introduction: ming china

MING CHINAA WORLD POWERFOURTEEN AND FIFTEENTH CENTURY

OVERVIEW• Ming government and society • Travel and trade• Scientific achievement• China looks inward

“New” Dynasty in China – the Ming

GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY• Ming emperor exercised ABSOLUTE power• Opposition was silenced• Emperor was worshiped as the “Son of God”

The Hongwu Emperor was the founder and first emperor

of the Ming Dynasty of China. Hongwu means

"vastly martial“. Hung-Wu threw the Mongols

out.

One of the two Emperors of ancient China who came from

peasant background, he claimed the Mandate of

Heaven and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368.

The Hongwu Emperor

THE THREE CITIES

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

TRAVEL AND TRADE

•Ming Emperor Yongle sent several government sponsored expeditions in the early 1400s.•Hundreds of ships and thousands of men made diplomatic “contacts” and trade connections from China to East Africa.

Voyages of the Chinese, 1405-1433

ZHENG HE

TRADED IN…

GOT…

An African Giraffe brought back by

the Treasure Ships was taken to be the

auspicious, mythical creature

Gilin.

SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT• MING MAP OF THE WORLD

Time was up for the Ming. Corruption, natural disasters and popular uprisings took their toll on the Ming, but it was the invading Manchu rebellion that did the Ming Empire in.

As the Manchu invaded, someone opened the gates for the marauding rebels.

The Chongzhen Emperor hung himself rather than face them.

The End of the MING

Qing Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty fell in 1644.

The Manchu then formed the last Dynasty of China,

the Qing.

EmperorKangxi

REFERENCES

• robert ponzio, Artist / Teacher at Oak Hall School on Jan 25, 2013

• MING INTRO- Nathan Roher, Working at Friendswood High School