Biography

Zhu Changfang was the son of Zhu Yiliu (簡王翊鏐) and the grandson of the Longqing Emperor. He inherited the title Prince of Lu from his father in 1618. After his father's death Zhu had an elaborate mausoleum constructed in Xinxiang County, covering over . The mausoleum incorporated several unorthodox elements, including a separate grave for his father's concubine, a greater number of guards than normal, and novel animal sculptures.

When Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng rebelled against the Chongzhen Emperor, Zhu applied to the throne for permission to undertake military action against the rebels. However his campaign was unsuccessful and he was forced to flee to Hangzhou. After the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide in 1644, Zhu was petitioned by his advisors Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu (高弘圖) to assume the throne in exile, however it was his relative Zhu Yousong who eventually took the throne as the Hongguang Emperor. He was executed in 1646 in Beijing, after surrendering to the Qing dynasty along with a number of other Southern Ming princes.

Works

Zhu Changfang was a noted practitioner of calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting, as well as being a musician who performed on the guqin. He made (or oversaw the making of) over 300 guqin, created a new type of guqin incorporating Western design elements, and developed a guqin musical style he termed the "Central Harmony". He also wrote a treatise on the instrument, the Guyin Zhengzong (古音正宗）, in 1634, as well as a book on Chinese chess. Zhu's main literary output was, however, biographical; he composed a considerable number of biographies of imperial personages.

Zhu's calligraphy was well-regarded by contemporary critics. His calligraphy was patterned after that of Wang Xizhi, and he produced calligraphic and artistic works in several styles. He was responsible for inscriptions at the City God Temple at Weihui and the Western Great Temple in Zhonghe, as well as many other inscriptions and scrolls, but after his death his work was largely overlooked, to the extent that one of his bronze inscriptions was listed in a Qing catalogue of antiquaries as being from the Zhou dynasty (which ended over 1800 years before Zhu's birth).

生平

潞簡王朱翊鏐死時朱常淓才6歲，由母妃李氏處理藩事。朱常淓工書畫、好古玩，在繪畫、音律、書法方面的造詣都不錯。監製琴三千餘張，被稱為「潞琴」，和寧獻王朱權、益端王朱祐檳、衡恭王朱祐楎、慶王朱厚燆等合稱「四王琴」。同時還著有古琴譜《古音正宗》。又仿《宣和博古圖》造銅器數千，埋于土中。兼通佛典，號「潞佛子」。指甲長六七寸，以竹筒護之。

崇禎十七年二月二日，闖軍劉芳亮攻佔懷慶府（今沁陽）。即東進河南省衛輝府，潞王府危在旦夕。二月十九日朱常淓決定棄城出逃。先逃到無錫、南京再到杭州。

弘光元年（1645年）五月下旬，弘光帝被俘的消息傳到杭州，于是馬士英、阮大鋮、朱大典、張秉貞、何綸、袁宏勛等商量請當時在杭州的朱常淓監國，六月初七日（1645年6月30日），鄒太后（弘光帝朱由崧嫡母）命朱常淓監國，懿旨曰：「爾親為叔父，賢冠諸藩。昔宣廟東征，襄、鄭監國，祖憲俱在，今可遵行。」六月初八日（7月1日），朱常淓稱監國于杭州，次日，黃道周建議朱常淓在十日內即位稱帝，但朱常淓卻根據馬士英的意見，派陳洪範作為監國潞王的代表與清軍和談。

弘光元年六月十一日（7月4日）清軍逼近杭州，馬士英、阮大鋮、朱大典等均各自逃命，而陳洪範回到杭州與張秉貞等勸潞王勿戰，郊迎清兵，開城投降。楚王朱華壁聞訊勸說潞王：「國祚憫凶，至于此極。撫膺北睇，何以為生？以殿下之賢，遠近所聞，天下絕智殊力，方將憑附以起。周之孫子，能無睠然，宋人半壁，亦嘗有年。況閩、粵、滇、蜀，延袤萬里，猶吾故物。失今不為，時事一去，萬事不複。他日求尺寸地為死所，豈可得哉？」朱常淓對曰：「公休矣！吾非其才。此百姓之心已不可挽任，吾誰與為之？」朱華壁作色曰：「殿下何悖！朱家子孫謝勿力，彼何望而不跂向他氏？果提三尺劍，誓與國共存亡，則孱弱可起，況乎皆衣食吾祖者耶！」朱常淓又推脫說「營兵恐不任用，錢穀必不給。吾為此，不失為知幾」。朱華堞泣而告曰：「今國安並數萬屯西郊，方請命，而鴻達潰卒尚可集，發布政司存金，益以鹽運司所貯，無煩徵比。此五營額兵，出東義皆健，又招募良人，當一日至，線索在手控縱間耳。」朱常淓終不聽，朱華壁拂袖而起，裂冠帶擲地而去。

弘光元年六月十三日（7月6日），朱常淓開城降清，當年九月與朱由崧及弘光朝廷的一些被俘官員一起被送至北京。翌年四月初九日（1646年5月23日）與朱由崧、秦王、晉王、衡王、德王、荊王等九王俱在北京被殺，罪曰：「謀不軌」（即謀擁立朱常淓造反）。事聞隆武帝，追謚閔王。