Youth
The Yongle Emperor was born Zhu Di (朱棣) on 2 May 1360, the fourth son of the new leader of the central Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang would later rise to become the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di's mother was mostly probably a non-Han concubine of his father's, but most records were changed during his reign to list him as a son of the Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang's primary consort, in order to permit his succession on the "death" of the Jianwen Emperor.
Zhu Di grew up as a prince in a loving, caring environment. His father supplied nothing but the best education and, trusting them alone, reëstablished the old feudal principalities for his many sons. Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan, a location important for being both the former capital of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the front line of battle against their successors. When Zhu Di moved to Beiping, he found a city that had been devastated by famine and disease, but he worked with his father's general Xu Da – who was also his own father-in-law – to continue the pacification of the region. The official Ming histories portray a Zhu Di who impressed his father with his energy, daring, and leadership amid numerous successes; nonetheless, the Ming Dynasty suffered numerous reverses during his tenure and the great victory at Buir Lake was won not by Zhu Di but by his brother's partisan Lan Yu. Similarly, when the Hongwu Emperor sent large forces to the north, they were not placed under Zhu Di's command.
Read more about this topic: Yongle Emperor
Famous quotes containing the word youth:
“If I use the media, even with tricks, to publicise a black youth being shot in the back in Teaneck, New Jersey ... then I should be praised for it, and it’s more of a comment on them than me that it would take tricks to make them cover the loss of life.”
—Al, Rev. Sharpton (b. 1954)
“Well, youth is the period of assumed personalities and disguises. It is the time of the sincerely insincere.”
—V.S. (Victor Sawdon)
“The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)