Hongwu

Reading the short section in our textbook about Hongwu was a great read for me. I never think of myself as a rooting for the underdog kinda guy, but Hongwu sounded like a great leader for China when they were in dire need.

The book just jumped him from rebel leader to king so I read up a little more on him on Wikipedia.

Reading about his meager beginnings really helps to understand how he became such a great leader. It also outlines to me how important it is to have a leader that came from nothing. Because the leaders that aren't born into royalty know how hard it is to earn to succeed instead of having the world handed to them on a silver platter.

Hongwu was orphaned raised in a monastery until it burned down. Then he was a beggar, then joined a rebel band. This is where he rose through the ranks to become the leader of the rebel group and then the emperor.

It said that through the joining of other groups while trying to overthrow the Yuan dynasty, Zhu eventually joined a subfaction called the Ming (Ming dynasty). By establishing himself as the leader of the Ming group and building up resources and a larger force he eventually was able to over throw the Yuan. Becoming the first emperor of the "Ming Dynasty"