Ming Dynasty

The **Ming Deenasty**, kent as the **Empire o the Great Ming** an aw, wis the rulin dynasty o Cheenae for 276 years (1368–1644) followin the collapse o the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, describit bi some as "ane o the greatest eras o orderly govrenment an social stability in human history", wis the last dynasty in Cheenae ruled bi ethnic Han Cheenese. Awtho the primary caipital o Beijing fell in 1644 tae a rebellion led bi Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, suin replaced bi the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes lyal tae the Ming throne  collectively cried the Soothren Ming  survived till 1662.

The Hongwu Emperor (ruled 136898) attemptit tae creaut a society o self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile seestem that wad guarantee an support a permanent cless o soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's staundin airmy exceedit ane million troops an the navy's dockyards in Nanjing wur the lairgest in the warld. He an aa teuk great care breakin the pouer o the coort eunuchs an unrelatit magnates, enfeoffing his mony sons throughoot Cheenae an attemptin tae guide thir princes throu published dynastic instructions. This failed spectacularly whan his teen-aged successor attemptit tae curtail his uncles' pouer, promptin the uprisin that placed the Prince o Yan upon the throne as the Yongle Emperor in 1402. The Yongle Emperor established Yan as a seicontar caipital an renamed it Beijing, constructit the Forbidden Ceety, an restored the Grand Canal an the primacy o the imperial examinations in offeecial appointments. He rewardit his eunuch supporters an employed them as a coonterweicht against the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. Ane, Zheng He, led seiven enormous voyages o exploration intae the Indian Ocean as far as Arabie an the coast o Africae.

The rise o new emperors an new factions diminished sic extravagances; the capture o the Zhengtong Emperor durin the 1449 Tumu Crisis endit them completely. The imperial navy wis allowed tae faw intae disrepair while forced labor constructit the Liaodong palisade an connectit an fortified the Great Waw o Cheenae intae its modren form. Wide-rangin censuses o the entire empire wur conductit decennially, but the desire tae avoid labor an taxes an the difficulty o storin an reviewin the enormous archives at Nanjing hampered accurate figures. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary frae 160 tae 200 million, but necessar revenues wur squeezed oot o smawer an smawer nummers o fairmers as mair disappeared frae the offeecial records or "donatit" thair launds tae tax-exempt eunuchs or temples. *[[Haijin]]* laws intendit tae pertect the coasts frae "Japanese" pirates instead turned mony intae smugglers an pirates themselves.

Bi the 16t century, houiver, the expansion o European tred  albeit restrictit tae islands near Guangzhou lik Macao  spreid the Columbian Exchange o crops, plants, an ainimals intae Cheenae, introducin chili peppers tae Sichuan cuisine an heichly-productive corn an tatties, which diminished faimins an spurred population growthe. The growthe o Portuguese, Spaingie, an Dutch trade creatit new demand for Cheenese products an produced a massive influx o Japanese an American siller. This abundance o specie allowed the Ming tae finally avoid uisin paper money, which haed sparked hyperinflation durin the 1450s. While tradeetional Confucians opposed sic a prominent role for commerce an the newly rich it creatit, the heterodoxy introducit bi Wang Yangming permittit a mair accommodatin attitude. Zhang Juzheng's initially successfu reforms proved devastatin whan a slowdoun in agriculture produced bi the Little Ice Age wis met wi Japanese an Spaingie policies that quickly cut aff the supply o siller nou necessar for fairmers tae be able tae pey thair taxes. Combined wit crop failure, floods, an epidemic, the dynasty wis considered tae hae lost the Mandate o Heaven an collapsed afore the rebel leader Li Zicheng an a Manchurian invasion.

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