zhīluàn

The Prince of Ning rebellion was a revolt led by Zhu Chenhao, Prince of Ning, against the reigning Ming emperor, Zhengde Emperor. It took place in Nanchang, the capital of the southern Chinese province of Jiangxi, and lasted from 10 July to 20 August 1519. The rebellion was ultimately quelled when the government army, led by Wang Yangming, the grand coordinator of southern Jiangxi, captured the Prince of Ning. The Prince of Ning revolt was one of two princely rebellions during the Zhengde Emperor's reign; it was preceded by the Prince of Anhua rebellion in 1510.^[1]

Zhu Chenhao, who was ambitious and eager for power, attempted to gain control of his home province of Jiangxi. With the support of his followers at court, he offered his son as a potential heir to the childless Zhengde Emperor. However, by the summer of 1519, the Prince of Ning's illegitimacy was exposed to the emperor, causing him to fear arrest and openly rebel. His plan was to gather an army and march on Nanjing, the Ming's secondary capital, three days after the uprising began. He aimed to reach Nanjing five days later and officially claim the throne.

The rebels' plan ultimately failed. Grand coordinator Wang Yangming, the highest-ranking official in the province, managed to escape the rebels at the start of the rebellion. He then organized resistance in Ji'an, southern Jiangxi, and gathered an army. In an attempt to deceive the rebels, he fed them false information. This caused the prince to delay his march on Nanjing, and he didn't set out from Nanchang until 27 July. Meanwhile, Wang Yangming had gathered troops from prefects and county magistrates throughout Jiangxi. He then marched on Nanchang and easily captured it on 14 August. The rebel army, which had returned, was defeated by Wang Yangming's forces in a three-day battle on Lake Poyang, north of Nanchang. The prince was captured during this battle.

Upon hearing news of the rebellion, the Zhengde Emperor traveled south from Beijing with his army. However, he did not arrive in Nanjing until January 1520. From there, he launched an investigation into the rebellion, which lasted until the end of 1520. The investigation resulted in the execution of the most significant participants and their supporters at court. The prince was allowed to commit suicide. In September 1520, the emperor returned to Beijing but fell ill on the way and died in the spring of 1521.