Topic summary
Zhu Yuanzhang
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Hongwu Emperor.
Early life
Zhu Yuanzhang, the future Hongwu Emperor, was born in 1328 in Zhongli (鍾離) village, in Haozhou (present-day Fengyang, Anhui), China, then ruled by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He was the youngest of four sons born to the peasant family of Zhu Wusi and his wife, Lady Chen. He was given the name Zhu Chongba (朱重八) at birth, but used the name Zhu Xingzong (朱興宗) in adulthood. Later, as a rebel fighter against the Yuan dynasty, he used the name Zhu Yuanzhang, with the courtesy name Guorui, and posthumously renamed his father Zhu Shizhen. Zhu's grandfather and father fled across the Huai River valley to avoid tax collectors. His maternal grandfather was a fortune-teller and seer who, in his youth, had served in the army of the Song dynasty during its final struggle against the Mongols before the dynasty fell in 1279. His mother frequently told him stories imbued with a spirit of Song loyalism, which left a deep impression on him.