Misplaced Pages

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138-586: In the Ming Dynasty book SanCai TuHui (三才圖會), Bai Ze’s appearance is described as having green hair on a loong head, with a horn growing on the top and the ability to fly. In the History of Yuan (元史), it is recorded as having the head of a tiger, red mane, loong’s body, and a horn. Bai Ze’s image in China combines features of both the loong and tiger. The only existing evidence related to Bái Zé Tú in China

276-462: A 48 km (30 mi) long wall around Nanjing , as well as new palaces and government halls. The History of Ming states that as early as 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had begun drafting a new Confucian law code, the Da Ming Lü , which was completed by 1397 and repeated certain clauses found in the old Tang Code of 653. Hongwu organized a military system known as the weisuo , which was similar to

414-767: A coup against the Tianshun Emperor out of fear of being next on his purge-list of those who aided him in the Wresting the Gate Incident. Cao's rebel force managed to set fire to the western and eastern gates of the Imperial City (doused by rain during the battle) and killed several leading ministers before his forces were finally cornered and he was forced to commit suicide. While the Yongle Emperor had staged five major offensives north of

552-670: A eunuch servant, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden right outside the Forbidden City. Seizing opportunity, the Eight Banners crossed the Great Wall after the Ming border general Wu Sangui (1612–1678) opened the gates at Shanhai Pass . This occurred shortly after he learned about the fate of the capital and an army of Li Zicheng marching towards him; weighing his options of alliance, he decided to side with

690-588: A force personally to face the Oirats after a recent Ming defeat; the emperor left the capital and put his half-brother Zhu Qiyu in charge of affairs as temporary regent. On 8 September, Esen routed Zhengtong's army, and Zhengtong was captured—an event known as the Tumu Crisis . The Oirats held the Zhengtong Emperor for ransom. However, this scheme was foiled once the emperor's younger brother assumed

828-433: A historical work lambasting and belittling his political opponents. The instability at court came right as natural calamity, pestilence, rebellion, and foreign invasion came to a peak. The Chongzhen Emperor (r. 1627–44) had Wei dismissed from court, which led to Wei's suicide shortly after. The eunuchs built their own social structure, providing and gaining support to their birth clans. Instead of fathers promoting sons, it

966-432: A low civil service rank. The one great advantage of the lesser functionaries over officials was that officials were periodically rotated and assigned to different regional posts and had to rely on the good service and cooperation of the local lesser functionaries. Eunuchs gained unprecedented power over state affairs during the Ming dynasty. One of the most effective means of control was the secret service stationed in what

1104-474: A major cause of "China's cultural stagnation and economic backwardness." However Benjamin Ellman argues there were some positive features, since the essay form was capable of fostering "abstract thinking, persuasiveness, and prosodic form" and that its elaborate structure discouraged a wandering, unfocused narrative". Scholar-officials who entered civil service through examinations acted as executive officials to

1242-447: A massive influx of South American silver. This abundance of specie remonetized the Ming economy, whose paper money had suffered repeated hyperinflation and was no longer trusted. While traditional Confucians opposed such a prominent role for commerce and the newly rich it created, the heterodoxy introduced by Wang Yangming permitted a more accommodating attitude. Zhang Juzheng 's initially successful reforms proved devastating when

1380-498: A much larger body of non-ranked personnel called lesser functionaries. They outnumbered officials by four to one; Charles Hucker estimates that they were perhaps as many as 100,000 throughout the empire. These lesser functionaries performed clerical and technical tasks for government agencies. Yet they should not be confused with lowly lictors, runners, and bearers; lesser functionaries were given periodic merit evaluations like officials and after nine years of service might be accepted into

1518-467: A rebellion that sparked a three-year civil war . Under the pretext of rescuing the young Jianwen from corrupting officials, Zhu Di personally led forces in the revolt; the palace in Nanjing was burned to the ground, along with Jianwen himself, his wife, mother, and courtiers. Zhu Di assumed the throne as the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–24); his reign is universally viewed by scholars as a "second founding" of

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1656-652: A result, the Hongwu Emperor appointed Zhu Biao's eldest surviving son, Zhu Yunwen (later the Jianwen Emperor ), as his successor. In 1398, a new government led by the young emperor took office and immediately began to aggressively intervene against the emperor's uncles. This ultimately led to the rebellion of the strongest uncle, Zhu Di , in 1399. In the ensuing civil war, known as the Jingnan campaign , Zhu Di emerged victorious and in 1402, his troops captured

1794-467: A rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the navy 's dockyards in Nanjing were the largest in the world. He also took great care breaking the power of the court eunuchs and unrelated magnates, enfeoffing his many sons throughout China and attempting to guide these princes through

1932-564: A series of lit beacons and signalling stations to allow rapid warning to friendly units of advancing enemy troops. There were many problems—fiscal or other—facing Ming China that started during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1572–1620). In the beginning of his reign, Wanli surrounded himself with able advisors and made a conscientious effort to handle state affairs. His Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng (1572–82) built up an effective network of alliances with senior officials. However, there

2070-471: A slowdown in agriculture was produced by the Little Ice Age . The value of silver rapidly increased because of a disruption in the supply of imported silver from Spanish and Portuguese sources, making it impossible for Chinese farmers to pay their taxes. Combined with crop failure, floods, and an epidemic , the dynasty collapsed in 1644 as Li Zicheng's rebel forces entered Beijing. Li then established

2208-559: A vast imperial household, staffed with thousands of eunuchs, who were headed by the Directorate of Palace Attendants. The eunuchs were divided into different directorates in charge of staff surveillance, ceremonial rites, food, utensils, documents, stables, seals, apparel, and so on. The offices were in charge of providing fuel, music, paper, and baths. The bureaus were in charge of weapons, silverwork, laundering, headgear, bronze work, textile manufacture, wineries, and gardens. At times,

2346-442: A very expensive, sophisticated tutoring of the sort that wealthy gentry families specialized in providing their talented sons. In practice, 90 percent of the population was ineligible due to lack of education, but the upper 10 percent had equal chances for moving to the top. To be successful young men had to have extensive, expensive training in classical Chinese, the use of Mandarin in spoken conversation, calligraphy, and had to master

2484-587: A work originated in China. This work is listed in late 9th-century Japanese bibliographies, while is unknown in Chinese ones. In Tiandi ruixiang zhi, Hakutaku has the body of a cow and a human head with a beard. The “ Hakutaku hi kai zu ” image painted by Fukuhara Gogaku features three faces, each with three eyes and a pair of horns. By the 18th century, this depiction of Bai Ze had become standard in Japan, yet its origins remain uncertain. In “Hakutaku hi kai zu”, Hakutaku

2622-569: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty ( / m ɪ ŋ / MING ), officially the Great Ming , was an imperial dynasty of China , ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty . The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people , the majority ethnic group in China. Although

2760-472: Is an incomplete Dunhuang manuscript. It is said to have been copied in the 9th or 10th century and titled “Baize-jing guai—tu” ‘Bai Ze Diagrams of Spectral Prodigies’ (白澤精惟圖), now kept at the National Library of France (P2682). This Dunhuang manuscript does not contain any drawings of Bai Ze. The term diagram(tu) in its title refers to the 11,520 drawings of ghosts and spirits depicted by Bai Ze in

2898-537: Is depicted as a deity protecting people from evil spirits, so hanging Hakutaku’s diagram inside the house can ward off misfortune. There are extensive records in 18th and 19th century Japan of magical uses of Hakutaku, including protective talismans and for healing purposes. During the cholera epidemic in Edo in 1858, people were instructed to place Hakutaku’s image on their pillows before going to bed to protect themselves. In Zen and Japanese Culture , D. T. Suzuki describes

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3036-588: Is underrepresented in modern scholarship. Others note the Ming need for Central Asian horses and the need to maintain the tea-horse trade . The Ming sporadically sent armed forays into Tibet during the 14th century, which the Tibetans successfully resisted. Several scholars point out that unlike the preceding Mongols, the Ming dynasty did not garrison permanent troops in Tibet. The Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) attempted to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations in

3174-607: The Huang-Ming Zuxun , a set of published dynastic instructions. This failed when his teenage successor, the Jianwen Emperor , attempted to curtail his uncle's power, prompting the Jingnan campaign , an uprising that placed the Prince of Yan upon the throne as the Yongle Emperor in 1402. The Yongle Emperor established Yan as a secondary capital and renamed it Beijing , constructed the Forbidden City , and restored

3312-581: The fubing system of the Tang dynasty (618–907). In 1380 Hongwu had the Chancellor Hu Weiyong executed upon suspicion of a conspiracy plot to overthrow him; after that Hongwu abolished the Chancellery and assumed this role as chief executive and emperor, a precedent mostly followed throughout the Ming period. With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established

3450-736: The Censorate , and the Chief Military Commission and personally took charge of the Six Ministries and the regional Five Military Commissions. Thus a whole level of administration was cut out and only partially rebuilt by subsequent rulers. The Grand Secretariat , at the beginning a secretarial institution that assisted the emperor with administrative paperwork, was instituted, but without employing grand counselors, or chancellors . The Hongwu Emperor sent his heir apparent to Shaanxi in 1391 to "tour and soothe" ( xunfu )

3588-681: The Central Plains . The founder and first emperor of the dynasty was Zhu Yuanzhang , born in 1328 to a poor Chinese peasant family in Zhongli County ( 鍾離 , present-day Fengyang County ) in Anhui , located in central China on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River . After losing his parents and two brothers to an epidemic in 1344, he spent time in a Buddhist monastery and also resorted to begging for survival. In 1352, he joined

3726-489: The Embroidered Uniform Guard , and other peoples such as Jurchens were also prominent. He frequently wrote to Mongol, Japanese, Korean, Jurchen, Tibetan, and Southwest frontier rulers offering advice on their governmental and dynastic policy, and insisted on leaders from these regions visiting the Ming capital for audiences. He resettled 100,000 Mongols into his territory, with many serving as guards in

3864-684: The Grand Canal and the primacy of the imperial examinations in official appointments. He rewarded his eunuch supporters and employed them as a counterweight against the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats . One eunuch, Zheng He , led seven enormous voyages of exploration into the Indian Ocean as far as Arabia and the eastern coasts of Africa. Hongwu and Yongle emperors had also expanded the empire's rule into Inner Asia . The rise of new emperors and new factions diminished such extravagances;

4002-546: The Great Wall against the Mongols and the Oirats, the constant threat of Oirat incursions prompted the Ming authorities to fortify the Great Wall from the late 15th century to the 16th century; nevertheless, John Fairbank notes that "it proved to be a futile military gesture but vividly expressed China's siege mentality." Yet the Great Wall was not meant to be a purely defensive fortification; its towers functioned rather as

4140-643: The Han River to Wuchang , and finally along the northern border of Jiangxi province, Li Zicheng died there in the summer of 1645, thus ending the Shun dynasty . One report says his death was a suicide; another states that he was beaten to death by peasants after he was caught stealing their food. Despite the loss of Beijing and the death of the emperor, the Ming were not yet totally destroyed. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Yunnan were all strongholds of Ming resistance. However, there were several pretenders for

4278-621: The Japanese invasions of Korea in the 1590s. Ming officials declined the offer, but granted him the title of dragon-tiger general for his gesture. Recognizing the weakness of Ming authority in Manchuria at the time, he consolidated power by co-opting or conquering surrounding territories. In 1616 he declared himself Khan and established the Later Jin dynasty in reference to the previous Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty . In 1618 he openly renounced

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4416-505: The Jinyiwei , a network of secret police drawn from his own palace guard. Some 100,000 people were executed in a series of purges during his rule. The Hongwu Emperor issued many edicts forbidding Mongol practices and proclaiming his intention to purify China of barbarian influence. However, he also sought to use the Yuan legacy to legitimize his authority in China and other areas ruled by

4554-563: The Ming dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. Rump states of the Ming dynasty (collectively known as the Southern Ming ) continued in the southern region until 1662, but the territory gradually decreased. The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people . After its downfall, China was conquered by the Manchu -led Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The Han-led state

4692-517: The Mongols in the north. To protect against these raids, the Great Wall of China was built and over five thousand kilometers of trenches were constructed. In January 1556, a strong earthquake struck the northern provinces of China, resulting in the deaths of approximately 830,000 people. This disaster had a significant impact on China's economy in the second half of the 16th century, leading to numerous peasant uprisings. The weakened Chinese state

4830-523: The Qing dynasty in 1739—states that the Ming established itinerant commanderies overseeing Tibetan administration while also renewing titles of ex-Yuan dynasty officials from Tibet and conferring new princely titles on leaders of Tibetan Buddhist sects . However, Turrell V. Wylie states that censorship in the Mingshi in favor of bolstering the Ming emperor's prestige and reputation at all costs obfuscates

4968-698: The Red Turban Rebellion and quickly rose to a prominent position among the rebels. He defeated other rebel leaders and the Mongol troops of the Yuan dynasty , ultimately declaring himself emperor of the Ming dynasty in 1368. By 1381, he had successfully conquered the entire country. The dynasty were established by Zhu Yuanzhang (known as the Hongwu Emperor during his reign) in January 1368 in

5106-527: The Second Manchu invasion of Korea and forced Joseon to become a Qing tributary. Shortly after, the Koreans renounced their long-held loyalty to the Ming dynasty. A peasant soldier named Li Zicheng mutinied with his fellow soldiers in western Shaanxi in the early 1630s after the Ming government failed to ship much-needed supplies there. In 1634 he was captured by a Ming general and released only on

5244-637: The Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 , occurred during the Jiajing Emperor 's reign, killing approximately 830,000 people. Originally a Ming vassal who officially considered himself a guardian of the Ming border and a local representative of imperial Ming power, Nurhaci , leader of the Jianzhou Jurchens , unified other Jurchen clans to create a new Manchu ethnic identity. He offered to lead his armies to support Ming and Joseon armies against

5382-501: The Shun dynasty , but it was defeated shortly afterwards by the Manchu -led Eight Banner armies of the Qing dynasty , with the help of the defecting Ming general Wu Sangui . The Mongol -led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Explanations for the demise of the Yuan include institutionalized ethnic discrimination against the Han people that stirred resentment and rebellion, overtaxation of areas hard-hit by inflation , and massive flooding of

5520-691: The White Lotus sect. The term Ming was also used to refer to the Mingjiao , or the "Bright Religion", which was influenced by Manichaeism and played a role in the ideology of the White Lotus and the Red Turban rebellion. By claiming to embody the rebels' belief in the coming of Ming wang, the King of Light, the Hongwu Emperor justified his removal of Han Lin'er and his family from power. Finally,

5658-617: The Yellow River as a result of the abandonment of irrigation projects. Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles, and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River. A number of Han groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus , a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang

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5796-568: The conquest of Tibet by Güshi Khan (1582–1655) in 1642, establishing the Khoshut Khanate . The Hongwu Emperor specified his grandson Zhu Yunwen as his successor, and he assumed the throne as the Jianwen Emperor (r. 1398–1402) after Hongwu's death in 1398. The most powerful of Hongwu's sons, Zhu Di, then the militarily mighty disagreed with this, and soon a political showdown erupted between him and his nephew Jianwen. After Jianwen arrested many of Zhu Di's associates, Zhu Di plotted

5934-642: The 12th century. Ming era examinations were perhaps more difficult to pass since the 1487 requirement of completing the " eight-legged essay ", a departure from basing essays off progressing literary trends. The exams increased in difficulty as the student progressed from the local level, and appropriate titles were accordingly awarded successful applicants. Officials were classified in nine hierarchic grades, each grade divided into two degrees, with ranging salaries (nominally paid in piculs of rice) according to their rank. While provincial graduates who were appointed to office were immediately assigned to low-ranking posts like

6072-504: The 16th century, the expansion of European trade —though restricted to islands near Guangzhou such as Macau —spread the Columbian exchange of crops, plants, and animals into China, introducing chili peppers to Sichuan cuisine and highly productive maize and potatoes , which diminished famines and spurred population growth. The growth of Portuguese , Spanish , and Dutch trade created new demand for Chinese products and produced

6210-521: The 9th to 10th centuries, there was a custom of hanging drawings of Bai Ze in households to protect against spirit-world harm, while Bai Ze diagram is also used to pray for the well-being and health of family members . In Japan, Bai Ze is also called Hakutaku. The oldest known depiction of Hakutaku appears in the Tiandi ruixiang zhi ‘Treatise on the Auspicious Signs of Heaven and Earth’ (天地瑞祥志),

6348-573: The Bedchamber, Bureau of Handicrafts, and Office of Staff Surveillance. Starting in the 1420s, eunuchs began taking over these ladies' positions until only the Bureau of Apparel with its four subsidiary offices remained. Hongwu had his eunuchs organized into the Directorate of Palace Attendants, but as eunuch power at court increased, so did their administrative offices, with eventual twelve directorates, four offices, and eight bureaus. The dynasty had

6486-506: The Central Secretariat was abolished, there was no longer a position equivalent to the prime minister. The Hongwu Emperor explicitly forbade its reinstatement, making the emperor the sole authority above the ministers, Censorate, and military offices. The smooth functioning of the government was therefore dependent on the emperor's active participation. The emperor's secretaries, Grand Secretaries, or high-ranking eunuchs took on

6624-474: The Forbidden City, a complex of palaces and buildings built in Nanjing , the capital of the country. However, the Yongle Emperor decided to move the capital to Beijing , and the Forbidden City there, covering an area of 72 hectares, was completed in 1420 when the emperor and his entire court relocated there. Zhu Biao , the eldest son of the founder of the dynasty, died before his father's death. As

6762-580: The Manchus. The Eight Banners under the Manchu Prince Dorgon (1612–1650) and Wu Sangui approached Beijing after the army sent by Li was destroyed at Shanhaiguan ; the Prince of Shun's army fled the capital on the fourth of June. On 6 June, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor ruler of China. After being forced out of Xi'an by the Qing, chased along

6900-660: The Ming court in 1557 to settle Macau as their permanent trade base in China. Their role in providing silver was gradually surpassed by the Spanish , while even the Dutch challenged them for control of this trade. Philip IV of Spain (r. 1621–1665) began cracking down on illegal smuggling of silver from New Spain and Peru across the Pacific through the Philippines towards China, in favor of shipping silver mined in

7038-454: The Ming dynasty since he reversed many of his father's policies. Yongle demoted Nanjing to a secondary capital and in 1403 announced the new capital of China was to be at his power base in Beijing . Construction of a new city there lasted from 1407 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily. At the center was the political node of the Imperial City , and at the center of this

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7176-402: The Ming in campaigns against aboriginal tribes. In 1381, the Ming dynasty annexed the areas of the southwest that had once been part of the Kingdom of Dali following the successful effort by Hui Muslim Ming armies to defeat Yuan -loyalist Mongol and Hui Muslim troops holding out in Yunnan province. The Hui troops under General Mu Ying , who was appointed Governor of Yunnan, were resettled in

7314-484: The Ming overlordship and effectively declared war against the Ming with the " Seven Grievances ." In 1636, Nurhaci's son Hong Taiji renamed his dynasty the " Great Qing " at Mukden (modern Shenyang), which had been made their capital in 1625. Hong Taiji also adopted the Chinese imperial title huangdi , declared the Chongde ("Revering Virtue") era, and changed the ethnic name of his people from "Jurchen" to " Manchu ". In 1636, Banner Armies defeated Joseon during

7452-432: The Ming throne, and their forces were divided. These scattered Ming remnants in southern China after 1644 were collectively designated by 19th-century historians as the Southern Ming . Each bastion of resistance was individually defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last Southern Ming emperor, Zhu Youlang , the Yongli Emperor, was captured and executed. Despite the Ming defeat, smaller loyalist movements continued until

7590-531: The Spanish Latin American colonies through Spanish ports. People began hoarding precious silver as there was progressively less of it, forcing the ratio of the value of copper to silver into a steep decline. In the 1630s a string of one thousand copper coins equaled an ounce of silver; by 1640 that sum could fetch half an ounce; and, by 1643 only one-third of an ounce. For peasants this meant economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and crop sales in copper. Historians have debated

7728-527: The Yongle Emperor's reign (1402–1424) and afterwards managed huge imperial workshops, commanded armies, and participated in matters of appointment and promotion of officials. Yongle put 75 eunuchs in charge of foreign policy; they traveled frequently to vassal states including Annam, Mongolia, the Ryukyu Islands, and Tibet and less frequently to farther-flung places like Japan and Nepal. In the later 15th century, however, eunuch envoys generally only traveled to Korea. The eunuchs developed their own bureaucracy that

7866-434: The Yongle Emperor, the Ming Dynasty established the Nurgan Regional Military Commission on the banks of the Amur River , and Yishiha , a eunuch of Haixi Jurchen origin, was ordered to lead an expedition to the mouth of the Amur to pacify the Wild Jurchens. After the death of Yongle Emperor, the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was abolished in 1435, and the Ming court ceased to have substantial activities there, although

8004-417: The Yuan capital Dadu (present-day Beijing ) in 1368. The last Yuan emperor fled north to the upper capital Shangdu , and Zhu declared the founding of the Ming dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu to the ground; the city was renamed Beiping in the same year. Zhu Yuanzhang took Hongwu, or "Vastly Martial", as his era name . Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built

8142-402: The Yuan. He continued policies of the Yuan dynasty such as continued request for Korean concubines and eunuchs, Mongol-style hereditary military institutions, Mongol-style clothing and hats, promoting archery and horseback riding, and having large numbers of Mongols serve in the Ming military. Until the late 16th century Mongols still constituted one-in-three officers serving in capital forces like

8280-412: The aforementioned group, other members of the imperial family were excluded from the administration of the country. It was not until 1595, when the number of imperial family members had grown to tens of thousands, that they were allowed to participate in the civil service examinations , but they could not be appointed to positions in the capital city. During the reign of the Hongwu Emperor's successors,

8418-589: The aloof emperor and his officials; any senior official who wanted to discuss state matters had to persuade powerful eunuchs with a bribe simply to have his demands or message relayed to the emperor. There were several military campaigns, which included the Ordos campaign , Bozhou rebellion by the Chiefdom of Bozhou in southwestern China and the Imjin War , during the Wanli Emperor's reign. The Hongwu Emperor forbade eunuchs to learn how to read or engage in politics. Whether or not these restrictions were carried out with absolute success in his reign, eunuchs during

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8556-437: The beginning of the Jiajing Emperor's reign. During the reign of the Wanli Emperor , a prolonged succession dispute occurred. Despite the customary practice and succession order, the emperor refused to appoint his eldest son, Zhu Changluo (later the Taichang Emperor ), as the crown prince. Instead, he favored his third son, Zhu Changxun , who was born to his favorite concubine. This dispute lasted for over fifteen years until

8694-457: The capital city of Nanjing . It is believed that the Jianwen Emperor perished in the fire that engulfed the imperial palace. The new emperor, Zhu Di, made efforts to erase the memory of his predecessor by denying his legitimacy and even retroactively canceling the era of Jianwen. During the reign of other emperors, the throne was passed down through the principle of primogeniture , where the oldest living son or closest male relative would become

8832-414: The capital city of Nanjing . Prior to this, Zhu was the leader of the Red Turbans and had been appointed as the Duke of Wu ( 吳國公 ) by the emperor of the rebel Song dynasty, Han Lin'er , in 1361. (Wu was the name of an ancient state and later the region on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River .) On 4 February 1364, Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself the King of Wu ( 吳王 ). Despite this, he did not take on

8970-460: The capital. The emperor also strongly advertised the hospitality and role granted to Chinggisid nobles in his court. Hongwu insisted that he was not a rebel, and he attempted to justify his conquest of the other rebel warlords by claiming that he was a Yuan subject and had been divinely-appointed to restore order by crushing rebels. Most Chinese elites did not view the Yuan's Mongol ethnicity as grounds to resist or reject it. Hongwu emphasised that he

9108-428: The capture of the Emperor Yingzong of Ming during the 1449 Tumu Crisis ended them completely. The imperial navy was allowed to fall into disrepair while forced labor constructed the Liaodong palisade and connected and fortified the Great Wall into its modern form. Wide-ranging censuses of the entire empire were conducted decennially, but the desire to avoid labor and taxes and the difficulty of storing and reviewing

9246-479: The central government. For the emperor, they represented a support for his personal power independent of the regular civilian and military hierarchy; after the emperor's death, the new government attempted to limit their influence, which provoked a rebellion by one of them—Zhu Di. The Yongle Emperor himself limited the power of the princes in the regions and after the unsuccessful rebellion of Prince Zhu Gaoxu in 1426, they lost their political significance. Apart from

9384-426: The control imposed upon the Jurchens in Manchuria by the Mongols, yet it created a norm of organization that would ultimately serve as the main instrument for the relations with peoples along the northeast frontiers. By the end of the Hongwu reign, the essentials of a policy toward the Jurchens had taken shape. Most of the inhabitants of Manchuria, except for the Wild Jurchens , were at peace with China. In 1409, under

9522-441: The county graduates, those who passed the palace examination were awarded a jinshi ('presented scholar') degree and assured a high-level position. In 276 years of Ming rule and ninety palace examinations, the number of doctoral degrees granted by passing the palace examinations was 24,874. Ebrey states that "there were only two to four thousand of these jinshi at any given time, on the order of one out of 10,000 adult males." This

9660-422: The court of the Tianqi Emperor (r. 1620–1627) and had his political rivals tortured to death, mostly the vocal critics from the faction of the Donglin Society . He ordered temples built in his honor throughout the Ming Empire, and built personal palaces created with funds allocated for building the previous emperor's tombs. His friends and family gained important positions without qualifications. Wei also published

9798-428: The dissolution of the Central Secretariat , whose leader served as the de facto prime minister. Subsequently, the emperor assumed full decision-making power for all matters beyond the jurisdiction of individual ministries. The third emperor, Yongle Emperor , personally oversaw both major and minor issues, and became agitated when he was not kept informed of even the most insignificant matters. The subsequent monarchs of

9936-475: The dynasty holding at least the last title. In the year of the Hongwu Emperor's death (1398), there were 58 members of the family with titles. However, by the beginning of the 15th century, this number had increased to 127, and by the end of the century, there were over 2000 members with titles. These family members received ample support from the state treasury, as well as judicial immunity and various privileges based on their titles and status. Additionally, from

10074-452: The dynasty lacked the decisiveness of their predecessors, and their power was limited by traditional expectations. The emperors were not expected to take the lead in determining the direction of the country. Instead, they were presented with memoranda and demands that already included proposed solutions. The ruler's role was to either approve the proposed solutions or reach an agreement with the submitters on an alternative solution. Similarly,

10212-595: The eldest son was traditionally appointed as the heir to the throne at a young age. Other imperial sons were given the title of prince and were sent to different regions. The heir to the throne would hold the title, while the other sons were known as princes of commanderies ( 郡王 ; junwang ). In the following generations, male members of the family were granted titles in six decreasing levels ( 鎭國將軍 zhenguo jiangjun , 輔國將軍 fuguo jiangjun , 奉國將軍 fengguo jiangjun , 鎭國中尉 zhenguo zhongwei , 輔國中尉 fuguo zhongwei , and finally 奉國中尉 fengguo zhongwei ), with each male member of

10350-544: The emperor and ministers at times). The Secretariat operated as a coordinating agency, whereas the Six Ministries— Personnel , Revenue , Rites , War , Justice , and Public Works —were direct administrative organs of the state: The imperial household was staffed almost entirely by eunuchs and ladies with their own bureaus. Female servants were organized into the Bureau of Palace Attendance, Bureau of Ceremonies, Bureau of Apparel, Bureau of Foodstuffs, Bureau of

10488-473: The emperor finally yielded to pressure from officials and followed the proper succession rules. However, the stubbornness of both sides caused a rift between the emperor and the government, leading to significant damage to the administration of the empire. The emperor stopped meeting with ministers and refused to appoint new officials to vacant positions, further exacerbating the situation. The Hongwu Emperor appointed his eldest son, Zhu Biao, as his successor to

10626-481: The emperor's appointments of officials and generals were based on proposals from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War . In the case of high dignitaries, the emperor was given a choice between two to three candidates. Important matters were discussed at official audiences or informal meetings, and it was necessary to have a broad consensus among court dignitaries before making any major decisions. After

10764-489: The emperor's pragmatic adoption of Mongol government practices was reflected in the choice of the dynasty name—the use of an abstract concept as a dynasty name was a non-Chinese tradition that originated with the Jurchens ( Jin dynasty , "Golden") and was later adopted by the Mongols ( Yuan dynasty , "Beginning"). Under the rule of the new dynasty, China was able to recover from the damages caused by decades of warfare during

10902-531: The emperor, handling paperwork under the reign of the Yongle Emperor and later appointed as top officials of agencies and Grand Preceptor, a top-ranking, non-functional civil service post, under the Hongxi Emperor (r. 1424–25). The Grand Secretariat drew its members from the Hanlin Academy and were considered part of the imperial authority, not the ministerial one (hence being at odds with both

11040-497: The emperor. As in prior dynasties, the provincial administrations were monitored by a travelling inspector from the Censorate. Censors had the power to impeach officials on an irregular basis, unlike the senior officials who were to do so only in triennial evaluations of junior officials. Although decentralization of state power within the provinces occurred in the early Ming, the trend of central government officials delegated to

11178-454: The enormous archives at Nanjing hampered accurate figures. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million, but necessary revenues were squeezed out of smaller and smaller numbers of farmers as more disappeared from the official records or "donated" their lands to tax-exempt eunuchs or temples. Haijin laws intended to protect the coasts from Japanese pirates instead turned many into smugglers and pirates themselves. By

11316-557: The establishment of the Xi dynasty , while Li's center of power was in Hubei with extended influence over Shaanxi and Henan. In 1640, masses of Chinese peasants who were starving, unable to pay their taxes, and no longer in fear of the frequently defeated Chinese army, began to form into huge bands of rebels. The Chinese military, caught between fruitless efforts to defeat the Manchu raiders from

11454-466: The exam generally limited participants to those already coming from the landholding class. However, the government did exact provincial quotas while drafting officials. This was an effort to curb monopolization of power by landholding gentry who came from the most prosperous regions, where education was the most advanced. The expansion of the printing industry since Song times enhanced the spread of knowledge and number of potential exam candidates throughout

11592-504: The government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects caused widespread loss of life and normal civility. The central government, starved of resources, could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic, the Great Plague of 1633–1644 , spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing an unknown but large number of people. The deadliest earthquake of all time,

11730-424: The guards continued to exist in Manchuria. Throughout its existence, the Ming established a total of 384 guards (衛, wei ) and 24 battalions (所, suo ) in Manchuria, but these were probably only nominal offices and did not necessarily imply political control. By the late Ming period, Ming's political presence in Manchuria has declined significantly. The Mingshi —the official history of the Ming dynasty compiled by

11868-490: The hakutaku as "a mythical creature whose body resembles a hand and whose head is human. It was anciently believed that the creature ate our bad dreams and evil experiences, and for this reason, people, wishing it to eat up all the ills which we are likely to suffer, used to hang its picture on the entrance gate or inside the house. This article related to Chinese mythology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to Japanese mythology

12006-430: The intricate poetic requirements of the eight-legged essay. Not only did the traditional gentry dominated the system, they also learned that conservatism and resistance to new ideas was the path to success. For centuries critics had pointed out these problems, but the examination system only became more abstract and less relevant to the needs of China. The consensus of scholars is that the eight-legged essay can be blamed as

12144-686: The kingdoms visited by Zheng He, Yongle proclaimed the Kingdom of Cochin to be its protectorate. The Chinese had sent diplomatic missions over land since the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) and engaged in private overseas trade , but these missions were unprecedented in grandeur and scale. To service seven different tributary voyages, the Nanjing shipyards constructed two thousand vessels from 1403 to 1419, including treasure ships measuring 112 to 134 m (367 to 440 ft) in length and 45 to 54 m (148 to 177 ft) in width. Yongle used woodblock printing to spread Chinese culture. He also used

12282-594: The largest political division was the circuit ( lu 路). However, after the Jurchen invasion in 1127, the Song court established four semi-autonomous regional command systems based on territorial and military units, with a detached service secretariat that would become the provincial administrations of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Copied on the Yuan model, the Ming provincial bureaucracy contained three commissions: one civil, one military, and one for surveillance. Below

12420-459: The last opposing rebel faction, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in uncontested control of the bountiful Yangtze River Valley and cementing his power in the south. After the dynastic head of the Red Turbans suspiciously died in 1367 while a guest of Zhu, there was no one left who was remotely capable of contesting his march to the throne, and he made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward

12558-469: The legend. In the folk beliefs of imperial China, Bai Ze also symbolized the ability to expel ghosts and ward off evil spirits. According to the legend of Bai Ze, the remaining scrolls of the "Baize-jing guai—tu" recorded the signs of strange phenomena and evil spirits. It also detailed the disasters caused by these evil ghosts, as well as methods to avoid these calamities. At the same time, besides serving as divination texts, according to Chinese records from

12696-413: The level of the province ( sheng 省) were prefectures ( fu 府) operating under a prefect ( zhifu 知府), followed by subprefectures ( zhou 州) under a subprefect. The lowest unit was the county ( xian 縣), overseen by a magistrate. Besides the provinces, there were also two large areas that belonged to no province, but were metropolitan areas ( jing 京) attached to Nanjing and Beijing. Departing from

12834-648: The local peoples. After the overthrow of the Mongol Yuan dynasty by the Ming dynasty in 1368, Manchuria remained under control of the Mongols of the Northern Yuan dynasty based in Mongolia . Naghachu , a former Yuan official and a Uriankhai general of the Northern Yuan dynasty, won hegemony over the Mongol tribes in Manchuria ( Liaoyang province of the former Yuan dynasty). He grew strong in

12972-600: The main central administrative system generally known as the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, which was instituted by various dynasties since late Han (202 BCE – 220 CE), the Ming administration had only one department, the Secretariat, that controlled the six ministries. Following the execution of the Chancellor Hu Weiyong in 1380, the Hongwu Emperor abolished the Secretariat,

13110-419: The mid-15th century, they also began to acquire land ownership. According to late Ming authors, there were over 100,000 male descendants of the Hongwu Emperor during their time. It was not only sons who received titles and pensions, but also daughters of the imperial family and their husbands. As the number of dynasty members grew, the costs of their material security significantly increased, primarily affecting

13248-615: The military to expand China's borders. This included the brief occupation of Vietnam , from the initial invasion in 1406 until the Ming withdrawal in 1427 as a result of protracted guerrilla warfare led by Lê Lợi , the founder of the Vietnamese Lê dynasty . The Oirat leader Esen Tayisi launched an invasion into Ming China in July 1449. The chief eunuch Wang Zhen encouraged the Zhengtong Emperor (r. 1435–49) to lead

13386-606: The most influential eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial acted as a de facto dictator over the state. Although the imperial household was staffed mostly by eunuchs and palace ladies, there was a civil service office called the Seal Office, which cooperated with eunuch agencies in maintaining imperial seals, tallies, and stamps. There were also civil service offices to oversee the affairs of imperial princes. The Hongwu emperor from 1373 to 1384 staffed his bureaus with officials gathered through recommendations only. After that

13524-561: The new monarch. However, this system faced a problem in 1449 when Emperor Yingzong was captured by the Mongols. After some hesitation, the court decided to crown the emperor's brother, the Jingtai Emperor , as the new ruler. However, the following year, Emperor Yingzong was released from captivity and spent the next seven years under house arrest. In early 1457, the Jingtai Emperor fell ill and with no heir, Emperor Yingzong

13662-424: The north and Vietnam in the south, which led to the revival of trade and diplomatic relations with Japan , India , and Southeast Asia. This was made possible by a large fleet of long-distance trading junks , which unfortunately became a target for Chinese and Japanese pirates in the mid-16th century. These pirates also attacked coastal cities on the continent. The second serious threat came from constant attacks by

13800-422: The north and huge peasant revolts in the provinces, essentially fell apart. Unpaid and unfed, the army was defeated by Li Zicheng—now self-styled as the Prince of Shun —and deserted the capital without much of a fight. On 25 April 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng when the city gates were opened by rebel allies from within. During the turmoil, Chongzhen , the last Ming emperor, accompanied only by

13938-457: The northeast, with forces large enough (numbering hundreds of thousands) to threaten invasion of the newly founded Ming dynasty in order to restore the Mongols to power in China. The Ming decided to defeat him instead of waiting for the Mongols to attack. In 1387 the Ming sent a military campaign to attack Naghachu , which concluded with the surrender of Naghachu and Ming conquest of Manchuria. The early Ming court could not, and did not, aspire to

14076-412: The nuanced history of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming era. Modern scholars debate whether the Ming dynasty had sovereignty over Tibet. Some believe it was a relationship of loose suzerainty that was largely cut off when the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–67) persecuted Buddhism in favor of Daoism at court. Others argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship with Tibetan lamas

14214-477: The number of male members of the house increased to one hundred thousand. However, except for the emperors and heirs to the throne, they were excluded from politics for the sake of government stability. From the late 16th century onwards, economic difficulties and the resulting peasant uprisings brought about a weakening of Ming power, which was used by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in 1644 to seize power in

14352-406: The palace until the coup against the Jingtai Emperor in 1457 known as the "Wresting the Gate Incident". The former emperor retook the throne under the new era name Tianshun (r. 1457–64). Tianshun proved to be a troubled time and Mongol forces within the Ming military structure continued to be problematic. On 7 August 1461, the Chinese general Cao Qin and his Ming troops of Mongol descent staged

14490-425: The previous Yuan dynasty . The empire flourished and became a prosperous and wealthy state. By the mid-15th century, there was significant economic and cultural development, especially in the southern and coastal regions. Irrigation systems were built, cotton was cultivated, and the production of silk and cotton fabrics, glass, and porcelain expanded. In the early 15th century, Ming China conquered Manchuria in

14628-420: The primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty ), numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family —collectively called the Southern Ming —survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor ( r.   1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in

14766-461: The proclamation of the Republic of China . Described as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history" by Edwin O. Reischauer , John K. Fairbank and Albert M. Craig , the Ming emperors took over the provincial administration system of the Yuan dynasty, and the thirteen Ming provinces are the precursors of the modern provinces. Throughout the Song dynasty,

14904-553: The provinces as virtual provincial governors began in the 1420s. By the late Ming dynasty, there were central government officials delegated to two or more provinces as supreme commanders and viceroys, a system which reined in the power and influence of the military by the civil establishment. Governmental institutions in China conformed to a similar pattern for some two thousand years, but each dynasty installed special offices and bureaus, reflecting its own particular interests. The Ming administration utilized Grand Secretaries to assist

15042-485: The provinces. For young schoolchildren there were printed multiplication tables and primers for elementary vocabulary; for adult examination candidates there were mass-produced, inexpensive volumes of Confucian classics and successful examination answers. As in earlier periods, the focus of the examination was classical Confucian texts, while the bulk of test material centered on the Four Books outlined by Zhu Xi in

15180-468: The region as part of a colonization effort. By the end of the 14th century, some 200,000 military colonists settled some 2,000,000 mu (350,000 acres) of land in what is now Yunnan and Guizhou . Roughly half a million more Chinese settlers came in later periods; these migrations caused a major shift in the ethnic make-up of the region, since formerly more than half of the population were non-Han peoples. Resentment over such massive changes in population and

15318-479: The region; in 1421 the Yongle Emperor commissioned 26 officials to travel the empire and uphold similar investigatory and patrimonial duties. By 1430 these xunfu assignments became institutionalized as " grand coordinators ". Hence, the Censorate was reinstalled and first staffed with investigating censors, later with censors-in-chief. By 1453, the grand coordinators were granted the title vice censor-in-chief or assistant censor-in-chief and were allowed direct access to

15456-448: The resulting government presence and policies sparked more Miao and Yao revolts in 1464 to 1466, which were crushed by an army of 30,000 Ming troops (including 1,000 Mongols) joining the 160,000 local Guangxi . After the scholar and philosopher Wang Yangming (1472–1529) suppressed another rebellion in the region, he advocated single, unitary administration of Chinese and indigenous ethnic groups in order to bring about sinification of

15594-468: The right to establish a new dynasty . In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his archrival and leader of the rebel Han faction, Chen Youliang , in the Battle of Lake Poyang , arguably the largest naval battle in history . Known for its ambitious use of fire ships , Zhu's force of 200,000 Ming sailors were able to defeat a Han rebel force over triple their size, claimed to be 650,000-strong. The victory destroyed

15732-421: The role of coordinator at the top of the administrative apparatus. They were responsible for coordinating the interests of different departments and consulted with the emperor daily on matters under discussion. However, their actual power was dependent on the emperor's approval of their decisions. They did not have the authority to issue orders to the ministers on their own. Initially, the Ming emperors resided in

15870-457: The ruling Yuan dynasty. This was because in the Chinese system of five elements , the similarity between the words yuan and xuan (dark) linked it to water, the color black, and the north. The geographical location of the Mongols in the north and the Chinese in the south further solidified this association. Additionally, the Hongwu Emperor partially adopted the title of "Great King of Light" ( Da Ming wang ; 大明王 ) from Han Shantong , leader of

16008-456: The scholar-officials who populated the many ranks of bureaucracy were recruited through a rigorous examination system that was initially established by the Sui dynasty (581–618). Theoretically the system of exams allowed anyone to join the ranks of imperial officials (although it was frowned upon for merchants to join); in reality the time and funding needed to support the study in preparation for

16146-414: The scrutiny of recorded evaluation, although they were expected to confess any of their faults. There were over 4,000 school instructors in county and prefectural schools who were subject to evaluations every nine years. The Chief Instructor on the prefectural level was classified as equal to a second-grade county graduate. The Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction oversaw the education of the heir apparent to

16284-598: The succession of the imperial family in the father-son line. However, the Jiajing Emperor refused and instead insisted on posthumously appointing his father as emperor, in order to elevate his father's status to match his own. This disagreement, known as the Great Rites Controversy , lasted for several years and was ultimately resolved by the emperor through force—including the execution and exile of protesting officials. This conflict greatly impacted

16422-517: The terms that he return to service. The agreement soon broke down when a local magistrate had thirty-six of his fellow rebels executed; Li's troops retaliated by killing the officials and continued to lead a rebellion based in Rongyang, central Henan province by 1635. By the 1640s, an ex-soldier and rival to Li— Zhang Xianzhong (1606–1647)—had created a firm rebel base in Chengdu , Sichuan , with

16560-413: The throne ( 太子 ; taizi ). His other sons were given titles of princes ( 親王 ; qinwang ; literally 'prince of imperial blood', also simply 王 ; wang ) and were sent to the provinces with a large entourage and broad, primarily military, powers after reaching the age of about twenty. However, despite their titles, they did not rule over the regions as feudal princes; local officials continued to be subject to

16698-426: The throne under the era name Jingtai (r. 1449–57); the Oirats were also repelled once the Jingtai Emperor's confidant and defense minister Yu Qian (1398–1457) gained control of the Ming armed forces. Holding the Zhengtong Emperor in captivity was a useless bargaining chip for the Oirats as long as another sat on his throne, so they released him back into Ming China. The former emperor was placed under house arrest in

16836-408: The throne; this office was headed by a Grand Supervisor of Instruction, who was ranked as first class of grade three. Historians debate whether the examination system expanded or contracted upward social mobility. On the one hand, the exams were graded without regard to a candidate's social background, and were theoretically open to everyone. In actual practice, the successful candidates had years of

16974-476: The title of Emperor of the Wu dynasty, but instead chose the name Ming ( 明 )—meaning "Bright" or "Radiant"—as the name for his state and new dynasty, with the full name Da Ming ( 大明 )—meaning "Great Radiance". At the time, the name Ming held various political connotations in China. Its association with brightness and glow evoked the elements of fire, the color red, and the south, all of which symbolized opposition to

17112-456: The validity of the theory that silver shortages caused the downfall of the Ming dynasty. Famines became common in northern China in the early 17th century because of unusually dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season—effects of a larger ecological event now known as the Little Ice Age . Famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, and natural disasters such as flooding and inability of

17250-640: The wake of a Mongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, an alliance which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1912) in their support for the Dalai Lama of the Yellow Hat sect. By the late 16th century, the Mongols proved to be successful armed protectors of the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama after their increasing presence in the Amdo region, culminating in

17388-546: Was a matter of uncles promoting nephews. The Heishanhui Society in Peking sponsored the temple that conducted rituals for worshiping the memory of Gang Tie, a powerful eunuch of the Yuan dynasty. The Temple became an influential base for highly placed eunuchs, and continued in a somewhat diminished role during the Qing dynasty. During the last years of the Wanli era and those of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that

17526-401: Was a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352; he soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster daughter of a rebel commander. In 1356, Zhu's rebel force captured the city of Nanjing , which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming dynasty. With the Yuan dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country and thus

17664-524: Was able to stage a palace coup and reclaim the throne. Shortly after, the Jingtai Emperor died. After the death of the Zhengde Emperor in 1521, a serious conflict arose due to the lack of a direct heir. His cousin Zhu Houcong (later the Jiajing Emperor ) was chosen as the new ruler. The ministers proposed that the Jiajing Emperor be adopted as the deceased emperor's son in order to maintain

17802-526: Was called the Eastern Depot at the beginning of the dynasty, later the Western Depot. This secret service was overseen by the Directorate of Ceremonial, hence this state organ's often totalitarian affiliation. Eunuchs had ranks that were equivalent to civil service ranks, only theirs had four grades instead of nine. House of Zhu The House of Zhu was the imperial house that ruled

17940-478: Was centered on a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver. The Portuguese first established trade with China in 1516. Following the Ming Emperor's decision to ban direct trade with Japan, Portuguese traders acted as an intermediary between China and Japan by buying Chinese silks from China and selling it to Japan for silver. After some initial hostilities gained consent from

18078-536: Was in comparison to the 100,000 shengyuan ('government students'), the lowest tier of graduates, by the 16th century. The maximum tenure in office was nine years, but every three years officials were graded on their performance by senior officials. If they were graded as superior then they were promoted, if graded adequate then they retained their ranks, and if graded inadequate they were demoted one rank. In extreme cases, officials would be dismissed or punished. Only capital officials of grade 4 and above were exempt from

18216-410: Was killed there in early the following year. The Ming emperors were the ultimate leaders of the country and government, responsible for both military and civilian administration. In theory, the emperor held authority over all officials and generals, and his decrees were followed by the entire nation. The Hongwu Emperor held power very tightly, but at the cost of massive purges in 1380. This also led to

18354-431: Was no one after him skilled enough to maintain the stability of these alliances; officials soon banded together in opposing political factions. Over time Wanli grew tired of court affairs and frequent political quarreling amongst his ministers, preferring to stay behind the walls of the Forbidden City and out of his officials' sight. Scholar-officials lost prominence in administration as eunuchs became intermediaries between

18492-503: Was not conquering territory from the Yuan dynasty but rather from the rebel warlords. He used this line of argument to attempt to persuade Yuan loyalists to join his cause. The Ming used the tribute they received from former Yuan vassals as proof that the Ming had taken over the Yuan's legitimacy. Tribute missions were regularly celebrated with music and dance in the Ming court. Hui Muslim troops settled in Changde , Hunan , after serving

18630-421: Was only restored after the fall of the Qing dynasty, with the establishment of the Republic of China as a nation state in 1912. Its founder was Zhu Yuanzhang , the leader of a major rebellion against the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty . He and his descendants lifted China to long-term economic prosperity and political stability. Over time, thanks to the polygamy common among the upper classes of Chinese society,

18768-448: Was organized parallel to but was not subject to the civil service bureaucracy. Although there were several dictatorial eunuchs throughout the Ming, such as Wang Zhen , Wang Zhi, and Liu Jin , excessive tyrannical eunuch power did not become evident until the 1590s when the Wanli Emperor increased their rights over the civil bureaucracy and granted them power to collect provincial taxes. The eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568–1627) dominated

18906-490: Was taken advantage of by the Manchus, who occupied the northern part of the country in 1644. After the conquest of northern China by the Qing dynasty , the Ming government continued to rule the southern part of the country for several decades until 1661. The remaining members of the Ming imperial family were chosen to govern the southern provinces, and this period is now known as the Southern Ming among historians. The last Ming emperor, Zhu Youlang , fled to Burma in 1661 and

19044-497: Was the Forbidden City , the palatial residence of the emperor and his family. By 1553, the Outer City was added to the south, which brought the overall size of Beijing to 6.5 by 7 kilometres (4 by 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles). Beginning in 1405, the Yongle Emperor entrusted his favored eunuch commander Zheng He (1371–1433) as the admiral for a gigantic new fleet of ships designated for international tributary missions . Among

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