Ministers › Remonstrators
Wei Dazhong
Donglin supervising secretary who impeached Wei Zhongxian and Madame Ke and was tortured to death in the imperial prison, one of the Six Gentlemen.
Mural of the event “Purge of the Donglin Faction”, which this person took part in.
Under the Tianqi Emperor (1624–1627) the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke dominated the court; Donglin officials such as Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou died in the imperial prison, and Zhou Shunchang's arrest in Suzhou set off a townspeople's revolt. After the Chongzhen Emperor's accession Wei hanged himself, and in 1629 the court proclaimed the Traitors' Case.
Also known as Zi Kongshi · Hao Kuoyuan
- Roles
- Remonstrators
Wei Dazhong, courtesy name Kongshi, sobriquet Kuoyuan, came from Jiashan and passed the palace examination in 1616. Outspoken and upright, he became chief supervising secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel in 1624, and after Yang Lian listed twenty-four crimes of Wei Zhongxian he too denounced the eunuch, warning that everyone around the emperor now belonged to Wei and Madame Ke rather than to the throne. In 1625 the eunuch faction used the Wang Wenyan case to accuse him, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others of taking bribes from Xiong Tingbi; he was thrown into the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, tortured, and died there that year. He is one of the Six Gentlemen of the Donglin.
Life and times
Dates 1575–1625 CE
- 1624Purge of the Donglin FactionTook partage 49
- 1624Yang Lian Impeaches Wei Zhongxianage 49
- 1625Six Gentlemen Die in Imperial Prisonage 50