Hongwu Emperor
Ming · 1st ruler
洪武帝 Hóngwǔ Dì朱元璋 Zhū Yuánzhāng
Wade–Giles: Hung-wu Emperor · Chu Yüan-chang
Reigned 1368–1398 (30 years)
Reigned 30 years (1368–1398). Died at 71 (East Asian reckoning) of natural causes. 1st ruler of Ming.
Facts
- Reign
- 23 January 1368 – 24 June 1398 (1st ruler of Ming)
- Length of reign
- 30 years
- Born
- 1328
- Died
- 24 June 1398
- Age at accession
- 41
- Age at death
- 71
- Cause of death
- Natural causesNatural death or illness (including old age)
- Path to the throne
- Self-proclaimedFounded the titleClaimed the imperial title without receiving the throne from an earlier ruler (e.g. Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Hongwu Emperor)
- Successor
- Jianwen Emperor
- Era names
- 洪武 Hóngwǔ (proclaimed 1368)
Ages are given in East Asian reckoning (sui): a person is one year old at birth and gains a year at each New Year, so the figure is one or two years higher than the Western age.
Life
In brief
Emperor Taizu of Ming was Zhu Yuanzhang, who rose from among the common people and in 1368 took the imperial throne and named the state Ming.
Road to the throne
The History of Ming records that after drought, locusts and epidemic killed his parents and elder brother, Zhu Yuanzhang, with no one left to rely on, entered the Huangjue Temple as a monk. When Guo Zixing rose in arms at Haozhou in 1352, Zhu Yuanzhang joined him, and Guo Zixing gave him his adopted daughter, Lady Ma, as a wife. When Guo Zixing died in 1355, Han Lin'er appointed Guo Tianxu commander-in-chief and Zhang Tianyou and Zhu Yuanzhang vice commanders, but Zhu Yuanzhang refused to be under anyone's control. In the same year Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the Yangtze and took Caishi and Taiping, and when Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou were killed in battle, all of Guo Zixing's commanders came over to him. In 1363 he fought Chen Youliang on Lake Poyang, and Chen Youliang was killed by a stray arrow. In 1367 Xu Da took Pingjiang and captured Zhang Shicheng. In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang sacrificed to Heaven and Earth at the southern suburb and took the imperial throne, naming the realm Ming and the era Hongwu.
Reign and death
In 1380 the Left Chancellor Hu Weiyong was executed for plotting rebellion, the Secretariat was abolished, and the office of chancellor and related posts were done away with. In 1392 the crown prince Zhu Biao died, and Zhu Yuanzhang made his grandson Yunwen imperial grandson-heir. In 1393 Lan Yu, Duke of Liang, was executed on a charge of rebellion. In 1395 Zhu Yuanzhang told his ministers that future rulers must never restore the post of chancellor. In 1398 Zhu Yuanzhang fell ill and died in the Western Palace. The basic annals of the History of Ming do not name the illness. His testamentary edict ordered that the imperial grandson-heir Yunwen ascend the throne. Working out his birth year from the two places where the basic annals of the History of Ming give his age yields 1328 and 1329, one year apart.
Translated from the Japanese text of this site, which is written from the official histories. Years are given in the Western calendar; months are omitted because the histories use the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the reign
Number of times each event is recorded in the official histories. How each item is counted
- Era name changes
- 1
- General amnesties
- 3
- Empresses installed
- 1
- Crown princes deposed
- 0
- Personal campaigns
- 0
- Rebellions suppressed
- 35
- Rebellions faced
- 35
- Capital relocations
- 0
Emperors of Ming
- 1stHongwu Emperor洪武帝 Hóngwǔ Dì朱元璋 Zhū Yuánzhāng1368–1398 · 30 years · Natural causes, age 711368–139830 yearsNatural causes, age 71
- 2ndJianwen Emperor建文帝 Jiànwén Dì朱允炆 Zhū Yǔnwén1398–1402 · 4 years · Disputed1398–14024 yearsDisputed
- 3rdYongle Emperor永樂帝 Yǒnglè Dì朱棣 Zhū Dì1402–1424 · 22 years · Natural causes, age 651402–142422 yearsNatural causes, age 65
- 4thHongxi Emperor洪熙帝 Hóngxī Dì朱高熾 Zhū Gāochì1424–1425 · 264 days · Natural causes, age 481424–1425264 daysNatural causes, age 48
- 5thXuande Emperor宣德帝 Xuāndé Dì朱瞻基 Zhū Zhānjī1425–1435 · 9 years · Natural causes, age 381425–14359 yearsNatural causes, age 38
- 6th, 8thEmperor Yingzong of Ming正統帝 Zhèngtǒng Dì朱祁鎮 Zhū Qízhèn1435–1449; restored 1457–1464 · 21 years · Natural causes, age 381435–1449; restored 1457–146421 yearsNatural causes, age 38
- 7thJingtai Emperor景泰帝 Jǐngtài Dì朱祁鈺 Zhū Qíyù1449–1457 · 7 years · Disputed, age 301449–14577 yearsDisputed, age 30
- 9thChenghua Emperor成化帝 Chénghuà Dì朱見深 Zhū Jiànshēn1464–1487 · 23 years · Natural causes, age 411464–148723 yearsNatural causes, age 41
- 10thHongzhi Emperor弘治帝 Hóngzhì Dì朱祐樘 Zhū Yòutáng1487–1505 · 17 years · Natural causes, age 361487–150517 yearsNatural causes, age 36
- 11thZhengde Emperor正德帝 Zhèngdé Dì朱厚照 Zhū Hòuzhào1505–1521 · 15 years · Natural causes, age 311505–152115 yearsNatural causes, age 31
- 12thJiajing Emperor嘉靖帝 Jiājìng Dì朱厚熜 Zhū Hòucōng1521–1567 · 45 years · Natural causes, age 601521–156745 yearsNatural causes, age 60
- 13thLongqing Emperor隆慶帝 Lóngqìng Dì朱載坖 Zhū Zàijì1567–1572 · 5 years · Natural causes, age 361567–15725 yearsNatural causes, age 36
- 14thWanli Emperor萬曆帝 Wànlì Dì朱翊鈞 Zhū Yìjūn1572–1620 · 48 years · Natural causes, age 581572–162048 yearsNatural causes, age 58
- 15thTaichang Emperor泰昌帝 Tàichāng Dì朱常洛 Zhū Chángluò1620 · 29 days · Disputed, age 39162029 daysDisputed, age 39
- 16thTianqi Emperor天啓帝 Tiānqǐ Dì朱由校 Zhū Yóujiào1620–1627 · 7 years · Natural causes, age 231620–16277 yearsNatural causes, age 23
- 17thChongzhen Emperor崇禎帝 Chóngzhēn Dì朱由檢 Zhū Yóujiǎn1627–1644 · 16 years · Suicide (incl. forced), age 351627–164416 yearsSuicide (incl. forced), age 35