Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋
Zhu Yuanzhang grew up in a family of poor tenant farmers, yet by the age of forty he was ruling the country from Nanjing as the first emperor of the Ming. Between his monastery youth and the throne lay years of war, when he had to negotiate with other rebel leaders and build his own army. Series about him often begin by recounting this long road to power, while in stories about Zhu Di he appears as an already aging emperor who must decide who will inherit the throne.
Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) was born in 1328 in the Huai River valley, in what is now Anhui Province. His family lived off the land and was very poor. After famine and disease swept the region, he ended up at a Buddhist monastery and spent some time wandering. What is known about this period comes mainly from accounts written down after his rise to power.
In 1352 he joined the army of Guo Zixing, which was connected to the Red Turban movement. Warlords and officials gradually gathered around Zhu. In 1356 his troops took Jicing, the future Nanjing. From there he waged war against rivals who also had armies and territory. In 1368 Zhu proclaimed himself emperor and founded the Ming dynasty. That same year his troops took the Yuan capital Dadu, and the Yuan court retreated north.
Under the Hongwu Emperor, agriculture was restored and land and households were reassessed for tax collection. The emperor sought to keep the reins of government in his own hands. In 1380, after the case of Chancellor Hu Weiyong, he abolished the Central Secretariat and placed the six ministries directly under the throne. The purges that followed swept up people who had once helped him fight and govern. His eldest son and heir, Zhu Biao, died before his father. After Hongwu's death in 1398, the throne passed to his grandson Zhu Yunwen. His uncle Zhu Di was to contest that inheritance.
In The Beggar King Legend (1998), Zhu Yuanzhang was played by Kenny Ho. In the series Founding Emperor Of Ming Dynasty (2006), Zhou Ti plays him in his youth and Hu Jun as an adult. In The Imperial Age (2022), Chen Bao-Guo plays the founder of the Ming in a story about the next generation, where the focus falls on his son Zhu Di.
