World History 1
Medieval Far East
Reading 3: Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty Reading and Questions
The Ming dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644 CE. For nearly 100 years, China had been ruled by the Mongols, a
foreign power that established extensive contacts with the West. When a group called the Red Turbans attacked
the Mongols in the mid-1300s, it began a peasant rebellion that ultimately overthrew the Mongols, or Yuan
dynasty. The leader of that rebellion and the first emperor of the newly established Ming dynasty was Zhu
Yuanzhang, a former Buddhist novice.
Zhu, called the Hongwu emperor, established the capital of the new dynasty at Nanjing in 1368. Despite his early
Buddhist training, he was a ruthless emperor who strove to reestablish Chinese traditions in the wake of Mongol
rule. He also set about reestablishing China's sovereignty over its neighbors. Within 10 years, the Chinese court
was receiving tribute from Okinawa, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Java, and the Indian coast, and it had set up
trade contacts with those countries plus Japan and the Near East.
The next Ming emperor of note was the Yongle emperor. He not only maintained China's military position, but he
also extended the empire's strength to include a powerful navy. Between 1405 and 1433, the admiral Zheng He, a
eunuch of Muslim descent, led seven expeditions that reached as far as Persia, Arabia, and eastern Africa. The fleet
grew to 62 ships and as many as 28,000 men, and it was a feared organization throughout the China Sea and the
Indian Ocean. The captains demonstrated organizational and navigational skills not matched until the arrival of the
Portuguese in the 1500s.
The Chinese military was used mainly to protect the borders and enforce the will of the emperors on their subjects.
The Hongwu emperor persecuted the remaining Mongols in China and forced them to marry Chinese people
rather than their own. He would not allow purely foreign groups to exist and create trouble from within. After total
control was established, arts and culture once again began to flourish, financed by the income from the far-flung
Chinese traders. The famous Ming porcelains were developed in this era, and the construction of palaces in
Nanjing, and later Beijing, reflected the Ming desire to reassert Chinese culture. Science and technology had few
advances, but literature and philosophy experienced a renaissance.
The later Ming rulers proved less and less capable. The growing power of the Jurchen and Manchu tribes in the
northeast threatened those frontiers, while peasant uprisings in the northwest kept the army busy in that sector. A
Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590s brought Chinese armies into Manchuria, where they were weakened in a
victorious war that forced a Japanese withdrawal. The Manchus now had the impetus to conquer Korea and with
their rear protected, make war against the Ming. The cost of war could not be paid because the peasant taxpayers
were in revolt, so Ming power slipped. The final Ming emperor hanged himself in 1644, and the invaders
established the Qing dynasty.
Questions:
How did the Mongols get kicked out of China?
Describe Hongwu’s rule in China:
Describe Yongle’s rule in China:
Explain the many Ming innovations and technology:
What happened to the Ming?