Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size to around 100 million

people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the
production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism, in
response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang, [67] and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts,
as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity. [68][69] However,
the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jurchen Jin dynasty. In 1127, Emperor
Huizong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song Wars. The remnants of
the Song retreated to southern China.[70]
The 13th century brought the Mongol conquest of China. In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai
Khan established the Yuan dynasty; the Yuan conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in
1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was
reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. [71] A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang
overthrew the Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor. Under the Ming
dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and
a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that
admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far
as East Africa.[72]

The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire

In the early years of the Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the
budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming further critiqued and expanded Neo-
Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations.[73] The scholar-
official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements,
which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–
1598) and Manchu invasions led to an exhausted treasury.[74]
In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng.
The Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty, then allied
with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui, overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently
seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. [citation needed]