SAGE, HERO, BANDIT: ZHU YUANZHANG'S MAGE IN THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY NOVEL YINGLIE ZHUAN.

The article examines the representation of Zhu Yuanzhang, founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, in the 16th century Chinese novel "Yinglie zhuan (The Romance of Ming Dynasty Heroes)." The novel is said to be a significant Chinese fiction because of various reasons such as being the first significant historical novel after the famous "Sanguo yanji" (The Romance of Three Kingdoms) and the first novel to explore the events that happened during the same dynasty. It showed how the book's author explored the life and career of Zhu. The qualities of Zhu that are classified as kingly are described. The author argued that the book presented an ambivalent depiction of the character of Zhu.