Authoritarism and Orthodoxy The founder of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 (reign motto Hongwu 洪武 "Inundating Martiality"), was a poor man when he joined the Red Turban (Hongjin 紅巾) rebellion in the lower Yangtse region. Similar to the founder of the Han Dynasty, he was very suspicious of the educated courtiers around him and exerted an extremely authoritarian regime ("the tyrant of Nanjing"). This harsh governmental style was partly due to the influence of governmental institutions of the previous Mongol period that were marked by a strong centralization. Zhu Yuanzhang, full of mistrust, took over the whole responsibility of the imperial administration by abolishing crucial ministries and secretaries. To control the highest officials at the court, he installed the so-called Brocade Guards (Jinyiwei 錦衣衛), a kind of secret service staffed with the only kind of people he trusted, namely the eunuchs. During the whole course of Ming Dynasty, there was always prevalent a deep mistrust between the scholarship elite, that occupied the governmental posts in the capital(s) and in the prefectures, and the central government, that was often deeply influenced by some high ranking eunuchs. The authoritarian and centralized politics of the Ming government lead to a status of immovability and orthodoxy. The second emperor of Ming was overthrown by his own uncle, who adopted the reign title Yongle 永樂 "Everlasting Joy", and shifted the capital from Nanjing (Yingtianfu 應天府) to Beijing (Jingshi 京師, Shuntianfu 順天府). The Yongle Emperor's reign was the most flourishing time of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is famous for the influence of the eunuchs on political affairs. Basically trusted with tasks of imperial household affairs, many eunuchs were able to climb up the social ladder and to occupy posts at the court that made them able to influence the ruler and his decisions. The great part of the eunuchs came from poor families of north China, while the scholar-officials that traditionally occupied governmental posts, came from gentry clans in southern China. The problem of the intermingling of the eunuchs into state affairs was not new: The last Han emperor had to get rid of the eunuchs with the help of a military dictator, and the Song Dynasty scholar Ouyang Xiu wrote an essay about the influence of eunuchs during the Five Dynasties. Foreign Politics The Ming armies pushed back the Mongols to their original territories and rushed into Inner Asia to occupy territories that had been Chinese prefectures since the Han Dynasty. Only in the 15th century, the Ming armies suffered a throwback by joined troops of Mongols (Chinese: Menggu 蒙古 or Mengwu 蒙兀), Oirats (Chinese: Wala 瓦剌), and "Tartars" (Chinese: Dada 韃靼). In the Northeast the Ming troops occupied Manchuria, and the Korean kingdom (Chosòn 朝鮮) of the Yi Dynasty 李朝 could be forced to accept the nominal supremacy of the Ming Dynasty. In the south, Ming troops could occupy northern Vietnam for a couple of years, but in 1427 the Lê Dynasty 黎朝 could free Vietnam (Dai Viêt 大越) from Chinese troops. The Ming government and Buddhist institutions had intense relations with the different dukedoms ("daimyats") of Japan. Likewise, Buddhist monks traveled to Tibet and India. The most important demonstration of Ming authority were the expeditions of the 15th century, lead by the eunuch general Zheng He 鄭和 "Sanbao Taijian" 三保太監. Since the Song Dynasty, Chinese open sea junks could reach the coasts of the Southeast Asian archipelago and even Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) and India. The Zheng He expeditions even reached Persia, Arabia and East Africa. The succesful reoccupation of proper China until the end of 14th century was stopped at these traditional frontiers by the restrenghened nomad peoples. The Great Wall (Changcheng 長城) was rebuild and refortified in the mid of 15th century. A further cause for the redrawal of the Ming government from the international stage were the attacks of Japanese pirates (Wokou 倭寇; Japanese: Wako) along the whole east coast. Among these pirates, smugglers and "grey" merchants were also Chinese outlaws and people from Southeast Asia. The problem of piracy was - and is! - notoric for times when an intensive and profitable shipping (trade between China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea) coincides with economic recession and social problems for the lower part of the society. Pirates of the 16th century attacked all important cities of the Chinese eastcost. Only in the 1560es the Chinese government was able to take control over the sea traffic before the eastern coasts. The lesson from these experiences for the Chinese government was a deep mistrust against foreigners and private commerce. The End of Ming - Fiscal and Political Crisis The last half century of the Ming Dynasty is a good example for the competition of scholar-officials and eunuchs at the court. While some righteous officials like Pan Jixun 潘季訓 and Zhang Juzheng 張居正 could stabilize the state expenditures during the Longqing and Wanli eras, the influence of eunuch courtiers like Wei Zhongxian 魏忠賢 on the young and politically weak emperors lead to lavish and uncontrolled expenses. An objective explanation for this fact could be that there did not exist an effective financial control or a kind of independent controlling in the state treasury. The war in Korea with the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 in the 1590es and the miliary actions of the Jürched ruler Nurhaci in the 1620es had a deep impact on the state treasury. Another important item in state expenditures were the personal revenues for the imperial princes, descendants of the first Ming emperor. But the most dangerous event for the Ming Dynasty were the peasant uprising in wide areas of China, lead by Li Zicheng 李自成 in the north and Zhang Xianzhong 張獻忠 in the south. When Li Zicheng occupied the capital Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself. Ming generals like Wu Sangui 吳三桂 collaborated with the nomad people of the Jürched (Chinese: Ruzhen, not Nüzhen! 女真) in Manchuria (Manchus; the name of the area is derived from the people's name, Chinese: Manzhou 滿州) to liberate the capital from the rebels. The Manchus occupied Beijing and founded the Qing Dynasty.

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