Wade Giles - The Hongwu Emperor

Wade Giles, better known by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder of the Ming Dynasty in China, one of his names translated means "vast military" this is the man that reformed China during the 13th century. He became a great leader of an army and forced the outsiders (the Mongols) to retreat, he then went on to become the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China.

Wade Giles was born in 1328 in the Pei County, he was the youngest of four brothers and his family was very poor, the conditions that he grew up in were to say the least very bad. Because of the fact that there was no food, many of his brothers were given away. When he was 16 years old, the yellow river broke its gates and flooded the land killing his whole family, he was then left alone to fend for himself… he found shelter in a Buddhist monastery but ironically, the monastery ran out of money as well and again he was forced to leave and fend for himself.

For years he traveled and begged for his food eventually returning to the monastery and living there until he was 24, it was then when he learned to read and write. The Mongol army eventually destroyed the monastery, burning it to the ground and in an act of revenge, Wade joined a local rebel group to fight back. His natural leadership abilities and talents would make him rise quickly through the ranks and become their leader, they soon joined the Red Turban movement and by the time Wade was 27 he became their leader as well. He was good!

The Red Turbans were a sect that had a mixed up belief in Buddhism and Zoroastrianism, even though Wade became their leader it is completely unknown how much he got involved in their actual beliefs, because as soon as he became emperor he supported Confucianism.

It was in 1356 when Wade took control of one of the major cities in China, it was this city that became his base of operations and later the capitol of his empire. Word got around quickly that in this place there was relative peace and a good government and the next ten years saw the city grow ten times its original size. The Mongols never made any attempt to retake the place because they were badly crippled by internal fighting. The Mongols eventually lost the whole of central and southern China to different groups.

Because of his skills as a leader, Wade was able to take in a group of followers that were themselves talented; when Wade was thirty five he went to battle to take control over the now separated Red Turban territory. After fighting the largest naval battle known, he won and from then on, he no longer fought in his battles, he had plenty of generals to do that for him, instead, he directed everything from his palace in Nanjing.

It was in 1366 when Wade went on to take the rest of China; after defeating some smaller territories and getting the allegiance of others, he marched against the Mongol army and after a halfhearted fight, the Mongols fled back to their home (the place we now know of as Mongolia).

In 1368 Wade proclaimed himself Emperor and Hongwu was the title of his reign, Confucianism was brought in again and the people that had a higher role in society only got their places by taking an exam that tested their knowledge of literature and philosophy; the scholars once again had their place in China.

The farmers had it a little better then before, Wade knew of the hardships that they faced and put some laws into place to try and protect them but it still was not enough, the wealthy still had loopholes through witch they could control and take over the farmers’ land, so while Wade meant well it still was not enough.

Wade Giles or Hongwu ruled with a fist of Iron, some people would say that he was bad others good, but he did untie China under one rule and he did have a sense of fairness, it is said that he is the single most influential person in China’s history…never before had the world seen somebody so poor rise to the post of Emperor in just 16 years.