List of vassal prince peerages of the Ming dynasty
After the Ming dynasty began, founder Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor) made his eldest son Zhu Biao the crown prince and granted his other sons and a grandnephew as vassal princes. Some of these princes held frontier fiefs to defend the borders. Hongwu also posthumously granted princely titles to many of his late male and female relatives.
This article lists all Ming princes, including those who never held active titles in life. To show family relationships clearly, it also traces the ancestors of the Hongwu Emperor and their sons.
After Hongwu’s accession, he posthumously honored his brothers and patrilineal relatives with second-rank princely titles. Some imperial sons who died young were given first-rank posthumous titles, though not all received posthumous titles.
The list covers posthumous princes of the imperial house, including descendants of Zhu Biao and the Southern Ming princes, but excludes matrilineal relatives of the Hongwu Emperor and other nobles, since they are not part of the imperial house.
Under Ming rules, only imperial sons and other imperial clan members (excluding matrilineal relatives) could be awarded princely titles. For non-imperial nobles, the highest life title was duke (guo gong), and they could only be posthumously awarded a second-rank princely title after death. This regulation lasted until the Ming ended, including during the Hongguang and Longwu regimes.
During the Yongli Emperor’s reign, this rule was overturned by force of Sun Kewang, and several Southern Ming leaders—Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), and other military officers—were granted various princely titles.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:21 (CET).