朱高煦

was the second son of Emperor Chu Ti and Empress Hsü. Born when his father was the prince of Yen, Chu Kao-hsü in 1426 unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow his nephew Chu Chan-chi, and was then referred to in history as "the commoner of Han" (庶人). He grew into a tall, powerful, athletic man in much the same mold as his father, and with a life-long envy of his fat, sickly elder brother Chu Kao-chih who inherited the throne in 1424.