Zhu Yuanzhang's true appearance, interpretation of historical portraits and archaeological finds
There are many controversies about Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, among which two things are the most intense: one is to kill the hero, and the other is Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance. In particular, two groups of portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang emerge one after another, one is a noble and majestic face, and the other group is called"Pull the shoe face"The ugly countenance. But what does Zhu Yuanzhang look like? Why are there two very different portraits?
The historical record is very vague and tends to be emphasized"Unusual"。
Descriptions of Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance are not uncommon in various historical materials, but these descriptions, whether it is the evaluation of his appearance by others or the records of his external characteristics, are very vague, and most of them emphasize one"Odd"The words are different from ordinary people, making it difficult to make an accurate evaluation of Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance. Appearance.
According to the record of "Ming Taizu Record", when Zhu Yuanzhang went to Haozhou to serve in the army, Guo Zixing, who saw Zhu Yuanzhang for the first time, commented on his appearance"Strange people who don't look amazing"。When Tao An saw Zhu Yuanzhang for the first time, he commented that Zhu Yuanzhang was"The appearance of the dragon and phoenix is very human"。Whether it is Guo Zixing's"Odd people", or Tao An's"Dragon and Phoenix", obviously are very vague evaluations, so it is difficult for people to imagine Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance.
The inscription calls it"Monument of Divine Piety and Filial Piety"and gave a detailed description of Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance:"The dragon's beard is long and thick, and there are strange bones on the back of the neck, faintly rising to the top, with the power of the heavenly guard, looking at it like a god"。It means that Zhu Yuanzhang has a long and thick beard, but there is a strange bone on the back of his neck, which extends from the back of his neck to his neck, and people look at him like a fairy. There is also a similar description in the History of the Ming Dynasty - The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang, called Zhu Yuanzhang"The air is lofty, and there are strange bones on the top"。
The explanation of this bone is in the description of the "Ming Taizu Record"."People dream of Bijie Township, and the back of the neck is faintly painful, and there is a suspicion of illness. Fu Yiyao, no test, then test the bones, and the glory is very different"。That is to say, Zhu Yuanzhang dreamed that there was a piece of jade on his neck, and a sac was swollen in his neck, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he was sick and died after taking medicine, and he knew that this sac eventually became a bone.
This may seem like a strong argument, but it is actually unconvincing, and the timing of this account is very intriguing. This record appeared in December Wushen in the first year of Yuan Zhizheng (1367), you must know that Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing to summon the emperor at that time, and the natives paid attention to the emperor's power, so the emperor often appeared"Unusual from ordinary people"This is also the case of emperors, so Zhu Yuanzhang is so powerful"Odd bones"There is no doubt about it.
This point is also reflected in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", which is written in the "History of the Ming Dynasty - Zhu Yuanzhang Benji":"Mother Chen's, Fang Pregnancy, Shenmeng gave a pill, put the light in the palm, swallowed it, woke up, and left the fragrance in the mouth. and raw, red light in the room. Since the night, the lamp has ceased to shine, and when the neighbors see it, they are afraid of the fire, and they rush to save it, and it turns into nothingness"The purpose of the record is to highlight Zhu Yuanzhang's difference.
Shoeed face"Where does this claim come from? Are big, ugly portraits really real?
I once said that Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne and emperor was originally intended to build momentum, and many people also participated, and they could do whatever they wanted. However, some rumors are getting more and more evil. "Zhu Yuanzhang's'Shoeshine face', which was initially caused by this momentum, and later became more and more intense.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Zhongche's "Ancient and Modern Knowledge" was proficient in the art of physiognomy, and before Zhu Yuanzhang flew to Huang Tengda, he was called the Iron Crown Taoist by the Taoist priest because of his physiognomy, and Zhu Yuanzhang said him"The appearance is dignified, the dragon pupils and phoenix eyes, the right Qiankun of the five mountains, the sun and the moon, the auxiliary bones are favored, and the voice is noble"。But seeing that the four-dimensional stagnation is like a cloud, the bright moon is out of shape, and the half-headed emperor is bright, and the heavenly court is passed. The flat light is like the wind, the projection is like a shadow, so the order of the day will also be in a thousand days"。
It can be seen from this text that Zhu Yuanzhang has created a kind of personality complementary"One of the heavens and the earth"The aura, that is, the heavenly court (forehead) and the earth pavilion (chin) are relatively obvious, so it is often said"The heavenly court is full, and the earth pavilion is round"。The upgraded version was originally to praise Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, but he didn't want to be"Acealy face"of the source. originally wanted to praise Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, but he didn't want to be"Shine like shoes"of the source.
At the same time, the folk rumors about Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance are becoming more and more outrageous, with twelve scars, forty-eight scars, seventy-two scars, and pimples on his face. However, judging from these versions of legends, the main purpose is not actually to ruin Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, but to highlight his unusualness"The face of the emperor"。
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, according to ancient legends, Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait began to circulate widely, full of ugliness, from the perspective of circulation, it was mainly born in the folk, and some of these portraits were recognized by the Manchu court of the Qing Dynasty. In fact, according to the portraits that have been circulated so far, most of the portraits have the characteristics of Manchu clothing or accessories, such as the hat in the middle, which is unique to the Qing Dynasty.
In fact, there are two main reasons for the proliferation of Zhu Yuanzhang's ugly image: on the one hand, Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation in the eyes of the literati is really bad, coupled with the people's dissatisfaction with the imperial court in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation will inevitably be damaged; On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty's political need to smear the Ming Dynasty further exacerbated the proliferation of such vilified images.
The official portrait of the Ming Dynasty is more convincing than ugly.
In addition to this pair of ugly large portraits, there is also a group of portraits, mainly portraits of the Ming Dynasty, which I think are more realistic. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang asked a painter to paint a portrait of him, he killed many painters, and finally only took the most satisfactory one, but this did not affect the authenticity of this group of portraits.
Not to mention whether the legend is true or false, it is also human nature to change and beautify the portrait of the emperor to a certain extent, after all, who doesn't want to leave a better image for future generations. However, although this change is beautification, we must pay attention to the grasp of the scale, not only to change the emperor's appearance, but also to retain the emperor's facial features, after all, this portrait is to let future generations look at it and pay tribute, will Zhu Yuanzhang leave a portrait related to his appearance?
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance can also be inferred from the appearance of his children. From a genetic point of view, Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants must have inherited some of Zhu Yuanzhang's characteristics, otherwise the son would not look like his father, especially when his father was still an emperor, then the problem may be serious.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants eventually became emperors and had harem beauties, and it was inevitable that the genes of the descendants would continue to be optimized. Even if a person is ugly, as long as each generation of descendants marries a beautiful bride, their offspring will not be ugly. After all, no matter how powerful the genes are, they can't withstand dilution for generations. Therefore, when we analyze, we try to take Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants as the mother, after all, one generation is farther from generation to generation, and it is too difficult to make a conclusion.
It is not difficult to see that although the above-mentioned portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants have their own characteristics, the similarity between the facial features and other parts of the body is still relatively high, and they all belong to relatively fluffy round faces, which are relatively close to some official portraits, and cannot be exactly the same as the legendary blackface boots. If Zhu Yuanzhang is really ugly, then none of these descendants are like him, can the emperor accept it?
To sum up, although there is still controversy about Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, according to the available information, Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance is believed to be closer to the official portrait. As for the one that has been widely circulated'Shoehorn face'In fact, it was Zhu Yuanzhang's earliest or too early statement, and it may have been widely circulated in the propaganda of the people and the Manchu Qing Dynasty later.