Emporer Hongwu

The founder of the Ming Dynasty was called Zhu Yuanzhang also known as the Hongwu Emperor. Hongwu translates to "Great military power". He was a peasant before he became emperor, he was one of the three peasants ever to become an emperor in China. He was a good ruler, he always made sure there was no homeless and prevented that no one starved by making sure everybody had a job. Hongwu wanted to control all aspects of the government so he had the whole government executed - which left him massive amounts of work and responsibility. He normally had bodyguards when he was walking because assassination was not uncommon and he liked to feel safe rather than be sorry. He was not one of the countries most famous leaders because he would normally favour violence.

Printing

The Ming dynasty is the most praised dynasty for printing in China. The following types of printing were invented, wood printing, metal printing and stamp printing. Paper printing also reached new and better standards.

The Forbidden City

The Ming dynasty is well known for the creation of the Forbidden City, a gigantic city that was used for emperors when they where having there holidays. It took 15 years to make and required over one million workers.  It is over 2,000 miles long - it could reach from San Diego to New York! It burnt down in in the early fourteen hundreds because of a lightning storm, and was rebuilt in later years.