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Fall Of The Ming Dynasty

Raymond Trombley

The long reign of the Ming dynasty bridged two periods during which China was ruled by foreign invaders, the Mongols (1271 1368) and the Manchus (1644 1912). The first Ming emperor, Chu Yuan chang, drove the Mongols from Peking in 1368. After providing China with nearly three centuries of relative peace, stability and prosperity, the Ming dynasty lost the capital city to a Manchu army in 1644.
The Mongol Empire, which in its heyday included Central Asia, most of Russia and Persia as well as China, was founded by Genghis Khan. Mongol forces conquered Northern China in 1234 and ousted the Song dynasty from Southern China in 1271. Thereafter, Kublai Khan, one of Genghis' grandsons, ruled China with a firm hand until his death in 1294. During its last seven decades, the Mongol Empire gradually disintegrated as a result of recurrent succession struggles, factionalism, favoritism in appointments, a worthless currency, high inflation and, after the flooding of the Yellow River in 1340, widespread unrest and famine in the countryside. Latourette says that "the Mongols were divided among themselves and could not present a united front to their enemies" (Latourette 215). Anti foreign feeling was fanned by various secret societies, including the militant Red Turbans, whose forces captured Nanking in 1364 and Peking in 1368. The leader of the Red Turbans was Chu Yuang chang, who later became known as Taizu or Hong Wu (Great Military Warrior) and who was described by Goodrich as a Buddhist "monk of humble origin, grotesque appearance, and more than ordinary brains, cruelty and ability to lead" (Goodrich 189). Taizu used cannon in the siege of Peking. (Gunpowder had been invented in China in the 1300s.)
The new dynasty consolidated its power during the Early Ming Period (1368 1424) under the forceful leadership of Taizu (1368 1398) and, after a four year interregnum, Yung Lo, who engineered a successful palace coup against Taizu's young...