In ancient China, there were many mediocre people, but through their own efforts, they climbed from the bottom to the founding emperor on the emperor's throne. Among them, the more famous ones are Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, who was the son of the Red Emperor, and Liu Xiu, the Guangwu Emperor who, in the midst of the chaos, tried his guts and finally realized the rise of the Han Dynasty.
▲ Zhu Yuanzhang in the film and television drama "Daming Style"
And what everyone talks about most is the deeds of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty # Zhu Yuanzhang# and his magical "two faces" theory...
Born from a humble background, he rose up to fight
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a peasant family in Fengyang, Anhui Province, and because he was born on the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, he was named Zhu Zhongba.
He lived in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, when the world was in chaos and the people were not happy. Natural disasters also occurred frequently, and plague after plague caused Zhu Zhongba's family to be killed.
Zhu Zhongba, who lost his family, worked as a beggar and later went into exile in the temple, and in order to survive, he became a monk.
▲ Zhu Yuanzhang was a monk in the film and television drama
Later, he joined the rebel army and was determined to overthrow the corrupt Yuan Dynasty, so he changed his name to Zhu Yuanzhang. Because of his bravery and strategy, he was soon followed, and he formed his own army and became the leader of the rebel army.
Coupled with the assistance of Liu Bowen, Xu Da and others, Zhu Yuanzhang's army was like a bamboo, defeating Chen Youyi and other local rebels, and eventually became the lord of thousands of rivers and mountains, and established the Ming Dynasty.
▲ Xu Da, a subordinate of Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising
But there are two versions of the portrait of this emperor, one is very ugly, the other is kind, what is the secret?
Ugly portraits, circulated folk
Folk legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang was ugly-looking, and he once summoned painters to paint portraits of himself.
When he saw the portrait, he found that he described himself as ugly in the painting, and he couldn't help but get angry, and then killed the painter. Only one person can live.
It turned out that when this person painted a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang, he cleverly polished Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, which made Zhu Yuanzhang rejoice, thus saving his life.
▲ The ugly portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Collection of the National Museum
But is Zhu Yuanzhang really ugly-looking?
According to historical records, after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he was worried that he would not be able to convince the public, so he released rumors that he had a different appearance and was the embodiment of the true dragon Tianzi.
He sent painters to paint portraits as required and circulated them among the people in order to maintain their rule, which was one of the sources of ugly portraits.
And there is also a saying that it is convenient for Zhu Yuanzhang to travel, Zhu Yuanzhang himself likes to micro-serve private visits, in order not to let the people recognize him in the crowd, so he drew an ugly version to ensure his safety, but also can really catch the corrupt bureaucrats far away from Kyoto.
▲ Folk portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang
During his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang especially hated corrupt officials, and he vigorously cracked down on corrupt officials and gave the people the right to punish corrupt officials
。 It was this that displeased many officials, plus he had said that if Mencius lived in the present, he would surely kill Mencius.
Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered Mencius to be removed from the Taimiao Temple because he did not like Mencius, so he offended a lot of Confucians, so the Confucians painted ugly portraits to scandalize his image.
▲Portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang painted by Chen Hongshou
The Collection of the Forbidden City is dignified and noble
In the Palace Museum, there are also two portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang, which are of middle age and old age. These two portraits are very different from the image of Zhu Yuanzhang in the folk portraits.
▲ Zhu Yuanzhang, who was dignified in his youth
In the portrait, Zhu Yuanzhang has upright features, looks amiable, and has the noble temperament of an emperor. Moreover, compared with the portraits of other emperors of the Ming Dynasty, the portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang collected by the Forbidden City are more in line with his actual appearance.
▲ Zhu Yuanzhang, who was kind but also majestic in his old age
Conclusion
Zhu Yuanzhang rose from the end of the world and survived in the chaotic world. He was able to use the opportunity to exert his talents, end the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, quell the local rebellion, and finally unify the whole country.
He abolished the chancellor and strengthened the ruling position of the imperial power, and he had great sympathy for the people, so that he could severely punish corrupt officials and oppress good princes and nobles, and was a generation of ming kings who served the country and the people.
What exactly he looks like is now impossible to verify, and everything is mainly based on the official dignified image.
However, what we can be sure of is that he created the foundation of the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years and is a legendary emperor worthy of praise for future generations.