From Beggar to Emperor: The Rise of Zhu Yuanzhang

In 1368, a former beggar turned rebel leader named Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne in Nanjing, proclaiming the founding of the Ming Dynasty. This marked the end of Mongol-led Yuan rule and began 276 years of Ming governance. Unlike previous emperors from aristocratic backgrounds, Zhu’s impoverished childhood—including stints as a monk and beggar—gave him a unique perspective on human nature and governance. Having survived betrayal by his own nephew and the cutthroat world of secret societies during his rebellion, the Hongwu Emperor (as he became known) developed an obsessive drive to consolidate power through any means necessary.

His solution? Building the most sophisticated surveillance state in Chinese history—a network that would redefine Ming political life through espionage, intimidation, and institutionalized terror.

The Eyes and Ears of the Emperor: The Birth of the Jianjiao

Before establishing formal intelligence agencies, Zhu created the Jianjiao (“Inspectors”)—plainclothes agents who infiltrated every level of government. These operatives reported directly to the emperor, documenting officials’ private conversations, dinner menus, and even facial expressions.

Two chilling anecdotes illustrate their reach:

1. When scholar Song Lian hosted a private banquet, Zhu casually asked him the next morning about the guest list, dishes served, and drinking habits—details only an eavesdropper could know.
2. Academic official Song讷 was questioned about why he looked angry the previous day. The emperor then produced a surveillance sketch of his furious expression after a student broke his teacup.

The Jianjiao’s psychological impact was profound. As historian Wu Han noted in Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang, officials lived in constant fear, knowing their sovereign could access their most trivial actions.

Thought Control: The Purge of Mencius

Zhu’s paranoia extended to intellectual dissent. In 1390, after executing chancellor Li Shanchang and his clan for alleged treason, the emperor read Mencius’s radical ideas:

– “When a ruler treats his subjects as grass, they treat him as a bandit”
– “The people are most important; the state comes next; the ruler is least”

Horrified, Zhu ordered Mencius’s tablet removed from Confucian temples and commissioned The Abridged Mencius, purging 85 “subversive” passages. When scholar Qian Tang protested by carrying his own coffin to court—declaring “I would die for Mencius with honor”—Zhu temporarily relented but still censored the texts.

Even poetry wasn’t safe. After Qian wrote a wistful verse about preferring farm life to predawn court sessions, the emperor recited it back to him verbatim the next day. The message was clear: no thought escaped imperial scrutiny.

The Forbidden City’s Dark Knights: Rise of the Embroidered Uniform Guard

In 1382, Zhu institutionalized his surveillance apparatus by founding the Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard)—China’s first permanent secret police force. Organized into 14 bureaus with 56,000 personnel, their roles included:

### 1. Imperial Protection
Clad in distinctive flying fish uniforms and armed with xiuchundao (“Spring Autumn Sabers”), they guarded the emperor during rituals and patrolled palace gates.

### 2. Extrajudicial Punishment
Their Northern Prison complex operated outside standard legal channels, employing:
– Flaying: Skinning victims alive
– “Playing the Pipa”: Scraping ribs with knives until bones protruded like lute strings
– “Day-Night Torture”: Forcing prisoners into nail-lined cages where movement meant impalement

### 3. Court Intimidation
The Tingzhang (“Court Beating”) ritual humiliated officials. At the Meridian Gate, victims were:
– Stripped and restrained
– Beaten by guards who adjusted severity based on the supervising eunuch’s foot positioning
– Often killed—146 officials were flogged in 1519, with 11 dying instantly

Blood and Betrayal: The Great Purges

Zhu weaponized the Jinyiwei against perceived threats through two infamous cases:

### The Hu Weiyong Conspiracy (1380-1390)
Chancellor Hu Weiyong’s alleged plot became pretext for:
– Abolishing the 1,600-year-old丞相 (Chancellor) position
– Executing 30,000+ including 22 founding generals
– Forcing scholar Liu Ji’s poisoning via a “gifted” concubine/spy

### The Lan Yu Rebellion (1393)
After Crown Prince Zhu Biao’s death, the emperor feared generals would overpower his grandson. The Jinyiwei fabricated evidence against war hero Lan Yu, triggering:
– 15,000 executions including 1 duke and 13 marquises
– Destruction of the remaining Ming military leadership

Legacy of Fear

Though Zhu disbanded the Jinyiwei prison system in 1393, its methods endured. The Yongle Emperor revived it permanently, and by the 1600s, its 200,000 agents were synonymous with state terror. Modern parallels abound—from Stalin’s NKVD to digital surveillance states—proving Zhu’s innovation: absolute power requires absolute knowledge of subjects’ lives.

As writer Lu Xun grimly observed: “The Ming began with flaying skin and ended with flaying skin.” In creating tools to control the present, its emperors doomed their dynasty’s future.