Hu Weiyong

Hu Weiyong (Chinese: 胡惟庸; pinyin: Hú Wéiyōng; Wade–Giles: Hu Wei-yung; died 1380) was a Chinese official of the early Ming dynasty and a close adviser of the Hongwu Emperor. In the second half of the 1370s, he headed the civil administration of the empire. However, in 1380, he was accused of treason and executed. The subsequent purge cost the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Hu was from Dingyuan County (present-day part of Chuzhou in Anhui Province). He was one of the first followers of the Hongwu Emperor, who rose to power during the Red Turban Rebellion and eventually founded the Ming dynasty.

With the support of his relative, Li Shanchang, he rose through the ranks until he was appointed Grand Chancellor (丞相). In this capacity, he headed the Central Secretariat and directed all civil administration of the Ming dynasty; in modern terminology, he was the prime minister.

At the end of 1379, he was removed from office and at the beginning of the following year, the deputy censor accused him of attempting to overthrow the emperor. Investigators soon constructed a picture of a conspiracy led by Hu, which, with the support of part of the army, as well as the Mongols and Japanese, aimed at a coup d'état, including the assassination of the emperor. He was executed on 12 February 1380, along with the Censor-in-chief Chen Ning. However, the purge continued; even distant relatives of the accused, their helpers and protégés, relatives of these protégés, and so on, a total of 30,000 to 40,000 people were killed.

The fall of Hu was accompanied by a reorganization of the highest state administration bodies. The Central Secretariat post was abolished and six ministries were directly subordinated to the emperor. The Chief Military Commission, which stood at the head of the armed forces, was divided into five independent commissions, and the Censorate was reorganized.

See also

• Lan Yu
• Li Shanchang
• Liu Bowen
• Yang Xian

Citations

Works cited

• Andrew, Anita N; Rapp, John A (2000). . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. ISBN 0-8476-9580-8.
• Dreyer, Edward L. (1982). . Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1105-4.
• Farmer, Edward L (1995). Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering of Chinese Society Following the Era of Mongol Rule. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-10391-0.
• Fairbank, John King; Goldman, Merle (2006). China: A New History. Belknap Press; Second Enlarged Edition.
• Hucker, Charles O (1958). . Vol. 21. Brill Academic Publishers.