Hūlun ( Chinese : 扈倫 ) was a powerful confederacy of Haixi Jurchens tribes in the late 16th century, based primarily in modern Jilin province of China.
140-559: The Hūlun confederacy was formed by Hada-nara Wang-tai (d. 1582), the leader of the Hada tribe, which had drawn its importance from the control of commerce between the late- Ming Liaodong and Jurchen tribes to the east via Guangshun Pass (east of Kaiyuan , which is located near the northern tip of today's Liaoning Province). Besides the Hada themselves, the Hūlun included three other tribal federations, known as Ula , Yehe , and Hoifa . While
280-462: 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
420-503: A civil war known as the Jingnan campaign , which aimed to eliminate disorder. In 1402, Zhu Di captured the capital of Nanjing and the imperial palace was burned to the ground. It is believed that the emperor, along with his empress, mother, and eldest son, perished in the fire. However, their bodies were never found, leading to rumors of the emperor's survival and refuge in a Buddhist monastery. After conquering Nanjing, Zhu Di ascended to
560-767: 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
700-670: 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
840-545: A few days.) The followers of the deceased emperor were punished, and his closest advisers were executed. Although the Yongle Emperor hoped that Fang Xiaoru, known for his integrity and honesty, would join his side and bring confidence to the new government, he was resolutely rejected. As punishment, the emperor not only executed his relatives but also his pupils. The purges, executions, imprisonments, and exiles affected tens of thousands of people. In an attempt to erase
980-588: 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
1120-433: 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
1260-432: 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
1400-474: 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
1540-447: 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
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#17327729850671680-414: A more reasonable level. The following year, the tax exemptions for Taoist and Buddhist clergy were limited, and they were required to hand over land exceeding a certain amount to be distributed to the needy. However, it seems that the government did not have enough time to fully implement these changes before its fall. Despite this, there was still a noticeable shift towards supporting the Yongle Emperor among
1820-498: 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
1960-467: 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
2100-467: 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
2240-564: 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
2380-471: 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
2520-559: 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,
2660-442: 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
2800-471: A violation of the laws of the Hongwu Emperor, which everyone, including the emperor, was obliged to obey. The government was cautious towards Zhu Di, which gave him the opportunity to prepare and gather forces. However, the Nanjing government had been systematically limiting Zhu Di's power. For instance, his personal guard of 15,000 men was transferred outside of Beijing, and the generals serving in
2940-588: 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
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#17327729850673080-671: 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
3220-581: 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
3360-736: 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 )
3500-489: 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
3640-591: The Emperor Huizong of Ming and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Hui of Ming , was the second emperor of the Ming dynasty , reigned from 1398 to 1402. Zhu Yunwen's father was Zhu Biao , the eldest son and crown prince of the Hongwu Emperor , the founder of the Ming dynasty. Zhu Biao died at the age of 37 in 1392, after which the Hongwu Emperor named Zhu Yunwen as his successor. He ascended
3780-684: 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;
3920-546: 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
4060-643: 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
4200-621: 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
4340-557: 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
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4480-523: 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
4620-527: 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
4760-637: 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
4900-601: 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
5040-676: 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
5180-568: 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
5320-642: 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
5460-504: 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
5600-573: 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
5740-461: The Buddhist community. The Jianwen government aimed to reduce the influence of the emperor's uncles, the sons of the Hongwu Emperor. These uncles were granted the title of prince ( 王 ; wang ) and were given significant income and privileges by their father. They were stationed in various provinces and had their own personal guards, which could range from 3,000 to 15,000 men. Some of them even led
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5880-438: The Hongwu Emperor's statutes and laws defining the duties of princes, and honor his deceased father. He accused the emperor and his ministers of persecuting the princes, who were falsely accused of preparing an uprising. He presented his actions as a reasonable act of self-defense. He also stated that he had no interest in the throne, but as the eldest surviving son of the deceased founder of the dynasty, he felt obligated to restore
6020-536: The Hongwu Emperor), was compiled from 1399 to 1402, but was rewritten in 1402–1403 and again in 1411–1418. The Yongle Emperor's historians portrayed the Jianwen Emperor as a weak and immoral ruler who showed little interest in governing and was surrounded by corrupt and treacherous ministers. However, later versions of the history paint the Jianwen Emperor as an honest and benevolent leader who followed
6160-440: The Hongwu Emperor. He denied legitimacy to his overthrown nephew, canceled his reforms, and attempted to erase them from history. The Jianwen Emperor's younger son, Zhu Wengui, and other relatives spent the rest of their lives in prison. (Zhu Wengui was released in 1457 by Emperor Yingzong , who himself lived under house arrest from 1450 to 1457 out of compassion. However, Zhu Wengui did not enjoy his freedom for long; he died after
6300-563: The Hūlun people were mostly of Jurchen origin, they had been heavily influenced by the Mongol language and culture, and intermarried with the neighboring Khorchin and Kharchin Mongols. Therefore, were viewed by their southern neighbors – Jianzhou Jurchens , which were in the late 16th century led by Nurhaci – as Monggo ("Mongols"). The Hūlun khan Wang-tai aspired to paramount leadership in
6440-489: The Jianwen Emperor attempted to restrict their influence. One of the most dangerous uncles was Zhu Di , Prince of Yan, who was put in charge of the Beijing region and was responsible for guarding the border with the Mongols. When the emperor ordered the imprisonment of his uncle's followers, Zhu Di plotted against him. In 1399, Zhu Di rebelled under the pretext of protecting the emperor from corrupt court officials. This sparked
6580-580: 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
6720-402: The Ming administration to coordinate the work of ministries and other civil offices. Instead, all of these offices were directly under the emperor's control. The Jianwen Emperor relied on Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and Fang Xiaoru to lead the government, discussing policies with them and overseeing their implementation by the ministries. Although they effectively acted as chancellors, they did not hold
6860-647: The Ming armies in the 1390s, particularly on the northern border. The most powerful and eldest among them was Zhu Di , who was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor. The policy of "reducing the feudatories" ( 削藩 ; xuefan ) was supported by Qi Tai and, most notably, by Huang Zicheng, who cited past dynastic experiences, such as the Rebellion of the Seven States during the Han dynasty . Princedoms were either directly suppressed or had their powers limited for both real and perceived offenses. The government forbade
7000-660: 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
7140-454: 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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#17327729850677280-509: 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
7420-593: 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
7560-558: 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
7700-606: 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
7840-591: 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
7980-850: 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
8120-417: 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
8260-402: 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
8400-426: The advice of devoted Confucians and worked to correct the cruelties of his predecessor. His reign was restored to the official history of the dynasty by the decision of the Wanli Emperor in October 1595. However, he was not given a posthumous temple name until July 1644, when Zhu Yousong gave him the temple name Huizong ( 惠宗 ; 'Magnanimous Ancestor') and the posthumous name Emperor Rang ( 讓皇帝 ; 'Abdicated Emperor',
8540-589: 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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#17327729850678680-404: The banks of the Yangtze River. The commander of the government fleet defected to the rebels, giving them an open road to Nanjing. The emperor, who was gathering forces to defend the capital, was unable to stop the rebels. Taking advantage of the chaos, members of the "peace party" in the government opened the gates of Nanjing to the rebels on 13 July 1402. In the ensuing clashes, the imperial palace
8820-460: 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
8960-428: 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
9100-427: The city. However, Zhu Di quickly returned and forced the imperial army to retreat. In the year 1400, there were numerous rebel attacks and government army counterattacks. The Imperial forces were unable to utilize their numerical advantage or mobilize additional troops, allowing Zhu Di to strengthen his position in the north. The emperor, who was dissatisfied with Li Jinglong, dismissed him and appointed Sheng Yong as
9240-426: 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
9380-433: The country. During the reign of the Jianwen Emperor, the civilian part of the administration gained more influence, while the military commanders and the emperor's uncles saw a decrease in their power. Additionally, there was a partial revival of the position of "Chancellor" ( 丞相 ; chengxiang ), the head of the civil administration. This came after the Central Secretariat was abolished in 1380, leaving no central office in
9520-441: 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
9800-525: The dynasty's founder and were subsequently repealed. As crown prince, he criticized some of the laws and statements of the previous emperor, the Hongwu Emperor, as being too harsh. After taking the throne, he cancelled these laws, but his successor, the Yongle Emperor, later restored them. Additionally, the emperor abolished the unfair tax system of the previous era, particularly the excessive taxes imposed on Jiangnan , specifically Suzhou and Songjiang prefectures. In 1400, taxes in Jiangnan were reduced to
9940-431: The eldest surviving son, Zhu Yunwen was named the new crown prince on 28 September 1392. He spent the next six years carefully preparing for his future role as regent. Like his father, Zhu Yunwen was not physically fit and preferred scholarly pursuits. He was known for his polite demeanor and adherence to Confucian values. However, the Hongwu Emperor had doubts about his grandson's ability to rule, as he believed him to lack
10080-544: 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
10220-427: The emperor appointed Geng Bingwen as the commander of the troops tasked with suppressing the rebellion. Geng Bingwen led 130,000 troops to Zhending , a city southwest of Beijing, but was ultimately defeated by Zhu Di in late September, resulting in heavy losses for the imperial army. In November 1399, the new commander of the imperial army, Li Jinglong , took advantage of Zhu Di's absence from Beijing and laid siege to
10360-531: 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
10500-497: 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
10640-537: The enemy's supply lines, while the front in Shandong and southern Beijing moved back and forth. In January 1402, Zhu Di launched an offensive. On the advice of the Nanjing eunuchs, he chose to advance westward instead of through the fortified cities along the Grand Canal. This strategic decision proved successful as the government forces in the west were weaker, allowing the rebels to disrupt their lines. Despite
10780-454: 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
10920-557: 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
11060-466: 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
11200-602: The first great leaders of the "Manchu nations". In the closing years of the 16th century, Hūlun tribes started recognizing Nurhaci's supremacy although, in some cases, the Nurhaci-appointed chief of a tribe would then try to assert his independence, and a new war would result, as it was the case with Bujantai, the leader of the Ula. Eventually, all four tribes were fully incorporated into Nurhaci's empire (Hada 1601, Hoifa 1607, Ula 1613, Yehe 1619). This article related to
11340-470: The founder and first emperor of the Ming dynasty . Upon assuming the imperial title, the Hongwu Emperor named his eldest son as his heir to the throne. In 1382, after the death of his elder brother, Zhu Yunwen became the eldest son of Zhu Biao. He was described as a mature and direct child who was well-liked by the emperor. In May 1392, Zhu Biao died at the age of thirty-seven after several months of illness. As
11480-504: 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,
11620-466: The government's attempt to stop the rebel advance by sending General Xu Huizu to the north, they were unable to do so. The rebels continued their march south and by the beginning of March, they had captured Xuzhou in the north of Zhili . As a result, the government was forced to withdraw its troops from Beijing and Shandong provinces to defend Zhili. From April to June 1402, the rebel army engaged in fierce battles and successfully advanced from Xuzhou to
11760-412: The government's measures and the most dangerous opponent was Zhu Di. He was based in Beijing and had shown himself to be a capable military leader and energetic administrator during campaigns against the Mongols. However, since 1392, when he was not named as a successor, he has considered himself unjustly neglected. The princes saw the efforts of the new emperor and his government as a personal threat and
11900-424: 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
12040-542: The history of China 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
12180-430: 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
12320-632: 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
12460-594: 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
12600-459: 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
12740-404: The law and legality that had been subverted by the emperor's criminal advisers and ministers. At the beginning of the war, Zhu Di had a force of 100,000 men and only controlled the immediate vicinity of Beijing. In contrast, the Nanjing government had three times the number of soldiers and significantly more resources. However, the government's superiority was not as clear-cut as it seemed. Zhu Di
12880-413: 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
13020-648: 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
13160-600: 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,
13300-488: The memory of the defeated emperor, the era of Jianwen was retroactively cancelled and the era of Hongwu was extended from 1399 to 1402. Many official documents from his government were destroyed, and private notes were also eliminated. Historians' views of the Jianwen Emperor were closely tied to their opinions of the legitimacy of the Yongle Emperor's rule. The official history of the Hongwu Emperor's reign, known as Taizu Silu ( 太祖實錄 ; Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu, i.e.
13440-615: 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
13580-606: 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
13720-438: The necessary toughness. This may have been the reason for the purges of potentially dangerous generals in the first half of the 1390s. The Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398. Just six days later, on 30 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen took the throne. His gentle nature and adherence to Confucian principles made him acutely aware of the harshness of the Hongwu Emperor's policies. As a result, he sought to bring about significant changes in
13860-413: The new commander of the anti-rebellion forces. Following the advice of his supporters in Nanjing, Zhu Di focused on a war of attrition starting in the autumn of 1400. Through small raids, he disrupted the enemy's communications in southern Beijing and western Shandong. In January 1401, the government army used firearms and rocket weapons to kill tens of thousands of rebels at Dongchang in Shandong. During
14000-422: 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
14140-430: The northeast, close to Zhu Di, were gradually replaced by followers of the emperor. In June 1399, the emperor finally permitted Zhu Di's sons, who had been effectively held as hostages in Nanjing since the Hongwu Emperor's funeral, to return to Beijing. This event seemed to remove Zhu Di's inhibitions, and the immediate pretext for his rebellion was the arrest of two of his lower officials for "subversive activity". With
14280-457: 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
14420-412: 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
14560-456: The official title. This reform proved beneficial for the administration of the empire, but it went against the edict of the Hongwu Emperor, which strictly prohibited the restoration of the chancellery in any form. The ministers were elevated from the second rank to the first in the hierarchy of rank classes, placing them on equal footing with the highest-ranking generals (the military commissioners). The number of departments and ministry officials
14700-471: 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
14840-543: The political landscape. The era name of his reign, Jianwen, means "establishing civility" and represented a sharp change in tone from Hongwu ('vastly martial'), the era name of the reign of his grandfather and predecessor, the Hongwu Emperor. Instead of relying on accomplished generals or members of the imperial family, he turned to Confucian scholars for guidance. His closest advisors were Huang Zicheng , Qi Tai , and Fang Xiaoru , all of whom were idealistic reformers. However, they lacked practical experience in governing
14980-420: 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
15120-525: The princes from participating in public life, in direct contradiction to the laws of the late Hongwu Emperor, which stated that they were to be the backbone of the throne at the head of the government's armies. The first victim of the new order was Zhu Su , Prince of Zhou based in Kaifeng , and a close friend of Zhu Di. In the fall of 1398, the emperor stripped him of his title and exiled him to Yunnan . In February 1399, Zhu Gui (1374–1446), Prince of Dai,
15260-461: 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,
15400-553: 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
15540-485: 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
15680-468: 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
15820-688: The region, establishing a network of political and business relations with Jurchen and Mongol leaders, as well as with the Ming governor of Liaodong , Li Chengliang . Nurhaci , the chief of the Jianzhou Jurchens, was Wang-tai's son-in-law, and, in Pamela Crossley 's view, viewed Wang-tai and his Hūlun as role models for himself and his Later Jin dynasty in northeastern China. Many years later, long after Hong Taiji had renamed Jurchens to Manchus , and both Wang-tai and Nurhaci were dead, Qing historians referred to Wang-tai as one of
15960-479: 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
16100-448: 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
16240-468: The retreat to Beijing, Zhu Di narrowly escaped capture. In late February, the rebels launched an attack, and in April and May, they were successful in crushing the government armies. In response, the emperor promoted Ru Chang ( 茹瑺 ) and Li Jinglong, who were leaders of the "peace party" at court. However, Zhu Di rejected their offer for peace negotiations. Throughout the summer, the insurgents continued to raid
16380-468: 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
16520-456: 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
16660-414: 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
16800-486: The support of Beijing's provincial dignitaries, Zhu Di responded by occupying the counties and prefectures around Beijing, calling the war a campaign to clear away disorders ( Jingnan campaign ). He justified his rebellion in letters sent to the court in August and December 1399, as well as in a public statement. He justified his actions by claiming that he was trying to end internal political disorder and confusion, defend
16940-517: 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
17080-468: The throne after the Hongwu Emperor's death in June 1398. As emperor, he surrounded himself with Confucian-educated officials who immediately began revising the Hongwu Emperor's reforms. However, the most significant change was the attempt to limit or eliminate the princes, who were the sons of the Hongwu Emperor and had been the main support of the previous government. Fearing the potential power of his uncles,
17220-419: The throne as the Yongle Emperor . He abolished the reforms implemented by the Jianwen Emperor and declared his predecessor illegitimate—thus, he did not grant him a temple or posthumous name and abolished the era of Jianwen, extending the era of Hongwu from 1398 to 1402. Zhu Yunwen was born on 5 December 1377, the second son of Zhu Biao and his wife Lady Lü. Zhu Biao was the eldest son of the Hongwu Emperor ,
17360-426: 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
17500-408: 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
17640-456: 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
17780-640: 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
17920-482: Was a decisive and exceptionally capable commander, leading elite units of the Ming armies that included a large number of Mongolian cavalry. On the other hand, the imperial party was weakened by the indecision and poor coordination of its commanders, as well as the conflicting views between those who supported aggressive tactics and those who favored a more conciliatory approach. Additionally, the emperor and his closest ministers lacked military experience. In August 1399,
18060-546: 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
18200-451: 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
18340-535: Was altered, and the status and number of positions in the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial University were increased. He also strengthened the academy's influence in educating princes. A series of changes were made to the powers and titles of offices, following the patterns of the Zhou dynasty . However, after the Jianwen Emperor's overthrow, his reforms were criticized for deviating from the principles of
18480-459: Was burned down. Three bodies found at the cremation site were later identified as those of the emperor, empress, and their eldest son. Beginning in the Jiajing era (1522–1567), non-state historians who were sympathetic to the Jianwen Emperor propagated a folk legend in their writings that he lived in anonymity as a Buddhist monk. On 17 July, Zhu Di ascended the imperial throne as the successor of
18620-589: 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. Jianwen Emperor The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – ?), personal name Zhu Yunwen , also known by his temple name as
18760-478: 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
18900-536: 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
19040-431: 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
19180-503: 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
19320-448: 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
19460-528: Was placed under house arrest in Datong . Zhu Bo ( 朱柏 ; 1371–1399), Prince of Xiang, set fire to his palace in Jingzhou on 1 June 1399, taking his own life and that of his family. In the following two months, in June and July, Zhu Fu ( 朱榑 ; 1364–1428), Prince of Qi based in Jingzhou , and Zhu Pian ( 朱楩 ; 1379–1400), Prince of Min based in Yunnan, were also stripped of their titles. The main long-term target of
19600-497: 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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