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How did the Ming Dynasty finally end?
On 24 April 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt and then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself from the Zuihuai tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.
Why did the Ming Dynasty collapse?
The heavy drought and serious locusts against the cold background were the main natural causes of the collapse of Ming Dynasty, while internal rebellions and inter-ethnic conflicts under the conditions of financial crises were the major human factors resulting in the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
Why did the Ming Dynasty decline and how was it replaced?
Combined with crop failure, floods, and epidemic, the dynasty collapsed in 1644 as Li Zicheng's forces entered Beijing, albeit Li's forces were defeated shortly afterward by the Manchu-led Eight Banner armies of the Qing dynasty.
When did the Ming Dynasty fall?
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Who founded the Ming Dynasty?
The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, who was of humble origins and later assumed the reign title of Hongwu. The Ming became one of the mo...
What were the two traditional forms of Ming painting?
The two main traditions in painting in the Ming period are “literati painting” (wenrenhua) of the Wu school and the “professional academics” (huayu...
What major types of decoration in ceramics emerged during the Ming Dynasty?
Three major types of decoration in ceramics emerged during the Ming dynasty. The monochromatic glazes, including celadon, red, green, and yellow, t...
When did the Ming Dynasty fall?
The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China in 1644. The last emperor of Ming China kills himself behind the Forbidden City, 1644. Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. By the beginning of 1644, all of China was in chaos. ...
What were the causes of the Ming collapse?
Causes of Ming Collapse. One major cause of the Ming collapse was a succession of relatively weak and disconnected emperors. Early in the Ming period, the emperors were active administrators and military leaders.
What did Dorgon do to the Ming Dynasty?
Dorgon had no interest in restoring the Ming Dynasty, his old rivals. He agreed to attack Li's army, but only if Wu and the Ming army would serve under him instead. On May 27, Wu agreed. Dorgon sent him and his troops to attack Li's rebel army repeatedly; once both sides in this Han Chinese civil battle were worn out, Dorgon sent his riders around the flank of Wu's army. The Manchu set upon the rebels, quickly overcoming them and sending them flying back toward Beijing.
What happened in 1644?
By the beginning of 1644, all of China was in chaos. The severely weakened Ming Dynasty was desperately trying to hold on to power, while a rebel leader called Li Zicheng declared his own new dynasty after capturing the capital city of Beijing . In these dire circumstances, a Ming general decided to issue an invitation for the ethnic Manchus ...
What did the Ming general decide to do?
In these dire circumstances, a Ming general decided to issue an invitation for the ethnic Manchus of north-eastern China to come to the country's aid, and retake the capital city. This would prove to be a fatal mistake for the Ming.
What did the Manchus do in 1642?
In both 1642 and 1643, Manchu bannermen drove deep into China, seizing territory and loot.
What happened to the Yellow River in China?
Chaos. Meanwhile, in other parts of China, a cycle of catastrophic floods on the Yellow River, followed by wide-spread famine, convinced ordinary Chinese people that their rulers had lost the Mandate of Heaven. China needed a new dynasty. Beginning in the 1630s in the northern Shaanxi province, a minor Ming official called Li Zicheng gathered ...
What was the Ming Dynasty?
view. talk. edit. The Ming dynasty ( / mɪŋ / ), officially the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China 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 Han Chinese. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng ...
Who was the king of Wu in the Ming Dynasty?
Ming dynasty. For other uses, see Ming (disambiguation) and Ming Dynasty (disambiguation). 1. Prior to proclaiming himself emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself King of Wu in Nanjing in 1364. The regime is known in historiography as the "Western Wu" (西吳).
How did the Hongwu emperor work?
The Hongwu emperor from 1373 to 1384 staffed his bureaus with officials ga thered through recommendations only. After that 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 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 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.
How long was the wall around Nanjing?
Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built 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 the fubing system of the Tang dynasty (618–907).
How many Ming troops were involved in the Miao revolt?
Resentment over such massive changes in population and 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 (see Miao Rebellions (Ming dynasty) ).
What city did Zhu take over?
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 the right to establish a new dynasty.
What were the causes of the Yuan Dynasty's fall?
Explanations for the demise of the Yuan include institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, overtaxation of areas hard-hit by inflation, and massive flooding of 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 Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang 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.
What caused the fall of the Ming Dynasty?
Other factors include repeated military expeditions to the North, inflationary pressures caused by spending too much from the imperial treasury, natural disasters, and epidemics of disease. Contributing further to the chaos was the peasant rebellion in Beijing in 1644 and a series of weak emperors. Ming power would hold out in what is now southern China for years, but eventually would be overtaken by the Manchus.
What was the Ming Dynasty fighting for?
At the same time, the Ming dynasty was fighting for its survival against fiscal turmoil and peasant rebellions. 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 the north and huge peasant revolts in the provinces, essentially fell apart. On April 24, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt and then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City. When Li Zicheng moved against him, the Ming general Wu Sangui shifted his alliance to the Manchus. Li Zicheng was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of Wu Sangui and the Manchu Prince Dorgon. On June 6, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor as Emperor of China.
Why did famines occur in China?
In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China because of unusual dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season ; these were effects of a larger ecological event now known as the Little Ice Age. Famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, natural disasters such as flooding, and the inability of the government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects, caused widespread loss of life and normal civility. The central government was starved of resources and could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing a large but unknown number of people. The famine and drought in the late 1620s and the 1630s contributed to the rebellions that broke out in Shaanxi led by rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
What happened to silver in 1630?
In the 1630s, a string of one thousand copper coins was worth an ounce of silver; by 1640 it was reduced to the value of half an ounce; by 1643 it was worth roughly one-third of an ounce. For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and selling their crops with copper coins.
Where did the last Ming Emperor hang himself?
The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.
Who was the Emperor of China in 1661?
The Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne in 1661, and in 1662 his regents launched the Great Clearance to defeat the resistance of Ming loyalists in South China. He fought off several rebellions, such as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui in southern China starting in 1673, and then countered by launching a series of campaigns that expanded his empire. In 1662, Zheng Chenggong founded the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, a pro-Ming dynasty state with a goal of reconquering China. However, the Kingdom of Tungning was defeated in the Battle of Penghu by Han Chinese admiral Shi Lang, who had also served under the Ming.
What happened in the early 17th century?
In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China, and the central government did little to relieve the populations, leading to widespread discontent among the people.
What was the Ming Dynasty?
Ming dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Ming, Chinese dynasty that lasted from 1368 to 1644 and provided an interval of native Chinese rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance, respectively. During the Ming period, China exerted immense cultural and political influence on East Asia and the Turks to the west, ...
How did the Ming government get weakened?
The Ming government was gradually weakened by factionalism between civil officials, interference by palace eunuchs, the burdens of a growing population, and a succession of weak and inattentive emperors . In 1644 a rebel leader, Li Zicheng, captured Beijing, and the local Ming military commander requested aid from the Manchu tribal peoples who had been encroaching on China’s northern borders. The Manchu drove out Li Zicheng and then remained, establishing the Qing dynasty.
What type of decoration did the Ming Dynasty use?
Three major types of decoration in ceramics emerged during the Ming dynasty. The monochromatic glazes, including celadon, red, green, and yellow, the underglaze copper-red and cobalt blue, and the overglaze, or enamel painting, sometimes combined with underglaze blue.
What did the Ming regime do to the literary world?
The Ming regime restored the former literary examinations for public office, which pleased the literary world, dominated by Southerners. In their own writing the Ming sought a return to classical prose and poetry styles and, as a result, produced writings that were imitative and generally of little consequence.
What was the Ming government?
The basic governmental structure established by the Ming was continued by the subsequent Qing (Manchu) dynasty and lasted until the imperial institution was abolished in 1911/12. The civil service system was perfected during the Ming and then became stratified; almost all the top Ming officials entered the bureaucracy by passing a government examination. The Censorate (Yushitai), an office designed to investigate official misconduct and corruption, was made a separate organ of the government. Affairs in each province were handled by three agencies, each reporting to separate bureaus in the central government. The position of prime minister was abolished. Instead, the emperor took over personal control of the government, ruling with the assistance of the especially appointed Neige, or Grand Secretariat.
How did the Ming government influence China?
It never again attempted to push southward. During the 15th century the government had organized large tribute-collecting flotillas commanded by Zheng He to extend China’s influence. Also during the Ming, Japan became more aggressive. In the 15th century Japanese raiders teamed up with Chinese pirates to make coastal raids in Chinese waters, which were of a relatively small scale but were still highly disruptive to Chinese coastal cities. The Ming government eventually tried to stop Japan’s attempt to control Korea, which became a long and costly campaign.
What were the two main traditions of the Ming period?
The two main traditions in painting in the Ming period are “literati painting” (wenrenhua) of the Wu school and the “professional academics” (huayuanpai) associated with the Zhe school. But artists generally stressed independent creation, impressing their work with strong marks of their personal styles.
What was the fall of the Ming Dynasty?
FALL OF THE MING DYNASTY. SOURCES. The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644 A.D. , during which China’s population would double. Known for its trade expansion to the outside world that established cultural ties with the West, the Ming Dynasty is also remembered for its drama, literature and world-renowned porcelain.
Who was the last Ming emperor?
The last Ming emperor, Chóngzhēn, committed suicide in 1644. Later that year, the semi-nomadic Manchu people prevailed over the chaos and became the ruling Qing Dynasty.
What color is Ming porcelain?
Though various colors might be featured on a piece, the classic Ming porcelain was white and blue . The Jingdezhen factory became the source of porcelain exports that were extremely popular in Europe, which hoped to replicate the form.
Why did the Ming government choose to replace the Emperor with his half brother?
The Ming government chose to replace the emperor with his half-brother rather than pay a ransom. The government also decided that restoring the Great Wall to its full glory and power was the best use of their money to effectively protect the Ming empire.
How did the Ming rule affect the Imperial clan?
Ming rule was partly undone by enormous fiscal problems that resulted in a calamitous collapse. Several factors contributed to the financial trouble. The Imperial clan became overstuffed and paying all the clan’s members became a severe burden.
What was the Great Wall of China?
The Mongols were a constant threat to the citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and the Great Wall was believed to be the most effective defense against invasion.
What was Taizu's empire?
Emperor Taizu’s empire was one of military discipline and respect of authority, with a fierce sense of justice. If his officials did not kneel before him, he would have them beaten.
How Was the Ming Dynasty Founded?
The end of the Yuan Dynasty was brought about by the Red Turban Rebellion, which started due to the Yuan government’s corruption and heavy taxes.
What was the Ming Dynasty's 5th emperor?
Emperor Xuande (Ruled 1425–1435) - Prosperity Continued. As the fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he ruled over a peaceful and prosperous period. In 1432, Emperor Xuande issued a sea ban policy. In 1433, the court canceled sponsored sailing missions after Zheng He died. He set up schools in court for eunuchs.
What was the influence of the Jesuits in the Ming court?
Jesuits Influence Limited in the Ming Court (from 1601) Wangfujing Catholic Church in Beijing is a testament to the lasting influence of Ming Dynasty Catholicism in China. In 1582, a Jesuit named Ricci landed in Macau.
Who was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang claimed the Mandate of Heaven in 1368 and established the Ming Dynasty. Hongwu Emperor was his title. His name meant "Vast Magnificent Military".
What were the major natural disasters during the Yuan Dynasty?
During the final 40 years of the Yuan Dynasty era there were famines, drought, flooding of the Yellow River, a bubonic plague pandemic, and other natural disasters. Tens of millions of people died or became homeless.
Where were the Ming emperors interred?
Down this 'Spirit Way', Ming emperors were interred in Beijing's 13 Ming Tombs. In 1639, a Japanese shogun limited foreign imports as part of his isolationist policy. This further limited the empire's trade and contributed to the Ming empire's monetary crisis. The value of silver jumped markedly.
Who was the Emperor of the forbidden city?
Emperor Yongle had the Forbidden City built. In 1402, Emperor Jianwen's uncle, Zhu Di, led an insurrection against him. Zhu Di was the fourth son of Hongwu and he became the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty - Emperor Yongle .
Overview
History
Government
Society and culture
- One major cause of the Ming collapse was a succession of relatively weak and disconnected emperors. Early in the Ming period, the emperors were active administrators and military leaders. By the end of the Ming era, however, the emperors had retreated into the Forbidden City, never venturing out at the head of their armies, and seldom even meeting ...
Science and technology
The Ming dynasty , 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 orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shu…
Population
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 Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, overtaxation of areas hard-hit by inflation, and massive flooding of the Yellow River as a result of the abandonment of irrigation projects. Consequently, agric…
See also
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, the largest political division was the c…
Further reading
Literature, painting, poetry, music, and Chinese opera of various types flourished during the Ming dynasty, especially in the economically prosperous lower Yangzi valley. Although short fiction had been popular as far back as the Tang dynasty (618–907), and the works of contemporaneous authors such as Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, and Song Yingxing were often technical and encyclopedic, the most stri…