Zhu Yuanzhang was the first emperor of Ming Dynasty in China and a rare tyrant. As the founding emperor, why didn't Zhu Yuanzhang treat meritorious deeds as generously and kindly as Liu Bang, Li Shimin and Zhao Kuangyin? This reflects Zhu Yuanzhang's unique psychological quality and personality characteristics.

At the beginning of the uprising, Zhu Yuanzhang was good at tapping talents, and gathered Song Lian, Liu Bowen, Zhu Sheng and other advisers, with their help, the Ming Dynasty was established. However, Zhu Yuanzhang began to worry that civil servants would despise their humble origins and that military commanders would usurp the throne. Over time, there are typical anxiety manifestations, such as lack of self-confidence, extreme sensitivity and delusion.

For example, Xu Yikui, an official, once said in his congratulatory statement that "under the skylight, natural saints rule the world", but Zhu Yuanzhang actually thought that "under the skylight" meant that he was a bald monk and "governing the world" meant that he was a thief, so he set up a literary inquisition. In order to alleviate anxiety, Zhu Yuanzhang also took pleasure in cleaning up court officials, such as inventing court aides and other instruments of torture, so that no one from the prime minister to the civilians could safeguard human dignity, but he gained great psychological satisfaction.

Psychology defines anxiety as a state of high anxiety about threatening events, which can lead to high mental tension. Generally, anxious people will feel pain, worry, jealousy, revenge and so on, and they will also have doubts about themselves; In severe cases, it is often very exciting, painful and vindictive. For Zhu Yuanzhang, he jumped from a poor monk to the founding emperor, and he should be as confident as Qin Huang Hanwu and Tang Zongsong Zu. But he was eager for quick success and instant benefit, and compared himself with Yao Shun, hoping to build an absolutely equal society. As a result, he was frustrated in reality and did not reflect on himself. On the contrary, he expects to punish troubled times with severe punishment, which will only increase his frustration in the end. The older Zhu Yuanzhang gets, the more he feels inferior. He didn't believe that Emperor Taizong's team of prime ministers in cloth would be finished from beginning to end, nor did he believe that Song Taizu's "right to quench thirst by drinking poison" could sit back and relax, for fear of being shelved by important officials in the imperial court. Therefore, the higher a courtier's achievement, the stronger his anxiety about the throne.

In the final analysis, Zhu Yuanzhang's anxiety stems from the anxiety of political achievements and the anxiety of the throne. Under the interaction of these two kinds of anxiety, Zhu Yuanzhang lived in a sub-health state of high anxiety and tension for a long time, and his personality became increasingly paranoid. The anxiety of his life has built a "prison of the soul", which keeps him in trouble. Zhu Yuanzhang repented before he died: "I am not as good as the ancients." This shows that he realized that he was a victim of a "spiritual prison". Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to be a benevolent king, but eventually he became a tyrant. This is a psychological tragedy.

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