Ming Dynasty

Introduction

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The Ming dynasty ruled China from 1368-1644. The Ming came to power in the wake of the collapse of the Mongol lead Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty would be the last ethnically chinese empire to rule China and was founded by the "first commoner to become emperor in 1500 years" (Ebrey 1993, 205), Zhu Yuanzhang. The early Ming dynasty could be characterized as a period of great growth for the region and "one of the most prosperous periods of Chinese history" (Ebrey 1993, 205). But in the end the Ming state would prove to be too weak and unable to adapt to the changing world around them, just when Europeans were expanding their advancements and bringing real competition to China (Ebrey 2010, 216).

The Hongwu Emperor

Zhu Yuanzhang was born to a poor family in the, present day, Fengyang, Anhui province. He was the eighth child born into his family. His parents struggled so much to feed their children that some of Zhu's siblings were actually given away. When Zhu Yuanzhang was sixteeen, the yellow river shifted its course and flooded the valley where his family lived. The resulting famine and epidemics in the region took the lives of his parents and all but one of his siblings. (Ebrey 2010, 190)

Poor and destitute, Zhu Yuanzhang looked to a local monastery for help. The monastery was inundated with large numbers of people seeking help. Soon after presenting himself to the monastery, Zhu Yuanzang was sent out to beg for alms. Zhu would spend several years wandering east-central china before returning to the monastery for a few years. During this time there was a local uprising in the region. The Mongol Yuan dynasty sought to repress this rebellion. In their attempt to quell the discontent the Yuan army burt Zhu's monastery to the ground(1352). (Ebrey 2010, 190)

During the chaos that was the final years of the Yuan dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang became a local rebel organizer for the Red Turbans, a branch of the White Lotus Society. Zhu Yuanzhang quickly rose up the ranks of the Red Turbans, his power and status increased greatly when he married the foster daughter of a Red Turban commander. He soon took command of his father-in-laws troops. In 1356, Zhu Yuanzhang's forces captured the city of Nanjing. (Ebrey 2010, 191)

Using the city of Nanjing as his base of operations, Zhu Yanzhang soon controlled the southeast and made it clear that he sought to set up an empire. In fighting amongst the Red Turban leadership ensued. Zhu's main competition came from Chen Youliang who controlled the Yangtze River Valley. The two forces fought form 1360-1363 cultivating in one of the largest naval battles in history, the Battle of Lake Poyang. Though Zhu did not completely distroy Chen's forces at the battle, Chen was dealt a defeat in which he could not recover from.

After a few years of cleaning uo the remaining opposition groups, Zhu Yanzhang became the Hongwu Emperor in 1368, and founded the Ming dynasty. He called his dynasty the Ming, which means brightness, to show China that they were coming out of the darkness which was Mongol rule.

The Yongle Emperor

The Hongwu Emperor died in 1398. Hongwu had out lived his eldest son and heir, so the title was passed down to his grandson Emperor Jianwen. Soon after Jiawen's assertion, a civil war broke out. Hongwu's fourth son Yongle, territorial leader of Beijing, laid claim to the thrown. After three years of infighting, the Yongle emperor took control as emperor of China. (Ebrey 2010, 193)

The Yongle emperor moved the capital to Beijing, and began construction on the Forbidden City. Hundreds of thousands of workers were brought up to aid in the construction. In order to supply Beijing with enough grain, the Grand Canal was repaired and expanded. The Grand Canal is the largest artificial river. The Yongle emperor also repaired and expanded the Great Wall. His use of unpaid service created difficulties for Ming leaders that followed. There was so few legal sources for the government to increase revenue that administers where forced to exhaust the leagal sources. this lead to corruption and abuses. (Ebrey 2010, 194)

Yongle aslo commissioned some of the greatest explorations of all time. Zheng He was as muslim eunuch and trusted advisor to Yongle. Zheng He was appointed Grand Director and Chief Envoy. Zheng He would lead seven grand expeditions, traveling all over Asia and reaching East Africa (Ebrey 2010, 210). Gavin Menzies even claims that Zheng He was the first to travel to America in his book 1491, The Year China Discovered America.

The Downfall of the Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty ruled over on of the most prosperous times in Chinese history. But it failed in many respects.The Ming failed to control the affairs of China. The large Chinese bureaucracy was unable to adapt to the changing times. The Ming bureaucracy grew in size and inefficiency. Money was spent on thousands of members of the imperial entourage, while new sources of potential revenue were ignored. Policies were enacted to increase government control over maritime trade which ended up in chinese merchants becoming pirates. The Chinese economy was seeing a prosperous period and the government failed to take advantage. Mongols, Japanese and powerful eunuchs all went relatively unchecked. (Ebrey 2010, 214-15)

By the late Ming dynasty, the government was too inept to adjust to threats to the empire. Foreign invaders picked away at the peripheral territories, while natural disasters and famine lead to rebellions among the people. The Ming dynasty had lost it's Mandate of Heaven.

Presentations, References, Weblinks

Classroom Presentation

Media:MingDynasty.pptx

See Also

• Zheng He

• The Forbidden City

• The Great Wall of China

• Capitals: When, Where and Why they were moved

References

• Dreyer Edward. L. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433. (Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2006).

• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Chinese Civilization, A source book. Second Edition. (The Free Press, New York, NY, 1993).

• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Second Edition. (Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2010).