HIST 4618 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Hongwu Emperor, Yongle Emperor, Ming Dynasty
Document Summary
The ming dynastic rule in reality was no different that the ruling styles of the song, the mongols or really any other chinese dynasty. The surprise was the brutality of the hongwu emperor in an attempt to impose centralization that these same dynasties employed. Many scholars claim that the hongwu emperor modeled his ruling style after the mongols because it was a personal, autocratic style of rule. Even though the hongwu emperor hated the mongols and spent most of his life fighting against them, some would argue he ruled exactly like a mongol. After his death, the hongwu emperor"s ruling style persisted. In 1402, the yongle emperor began his rule as the next great ming emperor. The yongle emperor"s real name was zhu di. He was the 4th son of the hongwu emperor, and the 3rd ming emperor. Zhu di was an excellent military leader and was the co-founder of the ming empire.
