Editing Ming dynasty (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Ming dynasty}}
{{For timeline}}

=== Founding ===

==== Revolt and rebel rivalry ====
The [[Mongol]]-led [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming. Explanations for the demise of the Yuan include institutionalized ethnic discrimination against the [[Han people]] 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 [[Levee|levees]] of the Yellow River.{{sfnp|Gascoigne|2003|p=150}} A number of Han groups revolted, including the [[Red Turban Rebellion|Red Turbans]] in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the [[White Lotus Societies|White Lotus]], a [[Chinese Buddhism|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.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=190–191}} In 1356, Zhu's rebel force captured the city of [[Nanjing]],{{sfnp|Gascoigne|2003|p=151}} 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. In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his archrival and leader of the rebel Han faction, [[Chen Youliang]], in the [[Battle of Lake Poyang]], arguably the [[largest naval battle in history]]. Known for its ambitious use of [[fire ships]], Zhu's force of 200,000 Ming sailors were able to defeat a Han rebel force over triple their size, claimed to be 650,000-strong. The victory destroyed the last opposing rebel faction, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in uncontested control of the bountiful [[Yangtze]] valley and cementing his power in the south. After the dynastic head of the Red Turbans suspiciously died in 1367 while a guest of Zhu, there was no one left who was remotely capable of contesting his march to the throne, and he made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward the Yuan capital [[Khanbaliq|Dadu]] (present-day [[Beijing]]) in 1368.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=191}} The last Yuan emperor fled north to the upper capital [[Shangdu]], and Zhu declared the founding of the Ming dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu to the ground;{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=191}} the city was renamed Beiping in the same year.{{sfnp|Naquin|2000|p=xxxiii}} Zhu Yuanzhang took Hongwu, or "Vastly Martial", as his [[Chinese era name|era name]].

==== Reign of the Hongwu Emperor ====
[[File:A Seated Portrait of Ming Emperor Taizu.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Portrait of the [[Hongwu Emperor]] ({{reign|1368|1398}})]]
Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built a {{convert|48|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} [[City Wall of Nanjing|wall around Nanjing]], as well as new palaces and government halls.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=191}} The ''[[History of Ming]]'' states that as early as 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had begun drafting a new [[Confucian]] law code, the ''[[Great Ming Code]]'', which was completed by 1397 and repeated certain clauses found in the old [[Tang Code]] of 653.{{sfnp|Andrew|Rapp|2000|p=25}} Hongwu organized a military system known as the ''weisuo'', which was similar to the [[Fubing system|''fubing'' system]] of the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907).

In 1380 Hongwu had the Chancellor [[Hu Weiyong]] executed upon suspicion of a conspiracy plot to overthrow him; after that Hongwu abolished the [[Chancellor (China)|Chancellery]] and assumed this role as chief executive and emperor, a precedent mostly followed throughout the Ming period.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=192–193}}{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=130}} With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established the [[Embroidered Uniform Guard]], a network of [[secret police]] drawn from his own palace guard. Some 100,000 people were executed in a series of purges during his rule.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=192–193}}{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|pp=129–130}}

The Hongwu Emperor issued many edicts forbidding Mongol practices and proclaiming his intention to purify China of barbarian influence. However, he also sought to use the Yuan legacy to legitimize his authority in China and other areas ruled by the Yuan. He continued policies of the Yuan dynasty such as continued request for Korean concubines and eunuchs, Mongol-style hereditary military institutions, Mongol-style clothing and hats, promoting archery and horseback riding, and having large numbers of Mongols serve in the Ming military. Until the late 16th century, Mongols still constituted one-third of officers serving in capital forces like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and other peoples such as [[Jurchens]] were also prominent.{{sfnp|Robinson|2008|pp=365–399}} He frequently wrote to Mongol, Japanese, Korean, Jurchen, Tibetan, and Southwest frontier rulers offering advice on their governmental and dynastic policy, and insisted on leaders from these regions visiting the Ming capital for audiences. He resettled 100,000 Mongols into his territory, with many serving as guards in the capital. The emperor also strongly advertised the hospitality and role granted to Chinggisid nobles in his court.{{sfnp|Robinson|2020|pp=8–9}}

Hongwu insisted that he was not a rebel, and he attempted to justify his conquest of the other rebel warlords by claiming that he was a Yuan subject and had been divinely-appointed to restore order by crushing rebels. Most Chinese elites did not view the Yuan's Mongol ethnicity as grounds to resist or reject it. Hongwu emphasised that he was not conquering territory from the Yuan dynasty but rather from the rebel warlords. He used this line of argument to attempt to persuade Yuan loyalists to join his cause.{{sfnp|Robinson|2019|pp=144–146}} The Ming used the tribute they received from former Yuan vassals as proof that the Ming had taken over the Yuan's legitimacy. Tribute missions were regularly celebrated with music and dance in the Ming court.{{sfnp|Robinson|2019|p=248}}

==== South-Western frontier ====
{{Main|Ming conquest of Yunnan|Miao rebellions in the Ming dynasty}}
Hui Muslim troops settled in [[Changde]], Hunan, after serving the Ming in campaigns against aboriginal tribes.{{sfnp|Shi|2002|p=133}} In 1381, the Ming dynasty annexed the areas of the southwest that had once been part of the [[Kingdom of Dali]] following the successful effort by Hui Muslim Ming armies to defeat Mongol and Hui Muslim troops loyal to the Yuan holding out in Yunnan. The Hui troops under General [[Mu Ying]], who was appointed Governor of Yunnan, were resettled in the region as part of a colonization effort.{{sfnp|Dillon|1999|p=34}} By the end of the 14th century, some 200,000 military colonists settled some 2,000,000 ''mu'' (350,000 acres) of land in what is now [[Yunnan]] and [[Guizhou]]. Roughly half a million more Chinese settlers came in later periods; these migrations caused a major shift in the ethnic make-up of the region, since formerly more than half of the population were non-Han peoples. Resentment over such massive changes in population and the resulting government presence and policies sparked more [[Miao people|Miao]] and [[Yao people|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]]. After the scholar and philosopher [[Wang Yangming]] (1472–1529) suppressed another rebellion in the region, he advocated single, unitary administration of Chinese and indigenous ethnic groups in order to bring about [[sinicisation]] of the local peoples.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=197}}

==== Campaign in the North-East ====
{{Main|Manchuria under Ming rule}}
[[File:Chemin de ronde muraille long.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Great Wall of China]]: while segments of earlier [[rammed earth]] walls were first unified by the [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] and [[Han dynasty|Han]] dynasties, the vast majority of the brick and stone Great Wall is a product of the Ming.]]

After the overthrow of the [[Yuan dynasty]] in 1368, Manchuria remained under control of the [[Northern Yuan]] based in [[Mongolia]]. [[Naghachu]], a former Yuan official and a [[Uriankhai]] general of the Northern Yuan, won hegemony over the Mongol tribes in Manchuria (the former Yuan province of [[Liaoyang province|Liaoyang]]). He grew strong in the northeast, with forces large enough (numbering hundreds of thousands) to threaten invasion of the newly founded Ming dynasty in order to restore the Mongols to power in China. The Ming decided to defeat him instead of waiting for the Mongols to attack. In 1387 the Ming sent [[Ming military campaign against Naghachu|a military campaign to attack Naghachu]],{{sfnp|Wang|2011|pp=101–144}} which concluded with the surrender of Naghachu and Ming conquest of Manchuria.

The early Ming court could not, and did not, aspire to the control imposed upon the [[Jurchens]] in Manchuria by the Mongols, yet it created a norm of organization that would ultimately serve as the main instrument for the relations with peoples along the northeast frontiers. By the end of the Hongwu reign, the essentials of a policy toward the Jurchens had taken shape. Most of the inhabitants of Manchuria, except for the [[Wild Jurchens]], were at peace with China. In 1409, under the Yongle Emperor, the Ming established the [[Nurgan Regional Military Commission]] on the banks of the [[Amur River]], and [[Yishiha]], a eunuch of [[Haixi Jurchens|Haixi Jurchen]] origin, was ordered to lead an expedition to the mouth of the Amur to pacify the Wild Jurchens. After the death of Yongle Emperor, the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was abolished in 1435, and the Ming court ceased to have substantial activities there, although the guards continued to exist in Manchuria. Throughout its existence, the Ming established a total of 384 guards ({{zhi|c=衛}}, ''wei'') and 24 battalions ({{zhi|c=所}}, ''suo'') in Manchuria, but these were probably only nominal offices and did not necessarily imply political control.{{sfnp|Tsai|2001|p=159}} By the late Ming period, Ming's political presence in Manchuria has declined significantly.

==== Relations with Tibet ====
{{Main|Ming–Tibet relations}}
[[File:17th century Central Tibeten thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra, Rubin Museum of Art.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|A 17th-century Tibetan [[thangka]] of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra; the Ming court gathered various tribute items that were native products of Tibet (such as thangkas),<ref>{{harvp|Zhang|Xiang|2002|p=73}}</ref> and in return granted gifts to Tibetan tribute-bearers.{{sfnp|Wang|Nyima|1997|pp=39–41}}]]
The ''[[History of Ming]]''—the official dynastic history compiled in 1739 by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]] (1644–1912)—states that the Ming established itinerant commanderies overseeing Tibetan administration while also renewing titles of ex-Yuan dynasty officials from [[Tibet]] and conferring new princely titles on leaders of [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist sects]].<ref>{{harvp|History of Ming|loc=Geography I, III; Western Territory III}}</ref> However, Turrell V. Wylie states that censorship in the ''History of Ming'' in favor of bolstering the Ming emperor's prestige and reputation at all costs obfuscates the nuanced history of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming era.{{sfnp|Wylie|2003|p=470}}

Modern scholars debate whether the Ming had [[sovereignty]] over Tibet. Some believe it was a relationship of loose [[suzerainty]] that was largely cut off when the [[Jiajing Emperor]] ({{reign|1521|1567}}) persecuted Buddhism in favor of [[Taoism]] at court.{{sfnp|Wylie|2003|p=470}}{{sfnp|Wang|Nyima|1997|pp=1–40}} Others argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship.{{sfnp|Norbu|2001|p=52}}{{sfnp|Kolmaš|1967|p=32}} Others note the Ming need for Central Asian horses and the need to maintain the [[Tibet during the Ming dynasty#Tribute and exchanging tea for horses|tea-horse trade]].{{sfnp|Wang|Nyima|1997|pp=39–40}}{{sfnp|Sperling|2003|pp=474–475, 478}}{{sfnp|Perdue|2000|p=273}}{{sfnp|Kolmaš|1967|pp=28–29}}

The Ming sporadically sent armed forays into Tibet during the 14th century, which the Tibetans successfully resisted.{{sfnp|Langlois|1988|pp=139, 161}}{{sfnp|Geiss|1988|pp=417–418}} Several scholars point out that unlike the preceding Mongols, the Ming did not garrison permanent troops in Tibet.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=227}}{{sfnp|Wang|Nyima|1997|p=38}} The [[Wanli Emperor]] ({{reign|1572|1620}}) attempted to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations in the wake of a [[History of Tibet#The origin of the title of 'Dalai Lama'|Mongol–Tibetan alliance]] initiated in 1578, an alliance which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Qing dynasty in their support for the [[Dalai Lama]] of the [[Gelug|Yellow Hat]] sect.{{sfnp|Wylie|2003|p=470}}{{sfnp|Kolmaš|1967|pp=30–31}}{{sfnp|Goldstein|1997|p=8}}<ref>{{harvp|The Ming Biographical Dictionary (1976)|p=23}}</ref> By the late 16th century, the Mongols proved to be successful armed protectors of the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama after their increasing presence in the [[Amdo]] region, culminating in the [[Mongol conquest of Tibet|conquest of Tibet]] by [[Güshi Khan]] (1582–1655) in 1642,{{sfnp|Wylie|2003|p=470}}{{sfnp|Kolmaš|1967|pp=34–35}}{{sfnp|Goldstein|1997|pp=6–9}} establishing the [[Khoshut Khanate]].

=== Reign of the Yongle Emperor ===
{{Main|Yongle Emperor}}
{{Further|Ming dynasty in Inner Asia}}

==== Rise to power ====
[[File:Portrait assis de l'empereur Ming Chengzu.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Portrait of the [[Yongle Emperor]] ({{reign|1402|1424}})]]
The [[Hongwu Emperor]] specified his grandson Zhu Yunwen as his successor, and he assumed the throne as the [[Jianwen Emperor]] ({{reign|1398|1402}}) after Hongwu's death in 1398. The most powerful of Hongwu's sons, Zhu Di, then the militarily mighty disagreed with this, and soon a political showdown erupted between him and his nephew Jianwen.{{sfnp|Robinson|2000|p=527}} After Jianwen arrested many of Zhu Di's associates, Zhu Di plotted a rebellion that sparked a [[Jingnan Campaign|three-year civil war]]. Under the pretext of rescuing the young Jianwen from corrupting officials, Zhu Di personally led forces in the revolt; the palace in Nanjing was burned to the ground, along with Jianwen himself, his wife, mother, and courtiers. Zhu Di assumed the throne as the [[Yongle Emperor]] ({{reign|1402|1424}}); his reign is universally viewed by scholars as a "second founding" of the Ming dynasty since he reversed many of his father's policies.{{sfnp|Atwell|2002|p=84}}

==== New capital and foreign engagement ====
Yongle demoted Nanjing to a secondary capital and in 1403 announced the new capital of China was to be at his power base in Beijing. Construction of a new city there lasted from 1407 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily.{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=272}} At the center was the political node of the [[Imperial City (Beijing)|Imperial City]], and at the center of this was the [[Forbidden City]], the palatial residence of the emperor and his family. By 1553, the Outer City was added to the south, which brought the overall size of Beijing to {{convert|4 by 4+1/2|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=off|order=flip}}.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=194}}

[[File:Noel 2005 Pékin tombeaux Ming voie des âmes.jpg|thumb|The [[Ming tombs]] located {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of Beijing]]

Beginning in 1405, the Yongle Emperor entrusted his favored [[eunuch]] commander [[Zheng He]] (1371–1433) as the admiral for a gigantic new fleet of ships designated for international [[treasure voyages|tributary missions]]. Among the kingdoms visited by Zheng He, Yongle proclaimed the [[Kingdom of Cochin]] to be its protectorate.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sen |first=Tansen |title=The impact of Zheng He's expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=79 |issue=3 |year=2016 |issn=0041-977X |doi=10.1017/s0041977x16001038 |pages=609–636}}</ref> The Chinese had [[Foreign relations of Imperial China|sent diplomatic missions]] over land since the [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BCE{{snd}}220&nbsp;CE) and engaged in [[Economy of the Song dynasty|private overseas trade]], but these missions were unprecedented in grandeur and scale. To service seven different tributary voyages, the Nanjing shipyards constructed two thousand vessels from 1403 to 1419, including [[Chinese treasure ship|treasure ships]] measuring {{convert|112|to|134|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|45|to|54|m|ft|abbr=on}} in width.{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=137}}

Yongle used [[woodblock printing]] to spread Chinese culture. He also [[Ming dynasty military conquests|used the military]] to expand China's borders. This included the [[Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam|brief occupation of Vietnam]], from the initial invasion in 1406 until the Ming withdrawal in 1427 as a result of protracted [[Lam Sơn uprising|guerrilla warfare]] led by [[Lê Lợi]], the founder of the Vietnamese [[Lê dynasty]].{{sfnp|Wang|1998|pp=317–327}}

=== Tumu Crisis and the Ming Mongols ===
{{Main|Tumu Crisis|Rebellion of Cao Qin}}
[[File:Tribute Giraffe with Attendant.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A Bengali envoy presenting a giraffe as a tributary gift in the name of King [[Saifuddin Hamza Shah|Saif Al-Din Hamzah Shah]] of Bengal ({{reign|1410|1412}}) to the Yongle Emperor]]
The [[Oirats|Oirat]] leader [[Esen Tayisi]] launched an invasion into Ming China in July 1449. The chief eunuch [[Wang Zhen (eunuch)|Wang Zhen]] encouraged the [[Zhengtong Emperor]] ({{reign|1435|1449}}) to lead a force personally to face the Oirats after a recent Ming defeat; the emperor left the capital and put his half-brother [[Zhu Qiyu]] in charge of affairs as temporary regent. On 8 September, Esen routed Zhengtong's army, and Zhengtong was captured—an event known as the [[Tumu Crisis]].{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=273}} The Oirats held the Zhengtong Emperor for ransom. However, this scheme was foiled once the emperor's younger brother assumed the throne under the era name [[Jingtai Emperor|Jingtai]] ({{reign|1449|1457}}); the Oirats were also repelled once the Jingtai Emperor's confidant and defense minister [[Yu Qian]] (1398–1457) gained control of the Ming armed forces. Holding the Zhengtong Emperor in captivity was a useless bargaining chip for the Oirats as long as another sat on his throne, so they released him back into Ming China.{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=273}} The former emperor was placed under house arrest in the palace until the coup against the Jingtai Emperor in 1457 known as the "Wresting the Gate Incident".{{sfnp|Robinson|1999|p=83}} The former emperor retook the throne under the new era name [[Emperor Yingzong of Ming|Tianshun]] ({{reign|1457|1464}}).

Tianshun proved to be a troubled time and Mongol forces within the Ming military structure continued to be problematic. On 7 August 1461, the Chinese general Cao Qin and his Ming troops of Mongol descent [[Rebellion of Cao Qin|staged a coup against the Tianshun Emperor]] out of fear of being next on his purge-list of those who aided him in the Wresting the Gate Incident.{{sfnp|Robinson|1999|pp=84–85}} Cao's rebel force managed to set fire to the western and eastern gates of the [[Imperial City (Beijing)|Imperial City]] (doused by rain during the battle) and killed several leading ministers before his forces were finally cornered and he was forced to commit suicide.{{sfnp|Robinson|1999|pp=79, 101–108}}

While the Yongle Emperor had staged [[Yongle Emperor's campaigns against the Mongols|five major offensives north]] of the Great Wall against the Mongols and the Oirats, the constant threat of Oirat incursions prompted the Ming authorities to fortify the Great Wall from the late 15th century to the 16th century; nevertheless, John Fairbank notes that "it proved to be a futile military gesture but vividly expressed China's siege mentality."{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=139}} Yet the Great Wall was not meant to be a purely defensive fortification; its towers functioned rather as a series of lit beacons and signalling stations to allow rapid warning to friendly units of advancing enemy troops.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=208}}

=== Decline ===
==== Reign of the Wanli Emperor ====
[[File:Wanli-Emperor.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Wanli Emperor]] ({{reign|1572|1620}}) in state ceremonial court dress]]
The reign of the [[Wanli Emperor]] (1572–1620) featured many problems, some of them fiscal in nature. In the beginning of his reign, Wanli surrounded himself with able advisors and made a conscientious effort to handle state affairs. His Grand Secretary [[Zhang Juzheng]] (1572–1582) built up an effective network of alliances with senior officials. However, there was no one after him skilled enough to maintain the stability of these alliances;{{sfnp|Hucker|1958|p=31}} officials soon banded together in opposing political factions. Over time Wanli grew tired of court affairs and frequent political quarreling amongst his ministers, preferring to stay behind the walls of the Forbidden City and out of his officials' sight.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=16}} Scholar-officials lost prominence in administration as eunuchs became intermediaries between the aloof emperor and his officials; any senior official who wanted to discuss state matters had to persuade powerful eunuchs with a bribe simply to have his demands or message relayed to the emperor.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=17}} There were several military campaigns during the Wanli Emperor's reign, [[Ordos campaign (1592)|Ordos campaign]], the response to the [[Bozhou rebellion]], and the [[Imjin War]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6G50MaPJWMC&q=ordos&pg=PA27 |title=A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592–1598 |isbn=978-0-8061-8502-6 |last=Swope |first=Kenneth M. |date=29 April 2013 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press}}</ref>{{sfnp|Swope|2011|pp=122–125}}{{sfnp|Xie|2013|pp=118–120}}{{sfnp|Herman|2007|pp=164–165, 281}}{{sfnp|Ness|1998|pp=139–140}}

==== Role of eunuchs ====
[[File:Porcelain tea cups from the reign of the Tianqi Emperor.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tianqi Emperor|Tianqi-era]] teacups, from the Nantoyōsō Collection in Japan; the Tianqi Emperor was heavily influenced and largely controlled by the eunuch [[Wei Zhongxian]] (1568–1627).]]

The Hongwu Emperor forbade eunuchs to learn how to read or engage in politics. Whether or not these restrictions were carried out with absolute success in his reign, eunuchs during the Yongle Emperor's reign (1402–1424) and afterwards managed huge imperial workshops, commanded armies, and participated in matters of appointment and promotion of officials. Yongle put 75 eunuchs in charge of foreign policy; they traveled frequently to vassal states including Annam, Mongolia, the Ryukyu Islands, and Tibet and less frequently to farther-flung places like Japan and Nepal. In the later 15th century, however, eunuch envoys generally only traveled to Korea.{{sfnp|Tsai|1996|pp=119–120}}

The eunuchs developed their own bureaucracy that was organized parallel to but was not subject to the civil service bureaucracy.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=194–195}} Although there were several dictatorial eunuchs throughout the Ming, such as [[Wang Zhen (eunuch)|Wang Zhen]], Wang Zhi, and [[Liu Jin]], excessive tyrannical eunuch power did not become evident until the 1590s when the [[Wanli Emperor]] increased their rights over the civil bureaucracy and granted them power to collect provincial taxes.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=17}}{{sfnp|Hucker|1958|p=11}}

The eunuch [[Wei Zhongxian]] (1568–1627) dominated the court of the [[Tianqi Emperor]] ({{reign|1620|1627}}) and had his political rivals tortured to death, mostly the vocal critics from the faction of the [[Donglin movement|Donglin Society]]. He ordered temples built in his honor throughout the Ming Empire, and built personal palaces created with funds allocated for building the previous emperor's tombs. His friends and family gained important positions without qualifications. Wei also published a historical work lambasting and belittling his political opponents.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=17–18}} The instability at court came right as natural calamity, pestilence, rebellion, and foreign invasion came to a peak. The [[Chongzhen Emperor]] ({{reign|1627|1644}}) had Wei dismissed from court, which led to Wei's suicide shortly after.

The eunuchs built their own social structure, providing and gaining support to their birth clans. Instead of fathers promoting sons, it was a matter of uncles promoting nephews. The Heishanhui Society in Peking sponsored the temple that conducted rituals for worshiping the memory of Gang Tie, a powerful eunuch of the Yuan dynasty. The Temple became an influential base for highly placed eunuchs, and continued in a somewhat diminished role during the Qing dynasty.{{sfnp|Chen|2016|pp=27–47}}{{sfnp|Robinson|1995|pp=1–16}}{{sfnp|Tsai|1996|loc=[https://www.amazon.com/Eunuchs-Dynasty-Chinese-Local-Studies/dp/0791426882/ excerpt]}}

==== Economic breakdown and natural disasters ====
{{further|The General Crisis}}
[[File:Ch'iu Ying 001.jpg|thumb|''Spring morning in a Han palace'', by [[Qiu Ying]] (1494–1552); excessive luxury and decadence marked the late Ming period, spurred by the enormous state [[bullion]] of incoming silver and by private transactions involving silver.]]
[[File:Imperial 'dragon' throne carpet, Ming Dynasty, 16th century.png|thumb|An imperial throne carpet with double dragon and seed pearl motif, 16th century]]

During the last years of the Wanli era and those of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centered on a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver. [[Kingdom of Portugal|The Portuguese]] first [[Rafael Perestrello|established trade with China]] in 1516.{{sfnp|Brook|1998|p=124}} Following the Ming Emperor's decision to ban direct trade with Japan, Portuguese traders acted as an intermediary between China and Japan by buying Chinese silks from China and selling it to Japan for silver.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=19–20}} After some [[Fernão Pires de Andrade|initial hostilities]] gained consent from the Ming court in 1557 to settle [[Macau]] as their permanent trade base in China.{{sfnp|Wills|1998|pp=343–349}} Their role in providing silver was gradually surpassed by [[Spanish Empire|the Spanish]],{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=20}}{{sfnp|Brook|1998|p=205}}{{sfnp|Lane|2019}} while even [[Dutch Empire|the Dutch]] challenged them for control of this trade.{{sfnp|Brook|1998|pp=206, 208}}{{sfnp|Wills|1998|pp=349–353}} [[Philip IV of Spain]] ({{reign|1621|1665}}) began cracking down on illegal smuggling of silver from [[New Spain]] and [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]] across the [[Pacific]] through the [[Philippines]] towards China, in favor of [[Manila galleon|shipping silver mined in the Spanish Latin American colonies]] through Spanish ports. People began hoarding precious silver as there was progressively less of it, forcing the ratio of the value of copper to silver into a steep decline. In the 1630s a string of one thousand [[Cash (Chinese coin)|copper coins]] equaled an ounce of silver; by 1640 that sum could fetch half an ounce; and, by 1643 only one-third of an ounce. For peasants this meant economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and crop sales in copper.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=20–21}} Historians have debated the validity of the theory that silver shortages caused the downfall of the Ming dynasty.{{sfnp|Atwell|2005|pp=467–489}}{{sfnp|So|2012|pp=4, 17–18, 32–34}}

Famines became common in northern China in the early 17th century because of unusually dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season—effects of a larger ecological event now known as the [[Little Ice Age]].{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=21}} Famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, and natural disasters such as flooding and inability of the government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects caused widespread loss of life and normal civility.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=21}} The central government, starved of resources, could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic, the [[Great Plague in the late Ming dynasty|Great Plague of 1633–1644]], spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing an unknown but large number of people.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=22–24}} The deadliest earthquake of all time, the [[1556 Shaanxi earthquake|Shaanxi earthquake of 1556]], occurred during the [[Jiajing Emperor]]'s reign, killing approximately 830,000 people.{{sfnp|BBC News (2004)}}

=== Fall of the Ming ===
{{Main|Transition from Ming to Qing}}

==== Rise of the Manchus ====
{{See also|Manchuria under Ming rule|Jurchen unification}}
[[File:Shanhaiguan.jpg|thumb|[[Shanhai Pass]] along the Great Wall, the gate where the Manchus were repeatedly repelled before being finally let through by Wu Sangui in 1644]]
[[File:Beijingbelltower2.jpg|thumb|The [[Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing]] was built in the Yuan and rebuilt in the Ming.]]

Originally a Ming vassal who officially considered himself a guardian of the Ming border and a local representative of imperial Ming power,<ref>The Cambridge History of China: Volume 9, The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, Part 1, by Denis C. Twitchett, John K. Fairbank, p. 29</ref> [[Nurhaci]], leader of the [[Jianzhou Jurchens]], [[Jurchen unification|unified other Jurchen clans]] to create a new Manchu ethnic identity. He offered to lead his armies to support Ming and [[Joseon]] armies against the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Japanese invasions of Korea]] in the 1590s. Ming officials declined the offer, but granted him the title of dragon-tiger general for his gesture. Recognizing the weakness of Ming authority in Manchuria at the time, he consolidated power by co-opting or conquering surrounding territories. In 1616 he declared himself [[Khan (title)|Khan]] and established the [[Later Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin dynasty]] in reference to the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|previous Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty]]. In 1618 he openly renounced the Ming overlordship and effectively declared war against the Ming with the "[[Seven Grievances]]".{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=27-28}}

In 1636, Nurhaci's son [[Hong Taiji]] renamed his dynasty the "[[Great Qing]]" at [[Mukden]] (modern Shenyang), which had been made their capital in 1625.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=24, 28}}{{sfnp|Chang|2007|p=92}} Hong Taiji also adopted the Chinese imperial title ''[[Emperor of China|huangdi]]'', declared the [[Hong Taiji|Chongde]] ("Revering Virtue") era, and changed the ethnic name of his people from "Jurchen" to "[[Manchu]]".{{sfnp|Chang|2007|p=92}} In 1636, Banner Armies defeated Joseon during the [[Second Manchu invasion of Korea]] and forced Joseon to become a Qing tributary. Shortly after, the Koreans renounced their long-held loyalty to the Ming dynasty.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=31}}

==== Rebellion, invasion, collapse ====
A peasant soldier named [[Li Zicheng]] mutinied with his fellow soldiers in western Shaanxi in the early 1630s after the Ming government failed to ship much-needed supplies there. In 1634 he was captured by a Ming general and released only on the terms that he return to service. The agreement soon broke down when a local magistrate had thirty-six of his fellow rebels executed; Li's troops retaliated by killing the officials and continued to lead a rebellion based in Rongyang, [[Henan]] by 1635. By the 1640s, an ex-soldier and rival to Li—[[Zhang Xianzhong]] (1606–1647)—had created a firm rebel base in [[Chengdu]], [[Sichuan]], with the establishment of the [[Xi dynasty]], while Li's center of power was in [[Hubei]] with extended influence over Shaanxi and Henan.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=21–22}}

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. Unpaid and unfed, the army was defeated by Li Zicheng—now self-styled as the Prince of [[Shun dynasty|Shun]]—and deserted the capital without much of a fight. On 25 April 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng when the city gates were opened by rebel allies from within. During the turmoil, [[Chongzhen Emperor|Chongzhen]], the last Ming emperor, accompanied only by a eunuch servant, hanged himself [[Guilty Chinese Scholartree|on a tree in the imperial garden]] right outside the Forbidden City.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=25}}

Seizing opportunity, the [[Eight Banners]] crossed the [[Great Wall]] after the Ming border general [[Wu Sangui]] (1612–1678) opened the gates at [[Shanhai Pass]]. This occurred shortly after he learned about the fate of the capital and an army of Li Zicheng marching towards him; weighing his options of alliance, he decided to side with the Manchus.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|pp=32–33}} The Eight Banners under the Manchu Prince [[Dorgon]] (1612–1650) and Wu Sangui approached Beijing after the army sent by Li was destroyed at [[Shanhaiguan District|Shanhaiguan]]; the Prince of Shun's army fled the capital on the fourth of June. On 6 June, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young [[Shunzhi Emperor]] ruler of China. After being forced out of [[Xi'an]] by the Qing, chased along the [[Han River (Hanshui)|Han River]] to [[Wuchang]], and finally along the northern border of [[Jiangxi]], Li Zicheng died there in the summer of 1645, thus ending the [[Shun dynasty]]. One report says his death was a suicide; another states that he was beaten to death by peasants after he was caught stealing their food.{{sfnp|Spence|1999|p=33}}

Despite the loss of Beijing and the death of the emperor, the Ming were not yet totally destroyed. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Yunnan were all strongholds of Ming resistance. However, there were several pretenders for the Ming throne, and their forces were divided. These scattered Ming remnants in southern China after 1644 were collectively designated by 19th-century historians as the [[Southern Ming]].{{sfnp|Dennerline |1985|pp=824–825}} Each bastion of resistance was individually defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last Southern Ming emperor, [[Zhu Youlang]], the Yongli Emperor, was captured and executed. In 1683, the Qing forces [[Battle of Penghu|conquered Taiwan]] and dismantled the [[Kingdom of Tungning]], which had been established by [[Koxinga|Zheng Chenggong]] and was the final stronghold of forces loyal to the Ming dynasty.{{sfnp|Spence|2002|p=122}}{{sfnp|Mote|2003|pp=835, 849}}