Imperial China: Ming Dynasty

IMPERIAL CHINA

MING DYNASTY

MING DYNASTY

EMPRESS.

This is a painting of the Empress Xiaojingxian.

Art and crafting was very popular in the Ming Dynasty.

<< Pipa, Ming dynasty (1368– 1644) Wood, ivory, bone, silk

<Bodhisattva Manjushri as Tikshna-Manjushri, Ming dynasty (1368– 1644), China Gilt brass, lost-wax cast

The civilisation of Imperial China is one

Ming Dynasty was born on the 3 Jun

of the world’s oldest civilizations. It dates

1368 where Zhu Yuanzhang rose up

back to 1700-1046 BC of the Shang

against the Mongols and led the Ming

dynasty. The cradle of this civilization is

Dynasty into power. The Yuan Dynasty

said to be at ‘Yellow River’.

collapsed.

…one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history.

The Ming Dynasty is well known for it’s power , control and also for its artwork.

It is said to be the most stable civilisation but this is most likely due to the fact that this was the most strongest autocratic government.

“A major dynasty that ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the midseventeenth century. ” –Dictionary.com

and hot weather. This shortened the growth seasons.

This period of time was actually called “The Little Ice Age”. A disease started to spread throughout the regions and in 1556, the ‘deadliest earthquake of all time’ struck Shaanxi.

The Manchurian tribes also began to rise in this time to defeat Ming Dynasty…

After the famine, the empire was weak and vulnerable.

This is when Manchurians rose to take over the Ming Dynasty and hence, Beijing.

THE REBELS “…Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng when the city gates were treacherously opened from within…”

-Wikipedia.

Peasants were unpaid and starving. Most homeless and penniless. They no longer feared the Chinese army so they began to form huge groups of rebels. They society basically fell apart.

The army made useless attempts to try stop the rebels.

But they were unpaid and starving themselves too. The whole society went into chaos and was defeated by Li Zicheng. He also led an army of rebels into Beijing and upon so, the 16th Ming emperor Zhu Youjian hung himself, ending the Ming Dynasty.

The Manchurians took this as an opportunity and crossed the Great Wall and invaded Beijing.

Now two armies face each other and Li Zicheng weighed his options and decided it was a better choice to ally with the Machurians.

SHUN DYNASTY Li Zicheng became the next emperor of ‘Shun Dynasty’, he ordered people to kill every Ming remnants and this caused many rebels to rise again. Higher powers such as ministers were constantly fighting for power and did not make an effective empire. However, Li Zicheng died a year later in 1645. That was the end of the ‘Shun Dynasty’.

“…the dynasty effectively lasted less than a year.”

-Wikipedia.

IMPERIAL CHINA

MING DYNASTY

BY: NOEL ZHENG.