The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun ( 日壇 ) in the east, the Temple of Earth ( 地壇 ) in the north, and the Temple of Moon ( 月壇 ) in the west.

He is also well known for his corruption and had been known to openly sell government positions for cash during the Jiajing reign.

The Jiajing Emperor was known to be a cruel and self-aggrandizing emperor and he also chose to reside outside of the Forbidden City in Beijing so he could live in isolation.

He also purged the government of corrupt officials namely Daoist priests whom the Jiajing Emperor had favoured in the hope of improving the situation in the empire.

Waley also suggests a comparison of the several poems present in the Jin Ping Mei to the poetic production of Xu Wei, and draws attention to the fact that the circulation of the work from Soochow in the XVIII century began from the only known complete copy of a manuscript in the possession of the Xu family, attributed to a scholar of the Jiajing period ; which would, Waley observe, perfectly fit Xu Wei himself.

The period of greatest Wokou activity was during the Jiajing and Wanli eras, also some of the weakest in Ming history.

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake () or Jiajing earthquake () was a catastrophic earthquake and is also the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830, 000 people.

Because the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing Emperor ( known also under the temple name Shizong ; reigned 1521 – 1567 ) was born and had lived in the city before he succeeded to the throne, Zhongxiang, the place where the Chengtian Prefecture ( fu ) Government Office was located, became one of the three major prefectures directly under the central government.

In 1557, under the supervision of the Jiajing Emperor, the encyclopedia was narrowly saved from being destroyed by a fire that burnt down three palaces in the Forbidden City.

There, beyond the Great Wall of China, a large but scattered population of native Christians had taken refuge from the persecutions of Jiajing ( Kia-king ), in an earlier era.

The Jiajing Emperor ( Wade-Giles: Chia-ching Emperor ; ; ; 16 September 1507 – 23 January 1567 ) was the 11th Ming Dynasty Emperor of China who ruled from 1521 to 1567.

Jiajing on his state barge, from a scroll painted in 1538 by unknown court artists

A porcelain vase with glazed fish designs, from the Jiajing reign period.

File: Ming Dynasty porcelain dish, Jiajing Reign Period ( 2 ). JPG | A Ming blue-and-white porcelain dish from the reign of the Jiajing Emperor ( 1521-1567 AD )

His title -- ' Exhibitor of the Fundamental Principles of the Sage ,' dates from the period of Jiajing, as mentioned in speaking of Yan Hui.

Jiajing Emperor in the Ming Dynasty died from ingesting a lethal dosage of mercury in the supposed " Elixir of Life " conjured by alchemists.

Image: Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 271108. jpg | A porcelain vase with design of men fighting on horseback, from the Jiajing reign period ( 1521 – 1567 ), Ming Dynasty.

As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an " honorary " imperial rank, and had an imperial-style Xianling Mausoleum built for them near Zhongxiang.

Particularly during his later years, Jiajing was known for spending a great deal of time on alchemy in hopes of finding medicines to prolong his life.

The regnal names of some monarchs were long, for example Lý Thái Tổ, Lý Thái Tông, Jiajing Emperor and Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire.

From the period of the Jiajing Emperor ( 1522 – 66 ) on, a pair of phoenixes was differentiated by the tail feathers of the two birds ( typically together forming a closed circle pattern — the male identified by five serrated tail feathers ( five being an odd, or yang number ) and the female by what appears to be one, but is in fact, two ( two being an even, or yin number ) curling or tendrilled tail feathers.

* January 23 – After 45 years ' reign, the Jiajing Emperor dies in the Forbidden City.

After 45 years on the throne ( the second longest reign in the Ming dynasty ), Emperor Jiajing died in 1567 – possibly due to mercury overdose believing to be the Elixir of Life – and was succeeded by his son, the Longqing Emperor.

After the death of the Jiajing Emperor, Longqing inherited a country in disarray after years of mismanagement and corruption.

The young and newly empowered Emperor Shizong ( Jiajing Emperor ) tried to posthumously give his father the title of emperor in order to legitimize his claim to the throne.

Only Yan Song, a few handful of eunuchs and Daoist priests ever saw Jiajing.

The deadliest earthquake of all times, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed approximately 830, 000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.

* 1507 – Jiajing Emperor of China ( d. 1567 )

* May 27 – Jiajing Emperor ascends the throne of the Ming Dynasty.

According to the Ming Shi, these cannons are soon presented to the Jiajing Emperor by Wang Hong, and their design is copied in 1529.

* January 23 – Jiajing Emperor of China ( b. 1507 )

* September 16 – Jiajing Emperor of China ( d. 1567 )

Modern scholars still debate on whether or not the Ming Dynasty really had sovereignty over Tibet at all, as some believe it was a relationship of loose suzerainty which was largely cut off when the Jiajing Emperor ( ruled in 1521 – 67 ) persecuted Buddhism in favor of Daoism at court and some scholars argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship.

The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century.

The Altar was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740.

The Hongzhi Emperor and Jiajing Emperor's physicians were executed.

Yan Song was the prime minister who served under the Emperor Jiajing.

* It disappeared at the death of the Jiajing Emperor, having been taken by the emperor to his grave, and it has yet to be found in the tomb complex of Yongling.

Thus emperors like Zhengde sneaked out of the palace while emperors like Jiajing and Wanli simply didn't show up at court.

" The Jiajing Emperor prevailed, and hundreds of his opponents were banished, physically beaten in the court ( 廷杖 ) or executed.

Ignoring state affairs, Jiajing employed incapable individuals such as Zhang Cong and Yan Song, on whom he thoroughly relied to handle affairs of state.