Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor family since childhood and was sent to a temple as a monk when he was a child. When he came of age, he married the farmer Ma Shi.

At that time, women had to bind their feet, while horses had to work in the fields since childhood, so they were born with big feet without binding their feet. When Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor, although she felt that Ma's big feet were detrimental to her face, she was named the first queen of the Ming Dynasty out of gratitude for Ma's contribution to his advice over the years. Ma became a queen, lived in the palace, enjoyed all the splendor, but also felt helpless about his big feet. Whenever he meets guests, he always covers his feet with the hem of his clothes or skirt.

On one occasion, the horse took a sedan chair to play in the streets of Jinling (now Nanjing). Suddenly, a strong wind blew and lifted a corner of the sedan chair curtain. The horse's two big feet on the pedal were exposed in broad daylight, and she quickly shrank back, but people had already seen it clearly!

So this new thing spread and caused a sensation in the whole capital. Because it was the horse that showed his feet, the word "showing his feet" has spread to today. Therefore, it is called "showing the cloven foot" to expose disgraceful things that are inconvenient to make public.