How did Zhu Yuanzhang become connected to a Buddhist monastery near Fengyang?

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Hongwu The Hongwu emperor; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who would later become the Hongwu emperor, became connected to the Huangjue monastery near Fengyang after being orphaned at the age of 16. During a period of severe drought and famine that devastated central and northern China, he entered the monastery to avoid starvation, a common survival strategy for the sons of impoverished peasants at the time.1