Tu Tiemuer

Also known as Yuan Wenzong · Zhaya Duhan

Tugh Temur, second son of Emperor Wuzong, was born in 1304 and spent years in exile at Qiongzhou on Hainan and at Jiankang under his predecessors. When Emperor Taiding died at Shangdu in 1328, the general El Temur proclaimed Tugh Temur emperor at Dadu under the era name Tianli, while the court at Shangdu enthroned Taiding's young son Aragibag; in the war of the two capitals that followed, Dadu won. In 1329 he yielded the throne to his elder brother Kusala, Emperor Mingzong, who died suddenly at Ongqochadu a few months later, and Tugh Temur took the throne again. That year he founded the Kuizhang Pavilion academy, where Yu Ji, Ke Jiusi and other scholars catalogued paintings and calligraphy, and he ordered Zhao Shiyan and Yu Ji to compile the administrative compendium Jingshi dadian. He died at Shangdu in 1332, asking that a son of Mingzong succeed him, and received the temple name Wenzong; El Temur dominated the court throughout his reign.