There is a legend about Zhu Yuanzhang's ugly face in Qing Dynasty.
According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang's true face is very ugly. After Emperor Zhu asked the court painter to paint his portrait, he thought that the painter painted him too real and ugly, and that his "shoe-pulling face" did not conform to the image of the Ninth Five-Year Plan Emperor. So Zhu Yuanzhang asked the painter to change it into a square head and big ears, a full-fledged emperor and wealth. It is the official portrait of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in the South Fumigation Hall of the Forbidden City. However, after returning to China, the painter secretly drew a true picture of Zhu Yuanzhang from memory, and this portrait is said to be the true picture of Zhu Yuanzhang.
What does Zhu Yuanzhang look like? Let's talk about his marriage with Ma. We know that when Zhu Yuanzhang married Ma Xiuying, the adopted daughter of Guo Zixing, the leader of the Red Scarf Army, he was just an ordinary Qin Bing under Guo Ziyi. If Zhu Yuanzhang is really ugly, how could Guo Zixing marry his daughter to a man of low status and extremely ugly? Let's look at the portraits of Judy and Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuanzhang's sons and grandsons are people with fine features and heroic spirit. From a genetic point of view, Zhu Yuanzhang should not be extremely ugly.
Where did Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait of "shoehorn face" come from? We can't verify it. We know that Zhu Yuanzhang, as the emperor, is only a court painter who can paint for him. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang is really ugly, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Yuanzhang's face, painters will beautify their paintings, and those who are brave will not paint ugly images for the emperor Lao Zi.
Most of the ugly portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang we saw today were circulated after the Qing Dynasty, and the clothes Zhu Yuanzhang wore in the portraits were all clothes from the early Qing Dynasty. Perhaps it was the Manchu Dynasty that vilified the Ming Dynasty for political purposes to show its correctness in winning the world. They revised some of Zhu Yuanzhang's deeds, including his portrait.
In fact, no matter what Zhu Yuanzhang looks like, it will not affect the recognition of his great achievements by the world. Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew Mongolia's oppressive rule over the Chinese nation and made great contributions to the restoration of our national costume culture.