Editing Timeline of Chinese history (section)

== 16th century ==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! style="width:6%" | Year || style="width:10%" | Date || Event
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1505 || 8 June || The [[Hongzhi Emperor]] died.
|-
| 19 June || The [[Hongzhi Emperor]]'s son the [[Zhengde Emperor]] became [[emperor of China|emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]].
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| 1510 || 12 May || ''[[Prince of Anhua rebellion]]'': [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] tax collectors were murdered on the orders of [[Zhu Zhifan]], the prince of Anhua in modern [[Shaanxi]].
|-
| 1511 || 15 August || ''[[Capture of Malacca (1511)|Capture of Malacca]]'': A [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] invasion force conquered the [[Malacca Sultanate]], the news reached the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]].
|-
| 1513 || || The [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] explorer [[Jorge Álvares]] arrived on [[Lintin Island]] in the [[Pearl River Delta]].
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| 1516 || || The [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] explorer [[Rafael Perestrello]] arrived in [[Guangzhou]].
|-
| 1517 || || The [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] ambassadors [[Fernão Pires de Andrade]] and [[Tomé Pires]] arrived in [[Guangzhou]].
|-
| 1519 || 10 July || ''[[Prince of Ning rebellion]]'': The prince of Ning [[Zhu Chenhao]] declared that the [[Zhengde Emperor]] was an usurper and led an expedition toward [[Nanjing]].
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1521 || 20 April || The [[Zhengde Emperor]] died.
|-
| 27 May || The [[Zhengde Emperor]]'s cousin, the [[Chenghua Emperor]]'s grandson the [[Jiajing Emperor]], became [[emperor of China|emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]].
|-
| || The [[Jiajing Emperor]] expelled the [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] [[diplomatic mission|embassy]].
|-
| 1529 || || [[Wang Yangming]] died.
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| 1530 || || An improved sand-driven mechanical clock was invented.
|-
| 1549 || || [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] trade ships first stopped at [[Shangchuan Island]].
|-
| 1550 || || The [[Mongols|Mongol]] chieftain [[Altan Khan]] burned and looted the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] capital Beijing and its suburbs.
|-
| 1553 || || The [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] capital Beijing was expanded to the south, increasing its size from {{convert|4|to|4+1/2|sqmi|km2|0|order=flip|abbr=off}}.
|-
| 1554 || || The [[Luso-Chinese agreement (1554)]] for [[Macau]] is made between the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and the [[Ming dynasty]].
|-
| 1556 || 23 January || ''[[1556 Shaanxi earthquake]]'': An earthquake in and around modern [[Shaanxi]] killed some eight hundred thousand people.
|-
| 1557 || || The [[Kingdom of Portugal]] established a permanent settlement in [[Macau]].
|-
| 1558 || || [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] forces led by [[Qi Jiguang]] dealt the ''[[wokou]]'' a defeat at Cengang.
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1567 || 23 January || The [[Jiajing Emperor]] died.
|-
| 4 February || The [[Jiajing Emperor]]'s son the [[Longqing Emperor]] became [[emperor of China|emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]].
|-
| || The [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] ''[[haijin]]'' (ban on private maritime commerce) was repealed.
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1572 || 5 July || The [[Longqing Emperor]] died.
|-
| 19 July || The [[Longqing Emperor]]'s son the [[Wanli Emperor]] became [[emperor of China|emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]].
|-
| 1573 || || [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]] established a permanent base at [[Manila]].
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| 1574 || || [[Qin Liangyu]] was born.
|-
| 1576 || || The [[Pagoda of Cishou Temple]] was built.
|-
| 1577 || || The [[Wanshou Temple]] was built.
|-
| 1580 || || The [[Grand Secretariat|grand secretary]] [[Zhang Juzheng]] instituted the [[single whip law]], under which all monetary and labor obligations to the central government were consolidated into a single silver payment.
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1582 || || ''[[Jesuit China missions]]'': The [[Jesuit]] [[missionary]] [[Matteo Ricci]] arrived in [[Macau]].
|-
| || Private newspapers were first published in Beijing.
|-
| 1584 || || The earliest known depiction of the sailing carriage appeared.
|-
| 1587 || || [[Li Shizhen]] published the ''[[Compendium of Materia Medica]]''.
|-
| 1590 || || [[Wu Cheng'en]] wrote ''[[Journey to the West]]''.
|-
| 1592 || || ''[[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Japanese invasions of Korea]]'': Some two hundred thousand Japanese troops invaded [[Joseon]].
|-
| 1593 || 8 January || ''[[Siege of Pyongyang (1593)|Siege of Pyongyang]]'': A combined [[Ming dynasty|Ming]]-[[Joseon]] force drove the Japanese army from [[Pyongyang]].
|-
| 1597 || 23 December || ''[[Siege of Ulsan]]'': A combined [[Ming dynasty|Ming]]-[[Joseon]] force arrived at the Japanese-controlled [[Ulsan Japanese Castle]].
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1598 || 29 September || ''[[Battle of Sacheon (1598)|Battle of Sacheon]]'': A Japanese army under siege at [[Sacheon]] drove off a numerically superior [[Ming dynasty|Ming]]-[[Joseon]] force after the accidental explosion of the Ming powder cache.
|-
| 16 December || ''[[Battle of Noryang]]'': The allied navies of [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Joseon]] dealt heavy damage to a Japanese fleet attempting to break their blockade of [[Suncheon Japanese Castle]].
|-
| || ''[[The Peony Pavilion]]'' was first performed at the [[Pavilion of Prince Teng]].
|}