Mongol
rule in China was brought to an end after civil war among
Mongol princes and an increasing conversion to the sedentary
Chinese way of life that robbed the Mongol military machine
of much of its effectiveness. Repeated natural disasters
were followed by a massive peasant rebellion that the alien
rulers could not quell. The Mandate of Heaven now shifted
to Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant leader who became eminent during
the rebellions. After eliminating his rivals, Zhu Yuanzhang
established the Ming Dynasty in 1368, with his capital city
first in Nanjing and later in Beijing. Zhu Yuanzhang was
historically known as Emperor Taizu.
The Ming Dynasty was the last native Chinese dynasty to
rule the empire. Spanning almost three centuries between
the fall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368)
and the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911),
the Ming reunited what is now called China proper after
almost 400 years of foreign incursion and occupation.
The Ming reached their zenith of power during the first
quarter of the fifteenth century. The territory they controlled
was smaller than that of the Yuan. However, at the height
of their power, they controlled the Mongols in the north,
captured the Western Region in the west, conquered the Jurchen
(also Nuzhen) in the northeast, governed Tibet in the southwest
and established the Jiaozhi Prefecture in the south. During
the Ming period, Zheng He's long voyages to Southeast Asia
and the Indian Ocean made the Ming much more influential
abroad than the Tang and no less influential than the later
Qing.
The Ming period seems to have been one of China's most prosperous.
Pressure from the Neo-Confucian bureaucrats led to an agrarian-centered
based society. This was a stable period and the population
numbered some 100 million. The incredible advances in the
sciences and arts that were achieved under Ming rule led
them to believe that they had created the most perfect civilization
on earth.
It was also during these centuries that the great potential
of south China came to be fully exploited. New crops such
as maize, cotton, and sweet potato were widely cultivated,
and industries such as those producing porcelain and textiles
flourished.
Another accomplishment of the Ming was the final and lasting
construction of the Great
Wall. While the Great Wall had been built in earlier
times, most of what is seen today was either built or repaired
by the Ming. The brick and granite work was enlarged, the
watch towers were redesigned and cannons were placed along
its length.
Not least, the Ming Dynasty is also noted for its sea explorations
but a failure to consolidate any gains from this effort
resulted in no permanent value being derived from it. The
dynasty is best known for its strong and complex central
government, which unified and controlled the empire. Ironically,
it was this same complexity that later prevented the Ming
government from being able to adapt to changes in society
and eventually led to its decline.
In the closing years of the Ming, due to the long wars with
the Mongols, repeated attacks on Korea by the Japanese,
and even Japanese attacks on Chinese coastal cities greatly
hurt the economy of the Ming. Worse still, owing to their
inability to meet the high tax demands, many peasants abandoned
their lands. This led to an economic crisis for the dynasty.
Unfortunately, the situation was worsened by a peasant uprising
in 1627.
In 1644, troops led by Li Zicheng, the most prominent rebel
leader, captured Beijing. While he was negotiating terms
of a military surrender with Wu Sangui, commander of the
last of the Ming army, Wu cast in his lot with the invading
Manchu army leader, Dorgon. These people from the north
succeeded in defeating the rebels. This then left the way
clear for the Manchu to complete their invasion of China.
The Ming Dynasty lasted for 276 years with 16 emperors occupying
the throne. After it collapsed, the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), another ethnic group regime, began its reign
in China. |
