明玉珍

生平

他在22岁时参加徐寿辉领导的徐宋红巾军，任统军元帅。后奉命领兵西征，由巫峡入蜀，占领重庆。接着，明玉珍派兵四出讨伐，彻底击败川内元朝官军，基本上平定了川蜀。至正二十年（1360年）徐寿辉死，陈友谅自立为帝，明玉珍不服，不与相通。至正二十一年（1361年）十月，明玉珍于重庆即国王位，自立为陇蜀王。天统元年正月一日（1363年1月16日）称帝，建都重庆，国号大夏，年号天统，仿周制，设六卿，立妻彭氏为皇后，立明升为太子，立太庙。

其官制设六卿，分属地为八道，颁布历法为先天历，奉弥勒教为国教，并铸铜钱流通。天统四年二月六日（1366年3月17日），明玉珍病逝，葬于重庆江北宝盖山，名为叡陵，庙号太祖，谥号钦文昭武皇帝。由子明升继位。

明洪武二年（1369年），朱元璋遣使劝降，明升不从。洪武四年（1371年）春，朱元璋遣汤和、廖永忠、傅友德等领兵征蜀，夏军败溃。六月，明兵抵重庆，明升出降，夏亡。次年明升被朱元璋流放到朝鲜半岛，后代成为延安明氏、西蜀明氏。现今朝鲜有明氏后裔两万多人，韩国有四万多人，而在中国境内的后人多改为甘姓。

后妃

彭皇后

轶事

明玉珍原姓有不同记载，有一曰旻，亦有原姓或原名旻瑞、旻珍，字为玉珍。

Ming Yuzhen (1329–1366) was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion during the final phase of the Yuan dynasty. He was born into a family of landowners and became a general in the rebel Song (Tianwan) state, where he ruled over Sichuan. After the Song regime fell, he declared himself King of Longshu in 1360 and proclaimed himself emperor of the Xia state in 1362. He died four years later. His young son, Ming Sheng, succeeded him as emperor, ruling for five years before the Ming dynasty conquered the Xia state in 1371.

Biography

Ming Yuzhen was born in 1329 in the village of Meiqiu in Sui County (in present-day Hubei Province). He came from a family of landowners. He initially served as an officer in the local militia, holding the position of "commander of local patrolling archers" (xunsi gongbing paizitou, 巡司弓兵牌子頭). When the Red Turban Rebellion broke out, the village council of Meiqiu entrusted Ming with protecting the town. Around 1352, he joined the rebels and quickly rose through the ranks in the "Red Army" of the rebel state of Song (referred to by historians as Tianwan). The Song emperor Xu Shouhui appointed Xu as "Grand Marshal of the Troop Fighting the Barbarians" (tongbing zhenglu da yuanshuai, 統兵征虜大元帥), and Xu served under Ni Wenjun.

In 1357, Ming was tasked with procuring food supplies for the Red Army in Sichuan. He led the Song fleet from Yiling up the Yangtze River and easily captured Chongqing, a strategically important city in southern Sichuan. Chongqing's defenses were weakened by the hostility between the Yuan garrison commander, Yang Han (楊漢), and the Mongolian provincial governor, Öljeitu. Following the capture of Chongqing, Xu Shouhui appointed Ming as governor of Sichuan. Ming initially only controlled a portion of the province and faced ongoing battles against Yuan forces led by Governor Öljeitu and generals Nanggiyatai and Zhao Zi (趙䋷), who were based in Jiading (present-day Leshan) and Chengdu. These conflicts continued until 1360. In addition to fighting the Yuan forces, Ming also had to defend Sichuan against the 1358 invasion from Shaanxi to the north by the "Green Turban Army" under Li Xixi (李喜喜).

While Ming was conquering Sichuan, a power struggle broke out among the leading generals of the Song state. Chen Youliang assassinated Ni Wenjun, whom he claimed was attempting to overthrow Xu Shouhui. Ming warned Xu about Chen, successfully defending Xu against an assassination attempt. Chen declared himself King of Han in 1359 and imprisoned Xu. The following year, he waged war against Zhu Yuanzhang, who controlled a large region of the lower Yangtze River (Jiangnan) from Nanjing. Chen then killed Xu and declared himself emperor, taking control of most of the Song territory. In the midst of this conflict, Chen had previously ordered Ming to send troops on Xu's behalf in the war against Zhu. Ming initially complied, but later recalled the troops upon learning of Xu's murder.

Ming ruled Sichuan in an almost independent manner from an early stage, but he remained loyal to Xu. He rejected Chen's usurpation and cut off all ties with him. In 1360, Ming declared himself King of Longshu (隴蜀王, Longshu Wang), and two years later he declared himself emperor of the Great Xia under the influence of his most important minister, Liu Zhen (劉楨). Despite not recognizing the legitimacy of Chen's regime, Ming did not engage in hostilities with him. Instead, he attempted to expand his territory to the north and south. In the north, he attacked southern Shaanxi Province, which was then controlled by Yuan general Li Shiqi. Ming successfully occupied Jiezhou (present-day Longnan in southern Gansu) until 1371, but his attack on Hanzhong and other cities in Shaanxi failed. In the south, he attempted to capture Yunnan from Mongol governor Boru Temür in 1363. He launched three waves of attacks, and in the first wave, his minister Wan Sheng (萬勝) managed to capture Zhongqing (present-day Kunming).……