When he was the emperor of China, Chinese people just called him the "Emperor". If they met him, they used very polite terms like "Bìxià" (, "Your Highness") to speak to him. After he died, the next emperors gave him a new, long, and very polite name and called him "Míng Chéngzǔ" (), the "Most Successful Dead Family Member" of the Ming. After the Xinhai and Communist changes in government of China, people are less polite when they talk about the old emperors. They usually just call him by his everyday name Zhu Di like a common person. In English, it's more common to talk about him as the Yongle Emperor.