Zhu Yuanzhang

Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398), the Hongwu Emperor, was a peasant's son who founded the Ming dynasty. After plague killed his family in 1344, he lived as a monk until 1352, when Yuan troops burned his monastery and he joined the Red Turban rebels. He took Nanjing in 1356.

In 1363 he defeated Chen Youliang's larger force at Lake Poyang. He became King of Wu in 1364 and took Suzhou in 1367, ending Zhang Shicheng. In 1368 he proclaimed the Ming dynasty and his armies took Dadu as the Yuan emperor fled north.

He issued the Great Ming Code. After executing Hu Weiyong in 1380 he abolished the chancellors and founded the Embroidered Uniform Guard in 1382; his purges killed tens of thousands under a strict sea ban. He died in 1398 and his grandson Jianwen succeeded him, until his fourth son Zhu Di seized power in 1402 as Yongle Emperor.