Zhu Youzhen

Zhu Youzhen
朱友貞
Emperor of the Later Liang dynasty
Reign913[1] – November 18, 923
PredecessorZhu Yougui
SuccessorDynasty abolished
Born20 October 888[2][3]
Died18 November 923(923-11-18) (aged 35)[3][4]
Full name
  • Family name:
    Zhū (朱)
  • Given name:
    Originally Yǒuzhēn (友貞),
    later Huáng (鍠) (changed 913),
    later Zhèn (瑱) (changed 915)
Era dates
Qiánhuà (乾化) (913–915)[5]
Zhēnmíng (貞明) (915–921)
Lóngdé (龍德) (921–923)
HouseZhu
DynastyLater Liang

Zhu Zhen (Chinese: 朱瑱) (20 October 888[2][3] – 18 November 923[3][4]), often referred to in traditional histories as Emperor Mo of Later Liang (後梁末帝, "last emperor") and sometimes by his princely title Prince of Jun (均王), né Zhu Youzhen (朱友貞), known as Zhu Huang (朱鍠) from 913 to 915, was the third and last emperor of China's Later Liang dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, ruling from 913 to 923. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him in 923 when Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the emperor of Later Liang's enemy Later Tang to the north, was on the cusp of capturing the Later Liang capital Daliang. His death marked the end of Later Liang, which was to be the longest among the Five Dynasties. Despite his ten-year reign being the longest of all the Five Dynasties emperors (if one does not count Li Cunxu's reign as the Prince of Jin prior to taking imperial title) sources on his era are relatively scarce, as many Later Liang records were destroyed following the Later Tang conquest of the Later Liang (as the Later Tang viewed the Later Liang as an illegitimate regime).

  1. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 268.
  2. ^ a b Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 8.
  3. ^ a b c d Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
  4. ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 272.
  5. ^ Qianhua was an era name carried over from his father Zhu Wen and actually began in 911.