Princess Daming

Daming Princess, the seventh daughter of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, was born in 1368 and died on March 30, 1426. She was born in the first year of Hongwu and married Li Jian on the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month of the fifteenth year of Hongwu (September 2, 1382). Li Jian’s father, Li Ying, served as a Commander of the Right Cavalry Guard, but was killed during the military campaigns in Yunnan. After marriage, Li Jian served as the Chief of the Qianjun Military Office. During the Jianwen period (1399–1402), he held the position of Deputy General and participated in the campaign against Prince Zhu Di of Yan. The battles ended in a stalemate, and Li Jian was granted the title of Marquis of Luancheng. Later, he was captured after falling from his horse in the Battle of Hutuo River and died while being transported to Beijing. The princess had a son named Li Zhuang. After Emperor Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, her son was spared from danger due to her status as a princess. In the twenty-second year of Yongle (1424), in the eleventh month, on the Ren Shen day (November 21), she was posthumously titled Daming Grand Princess. She passed away on the twenty-second day of the second month of the first year of Xuande (March 30, 1426), at the age of fifty-nine.