Zhu Changluo was born in 1582, the 10th year of the Wanli era, to the Wanli Emperor and a palace attendant, Lady Wang, who served under the Emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Xiaoding. After it was discovered that Lady Wang was pregnant, the Emperor was persuaded by his mother to make her a concubine and awarded her the title "Consort Gong of the Second Grade" (恭妃). However she was never one of the Wanli Emperor's favourite consorts. After his birth, Zhu Changluo was largely ignored by his father even though he, as the firstborn son of the emperor, was by default the heir apparent (crown prince) according to the Ming dynasty's traditional rules of succession. He was born shortly after his elder sister, the Princess Rongchang; the Wanli Emperor's eldest child and only child with his primary wife Empress Xiaoduanxian.