The appearance of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, has always been a mystery. In the portraits handed down so far, there are two completely different images of Zhu Yuanzhang. The first is the standard portrait of emperors of all dynasties, with a dignified appearance, sitting upright; the second is the folk legend, with a shoehorn face, a face covered with pockmarks, extremely ugly, with erect eyebrows and deep eyes, big ears and a nose job.
The founding military advisor of the Ming Dynasty Liu Bowen once described Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance as follows: "High forehead and narrow eyes, concave nose and wide lips, small but thick ears, protruding cheeks and strong chin; long body and arched back, long legs and arched knees, The waist is thick but the shoulders are narrow, the hands are wide but the fingers are thin; the movements are like shrimps in the water, and the voices are like eagles and apes. "The portraits of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty are basically placed in the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City. I saw Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait with my own eyes.
Fan Shouji described: "In the prime of life, the beard is black and more than an inch long, the face is slightly long and plump, the color is very fair, and the eyebrows are different. In the old age, the beard and temples are like silver, the face is plump and round, and the color is fairer. It is said that he has a dragon's chin and beard, and his face is scarred. "These descriptions all have one thing in common, that is, Zhu Yuanzhang is really extraordinary.
The reason why we see many ugly portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang today has a lot to do with the Manchu smear campaign. Ten years ago, news broke in Henan that a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang was found in a remote mountain village. When experts came to the mountain village for on-site investigation, they found that there were about 200 people in this small mountain village, and they were all descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang. When the world was in chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of these people hid in the mountains and changed their surname from Zhu to Wang, which means that the Zhu family was originally the king.
What excited the experts was that they discovered a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang in the village. According to villagers, this portrait is passed down from ancestors and has probably been passed down since the Ming Dynasty. Due to poor preservation, the portraits have faded and been damaged to varying degrees. Experts suggested that the villagers donate them to the state so that they can be effectively protected. Even though the painting was an heirloom, the villagers eventually agreed.
Nowadays, when many people mention Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, they will quote a joke. It is said that after Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, he was so complacent that they ordered the palace portraits to paint his portrait. One painter did not understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intention and painted completely based on realism. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang beheaded him. There was also a painter who painted Zhu Yuanzhang in high spirits and made him a standard portrait of emperors of all dynasties, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very satisfied.
The author noticed that after Zhu Di ascended the throne, the image of Zhu Yuanzhang was deliberately mythologized. When Zhu Di was editing the "Records of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty", he described the image of Zhu Yuanzhang in this way, "The man in the dream put a jade on his neck, and then there was a slight pain in the flesh of his neck, which was suspected to be a disease. He used medicine to treat it, but there was no test. Later, his bones became swollen and it was very strange. "This is too ridiculous. Zhu Di did this to create a public opinion environment for his ascension to the throne.
In the eleventh year of Yongle (1413), Zhu Di established a monument to his miraculous merits and virtues for the Ming Xiaoling Tomb. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang's image changed again. "The dragon's beard is long and lush, and the strange bones on his neck are hidden to the top. He is majestic and celestial, looking like a god." It can be seen that the changes in Zhu Yuanzhang's image are based on the needs of the times. And decided.
Reference: "Records of Ming Taizu"
