- Yongle Emperor, reign name of third Ming emperor Zhu Di 朱棣[Zhu1 Di4] (1360-1424), reigned 1403-1424, temple name 明成祖[Ming2 Cheng2 zu3]
- bald head
- writing; culture
- 苑 Yuàn: 苑 Yuan4: surname Yuan苑 yuàn: 苑 yuan4: (literary) enclosed area for growing trees, keeping animals etc; imperial garden; park; (literary) center (of arts, literature etc)
- reign name of second Ming emperor, reigned 1398-1402, deposed in 1402
- prisoner of war; to capture; to take prisoner; (old) northern barbarian; slave
- (literary) the people; living thing; creature
- the emperor leads his troops into battle (idiom); to take part personally in an expedition
- to miscalculate; to misjudge
- 谏 jiàn: 谏 jian4: to remonstrate; to admonish谏 Jiàn: 谏 Jian4: surname Jian
- to cover; to mask; to cover up or conceal (the truth etc)
- in a panicked state; frightened
- ethnic groups in the north and west of China in ancient times; foreigner; barbarian
- (of a man) able and virtuous
- old friends
- border area; borderland; frontier; frontier region
- to choose; to pick; to sort out; to pick up
- 壮 zhuàng: 壮 zhuang4: to strengthen; strong; robust壮 Zhuàng: 壮 Zhuang4: Zhuang ethnic group, the largest ethnic minority in China
- to pass on; to hand down; tradition has it that ...; according to legend
- 昆 kūn: 昆 kun1: used in place names, notably Kunlun Mountains 崑崙|昆仑[Kun1 lun2]; (also used for transliteration)昆 kūn: 昆 kun1: descendant; elder brother; a style of Chinese poetry
- Zhu Qiyu, personal name of seventh Ming emperor Jingtai 景泰[Jing3 tai4] (1428-1457), reigned 1449-1457
- frightening words to scare people (idiom); alarmist talk; reds under the beds
- essential factor; key constituent
- factional strife; partisan infighting
- 宦 Huàn: 宦 Huan4: surname Huan宦 huàn: 宦 huan4: imperial official; court eunuch
- source; precursor; forerunner
- court eunuch; palace eunuch
- to arrogate power
- 汪 Wāng: 汪 Wang1: surname Wang汪 wāng: 汪 wang1: expanse of water; ooze; (onom.) bark; classifier for liquids: pool, puddle
- Zhu Houzhao, personal name of tenth Ming emperor 正德[Zheng4 de2] (1491-1521), reigned 1505-1521
- Ming Wuzong, temple name of eleventh Ming emperor Zhengde 正德[Zheng4 de2]
- brilliancy (of gems)
- to lift (a lid); to rock; to convulse
- upside down; upturned
- 熜 cōng: 熜 cong1: chimney (old)熜 zǒng: 熜 zong3: torch made from hemp straw (old)
- a traitor; a treacherous bandit
- 嵩 sōng: 嵩 song1: (literary) (of mountains) lofty嵩 Sōng: 嵩 Song1: Mt Song in Henan
- dying; at one's last gasp
- Zhang Juzheng (1525-1582), Grand Secretary during the Ming dynasty, credited with bringing the dynasty to its apogee