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On 17 July 1402, Zhu Di crowned himself the Yongle Emperor four days after his nephew's palace burned to the ground with three unidentifiable bodies inside. He then erased that reign from the calendar, had 873 people executed over one scholar's refusal to pick up a pen, and built one of the most productive 22 years in Chinese history.
On 15 March 1638, Fulin was born — the ninth son of the Qing ruler Hong Taiji, and a child no one expected to matter. He was crowned emperor at five, began ruling at thirteen, died at twenty-two, and left behind a dynasty that lasted another 251 years.
On 23 January 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself the Hongwu Emperor and founded the Ming dynasty. He had been born to a destitute peasant family, orphaned by plague, and spent his teens wandering as a mendicant monk. He ended a century of Mongol rule over China.