The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by Han Chinese. The primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a secret Buddhist society.
About Ming dynasty in brief
The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by Han Chinese. The primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng. The expansion of European trade – albeit restricted to islands near Guangzhou – spread the Columbian Exchange of crops, plants, and animals into China. The growth of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch trade created new demand for Chinese products and produced a massive influx of Japanese and American silver. This abundance of specie remonetized the Ming economy, whose paper money had suffered repeated hyperinflation and was no longer trusted. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million, but necessary revenues were squeezed out of smaller and smaller numbers of farmers as more disappeared from the official records or donated their lands to tax-exempt eunuchs or temples. The rise of new emperors and new factions diminished such extravagances; the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor during the 1449 Tumu Crisis ended them completely. The imperial navy was allowed to fall into disrepair while forced labor constructed the Liaodong palisade and connected and fortified the Great Wall of China into its modern form. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a secret Buddhist society. With the Yuan dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country. In 1356, Zhu Yuanzhang captured the rebel force of Nanjing, which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming dynasty.
In 1352, he married the foster daughter of a rebel commander and became the leader of the Red TurBans. He was himself defeated shortly afterward by the Manchu-led Eight Banner armies who founded the Qing dynasty. A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the RedTurbans in 1351 and 1352. The White Lotus was a secret society, a Buddhist society with a reputation for fighting for the right of the Han Chinese to the right. It was founded in 1352 by a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Lotus. It soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster son of a Rebel commander and later became the commander of the rebel forces of the Yuan. It began fighting the rebel groups in 1356 and 1351, and in 1354, it captured the city of Nan Jing, which would later become the capital for the Ming Dynasty. The Yuan dynasty died out in 1368 after the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and was replaced by the Ming. The Ming dynasty lasted from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongols’ Yuan dynasty, which ruled until the end of the 13th century. The last Ming emperor, the Hongwu Emperor, died in 1662 and was succeeded by his son, the Yongle Emperor, the Prince of Yan. He established Yan as a secondary capital and renamed it Beijing, constructed the Forbidden City, and restored the Grand Canal and the primacy of the imperial examinations in official appointments.
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This page is based on the article Ming dynasty published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
