As in the title of this post, 李旦 리단 (李成桂 리성계 (旦 단 was the name of 李成桂 after he came to the throne)), not 朱元璋 (Zhu Yuanzhang), is 大明太祖高皇帝.
The picture below should thus be that of 李成桂 리성계 (李旦 리단) if it is a genuine one.
李旦 리단 (李成桂 리성계) was the founder and first king of Li dynasty (李氏朝廷) of “Chosŏn” (朝鮮), which is said to have been established in 1392 and have come to an end in 1910. But he was not just the Li dynasty’s founder king (太祖, as temple name (廟號)) but also 高皇帝. (* The significance of 大明 will be discussed in later posts.) (* Year of birth and death of 李旦 (李成桂) should be further examined.)
Both 李旦 (李成桂) and, purportedly, 朱元璋 are said to have been 太祖高皇帝. But the title 高皇帝 cannot go to two different persons because the character 高 in 高皇帝 signifies the highest possible honorific available to be given to the deserved one, if any. It is like Heaven described by the two characters 高明 in《中庸》[Doctrine of the Mean] (博厚配地高明配天悠久無疆). So high 高 and brilliant 明 that it makes one the co-equal of Heaven, this is when the one is revered by the honorific 高 and 明. 明 in 大明, which can be used itself as a modifier of 太祖 or 皇帝 (大明太祖, 大明皇帝), can also be construed in this sense as one of its denotations. The character 高, with the very meaning as shown in phrase of《中庸》, cannot refer to two different individuals because “the highest” or “so high and consummate as to be likened to Heaven” can only be the one, not the other.
Such a title of 高皇帝 was dedicated to 李成桂 (李旦) by the 26th king of Li dynasty (李(氏)朝(廷)) Chosŏn, King Kojong Li Hŭi (高宗 李㷩, 1852-1919), on December 7, 1899, according to an entry in the so-called “Veritable” Records of the Joseon Dynasty (고종실록 39권, 고종 36년 12월 7일 陽曆 4번째기사, 조선왕조실록 (history.go.kr)). There should be no reason why King Kojong would dedicate such an honorific to 李成桂 (李旦) if the former were not of the lineage of the latter. Even so, this is (seems to be) a kind of deceit. The sillok (實錄) entry that says the title 高皇帝 was presented by King Kojong in 1899 can give a false impression that 太祖 李成桂 (李旦) was not called 高皇帝 until after 1899. The entry had to be inserted because the fact that 李成桂 (李旦) had earlier been designated as 高皇帝 could not be hidden or erased.
One account with 太祖高皇帝 is《東國通鑑》which was compiled in 1485, during the reign of Sŏngjong (成宗), the 9th king of Li dynasty (李朝). In《東國通鑑-外紀》a passage on 檀君朝鮮 reads as follows:
…近世權近入覲天庭 太祖高皇帝 命近賦詩以檀君爲題 近詩曰 傳世不知幾歷年曾過千 帝覽而可之 時論 亦以近之言爲是 姑存之以備後考…
This passage says that 權近, a high official who was decorated for having helped to found the dynasty, came to 天庭 to have an audience with 太祖高皇帝. He was prompted by 太祖高皇帝 to produce an ode on 檀君 (Tangun, the title for the kings of the so-called “Old Chosŏn” (古朝鮮) – but 古朝鮮 is not the original name; 檀君朝鮮, 王儉朝鮮, or simply 朝鮮 should be the name to be associated with 檀君)[1]. He said that the history of the period is unknown and there have been more than a thousand years, to which 太祖高皇帝 agreed.
Why would 朱元璋 call a Li dynasty official to come to his court? Why would 朱元璋 ask him to produce an ode on 檀君? Why would 朱元璋 want or need to test his knowledge of the history of 檀君朝鮮? There should be no reason to do so.
The place where 權近 was called into for the audience had to be the royal court where the Li dynasty king was present. 天庭 refers to the site of the central government of the Li dynasty. It is not that 權近 went to the court of 朱元璋 but he went to the court of Li dynasty Chosŏn (李朝朝鮮, 李氏朝鮮). 權近 did what anyone could do upon the king’s call to come to his court. 太祖高皇帝 told 權近 that he said it right because he spoke of a historical figure. Why would an emperor far away call a Li dynasty official to test his knowledge about a historical figure that the emperor would not empathize with?
Here 太祖高皇帝 should thus not be 朱元璋 but be the emperor in the central government of Li dynasty Chosŏn, none other than 李成桂 (李旦).
* If you search 朱元璋 online, you will find some pictures of him that cannot possibly be identified as depicting one same person. What does this mean? It means either a man who went by that name had died before making himself known for great deeds, or the person with the story ascribed to him did not even exist. Either case leads to the same conclusion: 朱元璋, no matter who he was, or whether or not he was a fictional entity, cannot be identified as the person depicted in the above picture with the caption 大明太祖高皇帝 on the upper right side.
[1] The ‘Biography’ of Tangun on the British Museum webpage (Tangun (Dangun) 단군 檀君 | British Museum) reads, “Mythical founder of the ancient Korean nation, the Old Choson; half-bear.” This is totally incorrect. 檀君 is the title for the kings who actually ruled the kingdom or dynasty to be called (王儉)朝鮮 since more than 2,000 years before the common era.