Zhu Yihai 朱以海, Prince of Lu 魯王

Zhu Yihai 朱以海 (1618-1662), known as the Prince of Lu 魯王, was a ruler of the Southern Ming dynasty 南明 (1644-1661). He was a descendant of one of the many sons of Emperor Taizu 明太祖 (r. 1368-1398), the founder of the Ming dynasty 明 (1368-1644), and inherited the princely title of his father in 1644. When Beijing, capital of the Ming empire, fell into the hands of the rebel Li Zicheng 李自成, and the central government disintegrated, he participated in a war of resistance in Taizhou 臺州, Zhejiang, with the support of the officials Zhang Guowei 張國維, Qian Sule 錢肅樂 and Zhang Huangyan 張煌言. Theysuggested to him to acquire the title of emperor, which indeed happened in 1646, when the armies of the Manchus crossed the Yangtze River, after having occupied northern China. Except on the above-mentioned persons he relied on the help of Sun Jiaji 孫嘉绩, Xiong Rulin 熊汝霖, Fang Guo'an 方國安 and Wang Zhiren 王之仁. At the same time as the Prince of Lu, the Prince of Tang 唐王 had adopted the title of emperor (the Longwu Emperor 隆武) and controled the province of Fujian, with the support of Zheng Zhilong 鄭芝龍. Both regimes fought each other, and therefore neither the latter nor Zhu Yihai were able to hold any territory against the overwhelming of the invaders, and the Prince of Lu fled to the south. Some of his loyal ministers, Zhang Mingzhen 張名振, Zheng Cai 鄭彩 and Zhang Huangyan assembled all remaining forces and ensured that the Prince of Lu could remain for some time in Changyuan 長垣 near Funing 福寧州 in the northeast of Fujian, before he had to flee to Zhoushan 舟山 at the east coast of Zhejiang. When the Manchu armies occupied this city he turned to the protection of Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 (also known as Coxinga; son of Zheng Zhilong) who controlled the coast of Southeast China, and lived on the island of Jinmen 金門 at the coast of Fujian, later in Nanyue 南澳, Guangdong. In 1653 he gave up the title of prince. He died from an illness in 1662, either in Jinmen, or in Taiwan. Some sources say that he was drowned in the sea by Zheng Chenggong.