Hongwu

Hongwu (Chinese: 洪武; pinyin: Hóngwǔ; Wade–Giles: Hung-wu; lit. 'vastly martial'; 23 January 1368 – 5 February 1399) was the era name (nianhao) of the Hongwu Emperor (reigned 1368–1398), the Chinese emperor who founded the Ming dynasty that ruled China from 1368 to 1644. It was also the first era name of the Ming.

On 23 January 1368 (Wu 2, 4th day of the 1st month), Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor of the Great Ming dynasty in Yingtian Prefecture, with the era name "Hongwu".[1] During the Hongwu period, there was no war in the country, and society quickly recovered from the war in the late Yuan dynasty. The population increased rapidly and the economy developed quickly. This period is known in historiography as the "Reign of Hongwu" (洪武之治).

The emperors only used one era name during their reigns since the Hongwu Emperor began to form a practice. (Emperor Yingzong of Ming had two era names due to his abdication and later restoration, while the rest used one era name.) This was known as the yī shì yī yuán zhì (一世一元制; lit. "one-era-name-for-a-lifetime system").

On 24 June 1398 (Hongwu 31, 10th day of the 5th leap month), the Hongwu Emperor died. On 30 June (16th day of the 5th leap month), Imperial Grandson-heir Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne as the Jianwen Emperor. The following year, the era was changed to Jianwen.[2][3]

On 18 July 1402 (Jianwen 4, 18th day of the 6th month), the Yongle Emperor, who had usurped the throne through the Jingnan campaign, abolished the Jianwen era name and renamed it Hongwu 35. The following year, the era was changed to Yongle.[2][4] According to Xia Xie (夏燮)'s Ming Tongjian (明通鑑), since Zhu Di had started his rebellion at Beijing in 1399 (Jianwen 1), he had begun restoring the Hongwu era name in his conquered areas, and after the Jingnan campaign, he had ordered the whole country to reuse the Hongwu era name.[5]

  1. ^ History of Ming, Volume 2: 洪武元年春正月乙亥，祀天地於南郊，即皇帝位。定有天下之號曰明，建元洪武。
  2. ^ a b Li Chongzhi (December 2004). Zhongguo Lidai Nianhao Kao. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Co. p. 205. ISBN 978-7-101-02512-5.
  3. ^ History of Ming, Emperor Gongmin:〔洪武〕三十一年閏五月，太祖崩。辛卯，即皇帝位。大赦天下，以明年為建文元年。
  4. ^ Ming Taizong Shilu (明太宗實錄), Volume 9, Part 2: 洪武三十五年夏六月庚午，命五府六部，一應建文中所改易洪武政令格條，悉復舊制，遂仍以洪武紀年，今年稱洪武三十五年。
  5. ^ Xia Xie. Ming Tongjian, Volume 13:〔建文四年〕秋七月壬午朔，大祀南郊，以太祖配。赦天下。詔：『自今年六月後仍稱洪武三十五年，以明年為永樂元年。』〈考異〉：『此語見七月朔詔中。以仍稱洪武三十五年之語推之，則革除以後，當以建文元年為洪武三十二年，二年為洪武三十三年，三年為洪武三十四年。當日靖難兵起，紀年之例，一定如此。乃《實錄》則直以建文元年、二年、三年為永樂之元、二、三年，及至是年七月，則又改書洪武三十五年，當日史臣之謬戾，已不自顧前後之矛盾雷同矣。附識于此，以証《實錄》之誣妄。』