In the first year of A.D. (1328), Zhu Yuanzhang was born, ranking fourth in the family and eighth among the family brothers, so he was called Zhu Chongba and later renamed Zhu Yuanzhang.
According to the inscription written by Zhu Shide himself on the tablet, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in Jurong, Jinling (Jurong, Jiangsu) and lived in Tongde Township. Zhu Yuanzhang lived on agriculture for generations.
His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and other generations are tax debtors, hiding debts everywhere in the Huaihe River basin, trying to find a place to be a tenant farmer and live a well-fed life.
He is the youngest child among the surviving brothers and sisters. Except the oldest child, all the other children were given away or married because they couldn't afford him.
Because his family was poor and he could not study, Zhu Yuanzhang herded cattle for the landlords in the village since he was a child.