Were all Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors farmers?

Yes, Zhu Yuanzhang's family has been farmers for generations.

At the end of September 18th, the first year of Yuan Wenzong (1328 10 2 1), Zhu Yuanzhang was born in Dongxiang, Zhongli County, Haozhou (now Randeng Temple Village, Xiaoxihe Town, Fengyang County, Anhui Province), ranking third. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in Pei County, Jiangsu Province, and moved to Jurong (jurong city, Jiangsu Province) for a hundred years.

Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors lived in ancient Sizhou (now Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province). Father Zhu (later changed to Shizhen) and mother Chen are from Zhongli County (now Fengyang County, Anhui Province). Zhu Yuanzhang ranked fourth in the family and eighth among the family brothers, so he was called Zhu Chongba.

According to the inscription in Zhu Shide Monument by Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Shizhen's clan came from Jurong, Jinling (now jurong city, Jiangsu) and lived in Zhu Jiaxiang, belonging to Tongde Township. Zhujiajian Island's family lived on agriculture for generations.

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Zhu Yuanzhang's grandfather is Zhu Chuyi, his father is Zhu, his uncle is Zhu Wuliu, and his brothers are Zhu Chongwu, Zhu and Zhu Chongqi. After reading this, do you think Zhu Yuanzhang's surname is so special? In fact, during the Yuan Dynasty in history, especially in the later period, many ordinary people had no names, and the Zhujiajian family was already good.

Starting from Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth ancestor, his ancestor's name was Zhu Zhongba, and he had three sons, Zhu Liuer, Zhu Shiyi and Zhu Bailiu. The fourth ancestor, Zhu, married Hu and had two sons, Zhu Siwu and Zhu. And this Zhu is the father of Zhu Yuanzhang's grandfather. Zhu married Hou Shi and had four sons, Zhu Chuyi, Zhu, Zhu and Zhu.

Zhu Chuyi here is Zhu Yuanzhang's grandfather, who married Wang and gave birth to two sons. Their names are Zhu Wuyi and Zhu Wusi respectively. And Zhu here is Zhu Yuanzhang's father. Zhu Yuanzhang's brothers are Zhu Chongsi, Zhu Liuchong and Zhu Chongqi.

In fact, from the name of Zhu Yuanzhang's family, we know how poor Zhu Yuanzhang and Ming Taizu are. In the Ming Dynasty, Lang Ying's "Seven Manuscripts" included the "Zhu Shide Monument" written after he acceded to the throne, which recorded Zhu's surname in detail.

In contrast, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to become the overlord under the condition of political darkness and chaos, thus destroying Chen Youliang, defeating Zhang Shicheng and getting rid of Fang Guozhen, which all showed that Zhu Yuanzhang, the son of heaven in cloth, was resourceful, far-sighted, good at controlling wars and taking the initiative.

Because the Yuan Dynasty paid little attention to the profound culture and education of China. Therefore, a large number of people at the bottom have no chance to learn culture, and illiteracy is piling up.

On the contrary, numbers are relatively simple, so many poor people at the bottom of the Yuan Dynasty used numbers as their names. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang is not the only one. Chen Youliang was originally named IV, and his grandfather was Xie.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhu Yuanzhang