Early Life
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor peasant family in a village in Zhongli (鍾離, present day Fengyang, Anhui Province). His father was Zhu Shizhen (朱世珍, original name Zhu Wusi 朱五四) and his mother was Chen Erniang. He had seven older siblings, several of whom were "given away" by his parents, as they did not have enough food to support the family. When he was 16, the Yellow River broke its banks and flooded the lands where his family lived. Subsequently, a plague killed his family, except one brother.
Destitute, Zhu Yuanzhang accepted a suggestion to take up a pledge made by his late father, and became a novice monk at the Huangjue Temple, a local Buddhist monastery. He did not remain there for long as the monastery ran short of funds and he was forced to leave.
For the next few years, Zhu Yuanzhang led the life of a wandering beggar and personally experienced and saw the hardships of the common people. After about three years, he returned to the monastery and stayed there until he was around 24 years old. He learned to read and write during the time he spent with the Buddhist monks. Although he did not become a Buddhist in later years, he still remained sympathetic towards Buddhism.
Read more about this topic: Hongwu Emperor
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