THE MING DYNASTY

A WORLD POWER IN THE 14TH

AND 15TH CENTURY
 INTRODUCTION

China is one of the worlds oldest

civilisations.
For about 4000 years, China was ruled by
different dynasties ( royal families)
The dynasty was always ruled by an
emperor( male)
 INTRODUCTION

Dynasty : a line of kings or emperors from the

same royal family
Emperor : the ruler of an empire or a group of
countries.
EMPEROR HONGWU ESTABLISHES THE
MING DYNASTY
In the 1330s, China was experiencing : FLOODS
: DROUGHT
: EPIDEMICS THAT KILLED
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
: CHAOTIC AND INCOMPETENT
CHINESE GOVERNMENT
EMPEROR HONGWU ESTABLISHES THE
MING DYNASTY
 There was widespread unrest that led to the overthrow of the Chinese government.
 In 1368, Yuanzhang defeated all his rivals and was proclaimed the emperor of the
Ming dynasty
 Ming means “ brilliant” in English
 Zhu changed his name to Emperor Hongwu, meaning “ vast military power”.
 The Ming period is described as a “golden age” meaning it was a time of great
cultural achievement and advancement.
 MING DYNASTY: GOVERNMENT AND
SOCIETY
HONGWU MADE A NUMBER OF CHANGES TO THE CHINESE
GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY:
 He introduced an efficient tax system
 He gave people more land to use for farming
 He put new efficient government structures in place
 He made laws that protected slaves as well as free citizens
 Even though under his leadership the government became efficient, his style of
ruling was cruel and autocratic..
 He did not allow his senior government officials ( called mandarins) any
independence. They had to do what he said.
 He became paranoid and was convinced that his officials were plotting against him.
As a result, he had 30 000 officials killed.
 Hongwu was succeeded by Emperor Yongle, which means “ perpetual happiness”
https://youtu.be/IxDXTbktWsU
 EMPEROR YONGLE
Under the leadership of Yongle , the Ming Empire was at its most successful.
 He moved Chinas capital from Nanjing to Beijing.
 He ordered a number of major naval expeditions
 He commissioned the Yongle Encyclopaedia, which for many centuries was
the worlds largest encyclopaedia.
 TRAVEL, TRADE, CULTURAL AND
SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
CHINESE SHIPS AND NAVIGATION
 The Ming dynasty was very successful in growing their army and navy.
 During this period, the army grew to a force of one million soldiers.
 Because the Ming dynasty was so powerful that it encouraged a tribute
system among the non- Chinese states of East Asia.
 Tribute system- non- Chinese states from East Asia were forced to
acknowledge that China was a superior nation.
 The Chinese navy made it possible for China to send ships all over the world
for trading of goods and the exchange of information with other countries.
 The Chinese ships were well equipped for navigation with accurate maps, a
magnetic compass and rudder. They used junk ships for their voyages.
 Voyage – an account of a journey especially by sea.
THE SEA JOURNEYS OF ZHENG HE
 Zheng He was a Chinese explorer
 Under his leadership a Chinese fleet left Nanjing on the first of seven voyages.
Nanjing – capital of Chinas eastern Jiangsu province.
 The first voyage took place almost a century before Europeans began their own
voyages.
 Zheng He has visited 30 countries in 28 years.
 The Ming navy was bigger than all the navies of the European countries combined.
 TRADE AND INFLUENCE ALONG THE
ASIAN SEA ROUTES
 By the 16th century, the Ming dynasty was trading with the Portuguese,
Spanish, Japanese and Dutch.
 Chinas major exports were silk and porcelain.
 Exports: sending ( goods or services) to another country for sale.
 Although China mostly imported silver , the Chinese also brought sweet
potatoes, maize and peanuts from the Spanish colonies.
 Imports: bring ( goods or services) into a country from abroad for sale.
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MING
DYNASTY
AGRICULTURE
Agricultural innovations introduced:
 New irrigation machine
 Drought resistant rice
 Crop rotation
 Use of fish to fertilise the rice fields
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MING
DYNASTY
ARCHITECTURE:
Established huge architectural projects:
 Restoration of the Grand Canal : world oldest and longest human made
canal
 Built the Great Wall of China: built to protect Chinese dynasties from
invaders from the north.
 Built the Forbidden City in Beijing : imperial palace during Ming dynasty.
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MING
DYNASTY
ARTS AND LITERATURE:
 First Chinese novel published
 The famous blue and white Ming pottery became popular.
 Women achieved high levels of education
 Women writers and artists did very well.
 Women could receive military training
CHINA LOOKS INWARD AFTER 1433
 After 1433, Ming dynasty extended their empire into Korea, Mongolia and
Turkistan in the north and into Vietnam and Burma in the south.
 After Zheng completed his seventh voyage, the voyages stopped.
 China turned from international trade to domestic agriculture, thus closing
themselves completely from the outside world
 Chinese emigration was banned.
 This period was referred to as “looking inwards”.
 REASONS WHY CHINA CLOSED
THEMSELVES OFF FROM THE WORLD
 China regarded itself as completely self sufficient, thus not needing to make
contact with the rest of the world.
 Thought that contact with the outside world would negatively affect Chinese
civilisation.
 Ming dynasty disapproved of the international traders and their focus on
making money.
COLLAPSE OF THE MING DYNASTY
Middle of the 15th century , Ming dynasty started to decline.
Causes of the collapse:
 Drought led to widespread famine
 Long wars with Mongols
 Japanese attacks on Korea and Chinese coastal cities
 Manchurians took Beijing from the north , defeated the Ming dynasty and
established the last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty.