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What happened to the Jianwen emperor after Nanjing fell to Zhu Di?
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Yongle
The Yongle emperor, detail of a portrait; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
When the capital city of Nanjing fell to the forces of the prince of Yan (Zhu Di) in July 1402, the Jianwen emperor disappeared.
The official announcement from the new Yongle emperor stated that Jianwen had perished in a fire that consumed the imperial palace. However, this fate has remained a subject of historical debate and conjecture for centuries. A persistent legend suggests that the emperor survived the blaze and escaped the capital in disguise, living for nearly 40 years thereafter as a wandering monk. This uncertainty regarding his ultimate fate reportedly troubled Zhu Di for the remainder of his own life.12