Unlike in English, the name of the dynasty is not the same as the family name of the leaders. The family that led China during the Ming were the Zhūs. This is written as in Chinese characters. Today, it is just a common Chinese family name, but at that time it meant a kind of red coloring made from cinnabar (HgS).
The Yuan dynasty before them had been part of the Mongol Empire started by Genghis Khan. Its emperors had been Mongolian people, but most of China was Han Chinese. To keep their power, the Yuan used a Chinese kind of government of Three Departments and Six Ministries, with imperial examinations. Their laws gave special powers to Mongolian people, though, with other people from other countries ("Semu") placed second, northern Chinese third, and southern Chinese last. They were especially nice to Tibetan Buddhists and gave many important jobs to Muslims, although they also made Muslims break some rules and eat like Mongolians. Some Muslims were angry and started to fight the Yuan. Many people began to fight after the 1340s. The Black Death killed many people and the government did not keep up the work needed to stop the Yellow River from killing people when it flooded. The Red Turbans began fighting in 1351 and its best leader Zhu Yuanzhang made the Yuan emperor Toghun Temür run away from the capital city Khanbaliq (now inside Beijing) in 1368.
When Zhu Yuanzhang took Khanbaliq, he said that the Yuan was over and that his family would be a new dynasty called the Ming. He said that 1368 was the 1st year of the Hongwu Era and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. Toghun Temür and other Mongolians still fought him, but now they were known as the Northern Yuan and the Ming became the real government of most of China.
The Hongwu Emperor had many sons and made them the leaders of the 13 different parts of China. He did not stay in Khanbaliq. He made his old base Yingtian (today's Nanjing) into the new capital city. He wanted China to be more traditional and more Chinese, so he ended most government support for other religions and made Christianity against the law. He wanted China to take care of itself, so he ended most buying and selling of things from other countries. He made a list of rules for his family, and they mostly followed them during the rest of the Ming.
The oldest son of the Hongwu Emperor died before him, so the next emperor was his grandson the Jianwen Emperor. The Jianwen Emperor was about 20 years old and didn't like the power of his many uncles. He started taking away their power, sending them away, or even making them kill themselves. The uncle leading Beiping (old Khanbaliq and now Beijing) was named Zhu Di. He pretended to be crazy so that the Jianwen Emperor would be less afraid. The emperor even let his three sons—kept in the capital city to be sure of their father's good behavior—go north see him. Zhu Di then began a war against his nephew.
At first, Zhu Di said his war was only against the "bad helpers" who told his nephew to hurt their family. When his war was successful and he took Yingtian (now Nanjing), he made himself the Yongle Emperor. He said that his nephew had never been the real emperor and killed many people in the old government. He did not trust the people in Yingtian, so he made Beiping the main capital city. The southern capital then became known as Nanjing and the northern capital Beijing, the names they continue to use today. In Beijing, he built a new home which became the Forbidden City.
The Yongle Emperor did not like many of the people in government who got there by doing well on their tests. He gave more power to eunuchs, men who were hurt as children to stop them from being able to have children of their own. One of these was Zheng He, a Muslim who led great treasure ships south from Suzhou and Nanjing in 7 big trips between 1405 and 1433. The first trips may have been looking for the Jianwen Emperor, but they also became trips that taught China about the South China Sea and Indian Ocean and opened up more buying and selling between their countries and China.
The Mings' main capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, who established the Shun dynasty. This was soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. The people who still liked the Ming continued to fight as the Southern Ming up to 1683.
The Ming Empire has been described as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history". It was the last Chinese dynasty led by the Han Chinese, not counting the short-lived governments of Li Zicheng and Yuan Shikai. It is also famous for its pottery from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi and Dehua in Fujian.
Saraswati
Saraswati is one of the Hindu goddesses. The Vedas also mention her name. She is the goddess of speech, learning and knowledge. The legend states that she created the Sanskrit language and invented the vina, a musical instrument similar to a lute. The legend also says that she is the wife of Brahma, one of the gods of the Hindus.
Mata Saraswati was born from the Samudra Manthan that arranged between the Devatas and the Asuras. She was born from the sea and was married to Lord Brahma thereafter. In another legend, Brahma created her by his imagination. However, she turned out to be so beautiful that he could not takes his eyes off her. Since he had five heads - four in the four cardinal directions - and one on top, his head kept turning in whichever direction Saraswati went.
Saraswati is mentioned in the Vedas, the Brahmans, the Aranyaks, the Upanishads and the Mahabharat. She is dressed in white, carries a book and a lotus. Her favorite instrument is a lute and she rides a swan. Generally, an image or a statue of Saraswati shows her with four arms. Two arms hold the vina. In other arms she holds a book and a lotus flower.
Holi
Holi is one of the major festivals of Hindus. It is celebrated in South Asian countries, especially in India and Nepal. Hiranyanaksap wanted to kill his son, so he called his sister, Holika. She had a magic robe. This robe had the power to save the wearer from burning in fire. Hiranyakashyap ordered his sister to sit on a burning fire along with Prahlad. He thought that his sister would not be harmed by the fire of the magic robe and Prahlad would be burnt to death. But the result was the opposite to what the evil demon king planned.
Thus Prahlad came out of the burning fire safely and Holika was burnt to death. and holi is the festival of colours.It is celebrated with colors to mark the victory of virtue and goodness over evil.
The festival is celebrated for two days. The 2nd day, Rang Panchami, marks the closing day of the Holi festival.
People are seen with different varieties of colors on Holi. They put colors on each other, sing, dance. They worship Lord Krishna and put colors on his idol.
Families gather together and Parvi the whole day.
Beaminster
Beaminster is a town in Dorset, England. The town has a population of 3,000. Beaminster is known for a nine-day music and art festival called the Beaminster Festival. The festival is held every year.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music which is made with electronic equipment such as synthesizers or computers. Sometimes electronic music artists create special sounds using tape recorders too.