Founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty () is a Chinese historical television series based on the life of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty. Directed by Feng Xiaoning and starring Hu Jun as the titular character, the series was first aired on CCTV in China in 2006.

Synopsis Turmoil engulfs China in the final years of the Yuan dynasty as the government weakens due to corruption while rebel forces sprout throughout the land to overthrow the regime. Somewhere in the wilderness, a young cowherd named Zhu Chongba stands on a huge rock and proclaims to his friends, "I, Emperor Zhu, will reward each of you with a large piece of rice cake when I ascend the throne one day!" Around the same time, his parents die of starvation at home.

To give his parents a proper funeral, Zhu becomes a novice monk at a monastery and spends part of his childhood there. A few years later, the monastery is destroyed so he has no choice but to become a beggar. One day, he encounters Yuan soldiers and narrowly escapes death, but is captured by some rebels, who suspect that he is a spy and want to kill him. At this critical moment, he is saved by a girl, and he joins Guo Zixing's rebel army later.

Zhu Chongba proves his capability on the battlefield and earns the favour of Guo Zixing. Guo Zixing gives Zhu Chongba a new name, Zhu Yuanzhang, and arranges for his goddaughter, Lady Ma, to marry Zhu. From then on, Zhu Yuanzhang starts his journey towards becoming the emperor. He gains the support of talented men such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, triumphs over his nemesis Chen Youliang at the Battle of Lake Poyang, overthrows the Yuan dynasty, and establishes the Ming dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang's reign marks the beginning of a golden era for China. He implements land reforms to prevent peasants from being abused by wealthy landlords and bureaucrats; harshly punishes officials found guilty of corruption; drafts the Great Ming Code; introduces policies to help China recover from years of war. At the same time, he also uses ruthless and brutal means to consolidate power: he kills some of his subjects who contributed greatly to the founding of the Ming dynasty out of fear that they would rebel against him.

Cast

Releases The series was released in Japan under the title in a three box DVD set.

Founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Bron en licentie