Emperor Wanli

The Wanli Emperor (1563-1620) was the thirteenth emperor of China's Ming dynasty, reigning from 1572 until his death in 1620, one of the longest reigns in Ming history. His early years on the throne, guided by the capable minister Zhang Juzheng, saw effective governance and successful military campaigns, but after Zhang's death Wanli grew increasingly disengaged from state affairs, at times refusing to meet with his officials for years at a time. This prolonged neglect of government is widely regarded by historians as a major contributing factor to the institutional decline that weakened the Ming dynasty in the decades before its collapse.