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![[New Frontier HQ] Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 1/2](http://web.archive.org./web/20130214013228im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SmTtQpUZKIQ/default.jpg "Date: 2008-12-09 Resolution: HQ Program: New Frontier Series: Chinese Civilization Episode: Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 1/2 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg== Multipart Video ID: a07vrafDaxfz+BhkTb3jNw==")
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Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire (/ækəˈmɛnɪˌdi/; Old Persian: Parsā, name of ruling dynasty: Haxāmanišiya) (c. 550–330 BCE), sometimes known as First Persian Empire, was an Iranian empire in Southwest Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. It expanded to eventually rule over significant portions of the ancient world which at around 500 BCE stretched from the Indus Valley in the east, to Thrace and Macedon on the northeastern border of Greece making it the biggest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenid Empire would eventually control Egypt as well. It was ruled by a series of monarchs who unified its disparate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex network of roads.
Calling themselves the Parsa after their original Aryan tribal name Parsua, Persians settled in a land which they named Parsua, bounded on the west by the Tigris River and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This became their heartland for the duration of the Achaemenid Empire. It was from this region that eventually Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) would advance to defeat the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian Empires, opening the way for subsequent conquests into Egypt and Asia minor.
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Akkadian Empire
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
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Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (German: Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling Kaisertum Österreich) was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918) was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I and broken into separate new states.
The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria-Hungary has also been used.[citation needed]
The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
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Beijing
Beijing (
/beɪˈdʒɪŋ/; Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng, [peɪ˨˩ t͡ɕiŋ˥]), formerly romanized as Peking ( /piːˈkɪŋ/ or /peɪˈkɪŋ/), is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The metropolis, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government, with 14 urban and suburban districts and two rural counties. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast.
Beijing is China's second largest city by urban population after Shanghai and is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's largest state-owned companies. Beijing is a major transportation hub in the national highway, expressway, railway and high-speed rail network. Beijing's Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.
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Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic: خلافة قرطبة; trans. Khilāfat Qurṭuba) ruled the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus) and part of North Africa, from the islamic Qurtuba (Córdoba) city, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Great Mosque of Córdoba. In January 929, Abd-ar-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph (Arabic: خليفة) of Qurtuba in place of his original title Emir of Córdoba (Arabic: أمير قرطبة 'Amīr Qurṭuba). Abd-ar-Rahman III was a member of the Umayyad dynasty; the same dynasty who held the titles of Emir of Córdoba since 756. The rule of the Caliphate is known as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula. The Caliphate was practically disintegrated due to civil war (fitna) between descendants of the last legitimate Caliph Hisham II and the successors of his prime minister (hayib) Al-Mansur. The shell of the Caliphate existed until 1031 when, after years of infighting, it fractured into a number of independent Taifa kingdoms. Despite these fractures, the Islamic civilisation in Iberia, one of the most culturally florid periods of European civilisation, continued until 1492 when its last bastion, the Alhambra in Granada, was formally surrendered to the Christians.
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Chengdu
Coordinates: 30°39′35″N 104°03′48″E / 30.65972°N 104.06333°E / 30.65972; 104.06333
Chengdu (Chinese: 成都; Sichuanese: Cen2du1; pinyin: Chéngdū), formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status. The urban area houses 14,047,625 inhabitants: 7,123,697 within the municipality's nine districts and 6,730,749 in the surrounding region.
Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China. According to the 2007 Public Appraisal for Best Chinese Cities for Investment, Chengdu was chosen as one of the top ten cities to invest in out of a total of 280 urban centers in China. It was recently named China's 4th-most livable city by China Daily.
The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is also known as the "Country of Heaven" (天府之国, Tiānfǔzhiguó), a phrase also often translated as "The Land of Abundance". The discovery of the Jinsha site suggests the area of Chengdu had become the center of the bronze age Sanxingdui culture around the time of the establishment of the state of Shu, prior to its annexation by Qin in 316 BC.
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China
China (
i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire (Dutch: Nederlands-koloniale Rijk) comprised the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing Portuguese and Spanish settlements, and not on discovery and colonization. For this, they were aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain. Alongside the British, the Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state capitalist corporate colonialism, via the Dutch East and West India Companies. Dutch exploratory voyages such as those led by Willem Barents, Henry Hudson and Abel Tasman revealed to Europeans vast new territories.
With Dutch naval power rising rapidly as a major force from the late 16th century, the Netherlands dominated global commerce during the second half of the 17th century during a cultural flowering known as the Dutch Golden Age. The Netherlands lost many of its colonial possessions, as well as its global power status, to the British when the metropole fell to French armies during the Revolutionary Wars. The restored portions of the Dutch Empire, notably the Dutch East Indies and Suriname, remained under Dutch control until the decline of European imperialism following World War II.
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Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden), the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Provinciën) — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Foederatae Belgii Provinciae (Federated Belgic Provinces), and Belgica Foederata (Belgic Federation).
Until the 16th century, the Low Countries – roughly now corresponding to Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg – consisted of a number of duchies, counties and bishoprics, most of which were under the supremacy of the Holy Roman Empire.
Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the Seventeen Provinces under his rule. Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. In 1568 the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War.
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Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II, both members of the House of Braganza—a branch of the Capetian dynasty. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom João VI (John VI), fled from Napoleon I's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. João VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir, Pedro, to rule Brazil as regent.
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Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國; Shinjitai: 大日本帝国; Romaji: Dai Nippon Teikoku; literally Great Imperial State of Japan; officially Great Japan or Empire of Great Japan; commonly as Imperial Japan or the Japanese Empire) was an empire and world power that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947.
Imperial Japan's rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (富国強兵?, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army") led to its emergence as a world power, eventually culminating in its membership in the Axis alliance and the conquest of a large part of the Asia-Pacific region. At the height of its power in 1942, the Japanese Empire ruled over a land area spanning 7,400,000 square kilometres (2,857,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest maritime empires in history.
After several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and the Pacific War, the Empire of Japan also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples of the countries it conquered. After suffering many defeats and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, and a new constitution was created with American involvement. The constitution came into force on 3 May 1947, officially dissolving the Empire. American occupation and reconstruction of the country continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose title is simply that ("the nation of Japan" Nippon-koku) or just "Japan" .
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First French Empire
The First French Empire (French: Empire Français), also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France. It was the dominant power of much of continental Europe during the early 19th century.
Napoleon became Emperor of the French (L'Empereur des Français, pronounced: [ɑ̃.pʁœʁ dɛ fʁɑ̃.sɛ]) on 18 May 1804 and crowned Emperor on 2 December 1804, ending the period of the French Consulate, and won early military victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal, and allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Battle of Friedland (1807). The Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807 ended two years of bloodshed on the European continent.
The subsequent series of wars known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained an extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and could count Prussia and Austria as nominal allies. Early French victories exported many ideological features of the French Revolution throughout Europe. Seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, aristocratic privileges were eliminated in all places except Poland, and the introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems, and legalized divorce. Napoleon placed relatives on the thrones of several European countries and granted many noble titles, most of which were not recognized after the empire fell.
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Forbidden City
Coordinates: 39°54′53″N 116°23′26″E / 39.91472°N 116.39056°E / 39.91472; 116.39056
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.
Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War.
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Fujian
Coordinates: 25°54′N 118°18′E / 25.9°N 118.3°E / 25.9; 118.3
Fujian (help·info) (Chinese: 福建), formerly romanised as Fukien or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jianzhou (a former name for Jian'ou) two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. With a Han majority, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China.
Most of Fujian is administered by the People's Republic of China. However, the archipelagos of Kinmen and Matsu are under the control of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Thus, there are two provinces (in the sense of government organizations): the Fujian Province administered by the People's Republic of China and the Fujian Province of the Republic of China.
Recent archaeological discoveries demonstrate that Fujian had entered the Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. From the Keqiutou site (7450–5590 BP), an early Neolithic site in Pingtan Island located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Fuzhou, numerous tools made of stones, shells, bones, jades, and ceramics (including wheel-made-ceramics) have been unearthed, together with spinning wheels, a definitive evidence of weaving.
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German Empire
The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich) is the common name given to the state officially named the Deutsches Reich (literally: "German Realm"), designating Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.
The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent territories (most of them ruled by royal families). While the Kingdom of Prussia contained most of the population and most of the territory of the Reich; the Prussian leadership became supplanted by German leaders and Prussia itself played a lesser role. As Dwyer (2005) points out, Prussia's "political and cultural influence had diminished considerably" by the 1890s. Its three largest neighbors were rivals Imperial Russia to the east and France to the west and ally Austria-Hungary to the south.
After 1850, Germany industrialized rapidly, with a foundation in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals and railways. From a population of 41 million people in 1871, it grew to 68 million in 1913. From a heavily rural nation in 1815, it was now predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological and scientific giant, receiving more Nobel Prizes in science than Britain, France, Russia and the United States combined.
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Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire (existed before c. 830 until c. 1235) was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE. When Ghana's ruling dynasty began is uncertain, it is first mentioned in documentary sources around 830 CE by Al-Kwarizmi. The domestication of the camel, which preceded Muslims and Islam by several centuries, brought about a gradual change in trade, and for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory trade, and salt resources of the region could be sent north and east to population centers in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe in exchange for manufactured goods.
The Empire grew rich from the trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt. This trade produced an increasing surplus, allowing for larger urban centres. It also encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the lucrative trade routes.
The first written mention of the kingdom comes from Arabic-language sources some time after the conquest of North Africa by Muslims, when geographers began compiling comprehensive accounts of the world known to Islam around 800. The sources for the earlier periods are very strange as to its society, government or culture, though they do describe its location and note its commercial relations. The Cordoban scholar Abu Ubayd al-Bakri collected stories from a number of travelers to the region, and gave a detailed description of the kingdom in 1067/1068 (460 AH). He claimed that the Ghana could "put 200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers" and noted they had cavalry forces as well.
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Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.
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Guangxi
Coordinates: 23°36′N 108°18′E / 23.6°N 108.3°E / 23.6; 108.3
Guangxi (GZAR), formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.
Guangxi's location, in mountainous terrain in the far south of China, has placed it on the frontier of Chinese civilization throughout much of China's history. The current name "Guang" means "expanse" and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. It was given provincial level status during the Yuan Dynasty, but even into the 20th century it was considered an open, wild territory.
The abbreviation of the province is "桂" (Pinyin: Gui; Zhuang: Gvei), which comes from the city of Guilin, the former capital, center of much of Guangxi's culture, politics, and history, and currently a major city in the autonomous region.
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Guizhou
Coordinates: 26°50′N 106°50′E / 26.833°N 106.833°E / 26.833; 106.833
Guizhou (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 贵州; traditional Chinese: 貴州; pinyin: Guìzhōu; Wade–Giles: Kuei-chou; Postal map spelling: Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.
During the Chinese Han Dynasty from about the third to the first centuries BCE, Guizhou was home to the powerful and independent Yelang polity, which covered parts of modern day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
During the 8th and 9th centuries in the Tang Dynasty, Chinese soldiers moved into Guizhou (Kweichow) and married native women, their descendants are known as Lao-han-jen (original Chinese), in contrast to new Chinese who colonized Guizhou at later times. They still speak an archaic dialect. Many immigrants to Guizhou were descended from these soldiers in garrisons who married non Chinese women.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty[citation needed]that it came under heavy Chinese settlement and domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. The Miao revolted several times against Ming during the Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty).
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Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 汉朝; traditional Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn Cháo; Wade–Giles: Han Ch'ao; IPA: [xân tʂʰɑ̌ʊ̯]) (206 BCE – 220 CE) was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE). It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty (9–23 CE) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE) and Eastern Han (25–220 CE). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people" and Chinese characters are referred to as "Han characters".
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Hebei
Coordinates: 39°18′N 116°42′E / 39.3°N 116.7°E / 39.3; 116.7
Hebei (help·info) (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: Héběi; Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "冀" (jì), named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province (zhou) that included what is now southern Hebei. The name Hebei means "north of the river", referring to its location completely above the Yellow River.
In 1928, Hebei was formed after the central government dissolved the province of Chih-li (直隸), which means "Directly Ruled (by the Imperial Court)".
Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities, which border each other, were carved out of Hebei. The province borders Liaoning to the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henan to the south, and Shandong to the southeast. Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea is to the east. A small part of Hebei, an exclave disjointed from the rest of the province, is wedged between the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin.
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Henan
Coordinates: 33°54′N 113°30′E / 33.9°N 113.5°E / 33.9; 113.5
Henan (Chinese: 河南; pinyin: Hénán; Wade–Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" (yù), named after Yuzhou (豫州 Yù Zhōu), a Han Dynasty state (zhou) that included parts of Henan. Although the name of the province (河南) means "south of the river", approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River, also known as the "Huang He".
Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan (中原 zhōngyuán) or Zhongzhou (中州 zhōngzhōu) which literally means "central plains" or "midland", although the name is also applied to the entirety of China proper. Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 5,000 years of history, and remained China's cultural, economical, and political center until approximately 1,000 years ago. Numerous heritages have been left behind including the ruins of Shang Dynasty capital city Yinxu and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou are located in Henan.
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Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (Amharic: የአፍሪካ ቀንድ?, Arabic: القرن الأفريقي, Somali: Geeska Afrika, Tigrinya: ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ?) (alternatively Northeast Africa, and sometimes Somali Peninsula; shortened to HOA) is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent. Referred to in ancient and medieval times as Bilad al Barbar ("Land of the Berbers"), the Horn of Africa denotes the region containing the countries of Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.
It covers approximately 2,000,000 km² (770,000 sq mi) and is inhabited by roughly 100 million people (Ethiopia: 85 million, Somalia: 9.3 million, Eritrea: 5.2 million, and Djibouti: 0.86 million). Regional studies on the Horn of Africa are carried out, among others, in the fields of Ethiopian Studies as well as Somali Studies.
The Horn of Africa is almost equidistant from the equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It consists chiefly of mountains uplifted through the formation of the Great Rift Valley, a fissure in the Earth's crust extending from Turkey to Mozambique and marking the separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. Most of the region is mountainous which arose through faults resulting from the Rift Valley, with the highest peaks in the Semien Mountains of northwestern Ethiopia.[citation needed]
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Huai River
The Huai River (Chinese: 淮河; pinyin: Huái Hé) is a major river in China. The Huai River is located about mid-way between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two largest rivers in China, and like them runs from west to east. However, the Huai River does not flow all the way to the sea, making it notoriously vulnerable to flooding.
The Huai River-Qin Mountains line is generally regarded as the geographical dividing line between North China and South China. This line approximates the 0 degree January isotherm and the 800 mm isohyet in China.
The Huai river has a length of 1,078 kilometers and a drainage area of 174,000 square kilometers.
The Huai River originates in Tongbai Mountain in Henan province. It flows through southern Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, entering the Yangtze River at Jiangdu, Yangzhou.
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Hubei
Hubei (help·info) (Chinese: 湖北; pinyin: Húběi; Wade–Giles: Hu-pei; Postal map spelling: Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting. The provincial capital is Wuhan.
Hubei is officially abbreviated to "鄂" (È), an ancient name associated with the eastern part of the province since the Qin dynasty, while a popular name for Hubei is "楚" (Chǔ), after the powerful state of Chu that existed here during the Eastern Zhou dynasty. It borders Henan to the north, Anhui to the east, Jiangxi to the southeast, Hunan to the south, Chongqing to the west, and Shaanxi to the northwest. The high-profile Three Gorges Dam is located at Yichang, in the west of the province.
By the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), the territory of today's Hubei was part of the powerful state of Chu. Chu was nominally a tributary state of the Zhou Dynasty, and it was itself an extension of the Chinese civilization that had emerged some centuries before in the north; but it was also culturally unique, and was a powerful state that held onto much of the middle and lower Yangtze River, with power extending northwards into the North China Plain.
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Idrisid dynasty
The Idrisids (Arabic: الأدارسة al-Idārisah, Berber: Idrisiyen) were a Zaydi-Shia dynasty of Morocco, ruling from 788 to 985. It was named after its founder Idriss I, the great grandchild of Hasan ibn Ali. Idrisids are traditionally regarded as the founders of the Moroccan state.
The founder of the dynasty was Idris ibn Abdallah (788–791), who traced his ancestry back to Ali ibn Abi Talib and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. After the battle of Fakh, near Mecca, between the Abbasids and a Shiite party, he fled to the Maghreb. He first arrived in Tangier, at that time the most important city of Morocco, and by 788 he had settled in Volubilis.
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India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Italian Empire
The Italian Empire (Italian: Impero Italiano) was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved out large empires over several hundred years. One of the last remaining areas open to colonisation was on the African continent.
By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Italy had annexed Eritrea and Somalia, and had wrested control of portions of the Ottoman Empire, including Libya, though it was defeated in its attempt to conquer Ethiopia. The Fascist government under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini which came to power in 1922 sought to increase the size of the empire further. Ethiopia was successfully taken, four decades after the previous failure, and Italy's European borders were expanded. An official "Italian Empire" was proclaimed on 9 May 1936 following the conquest of Ethiopia. Italy sided with Nazi Germany during World War II and initially enjoyed successes. However, Allied forces eventually captured Italian overseas colonies and by the time Italy itself was invaded in 1943, its empire had all but ceased to exist.
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Japan
Japan
i/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 
Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
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Jiangxi
Jiangxi (help·info) (Chinese: 江西; pinyin: Jiāngxī; Wade–Giles: Chiang-hsi; Postal map spelling: Kiangsi, Gan: Kongsi) is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to the northwest.
The name "Jiangxi" derives from the circuit administrated under the Tang Dynasty in 733, Jiangnanxidao (江南西道, Circuit of Western Jiangnan; Gan: Kongnomsitau). The short name for Jiangxi is 赣 (pinyin: Gàn; Gan: Gōm), for the Gan River which runs across from the south to the north and flows into the Yangtze River. Jiangxi is also alternately called "Gompotaiti" (贛鄱大地) which literally means the "Great Land of Gan and Po".
Jiangxi is centered on the Gan River valley, which historically provided the main north-south transport route of south China. The corridor along the Gan River is one of the few easily traveled routes through the otherwise mountainous and rugged terrain of the south-eastern mountains. This open corridor was the primary route for trade and communication between the North China Plain and the Yangtze River valley in the north and the territory of modern Guangdong province in the south. As a result Jiangxi has been strategically important throughout much of China's history.
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Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen, or the Town of Jingde), is a prefecture-level city, previously a town, in Jiangxi Province, China, with a total population of 1,554,000 (2007). It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing quality pottery for 1700 years. The city has a well-documented history that stretches back over 2000 years. Jingdezhen is one of Chinese Historical and Cultural Cities, and was named one outstanding civilization & health city of Jiangxi Province, one tourist city of China by the end of 2007.
During the Han Dynasty, Jingdezhen was known as Xinpin. Historical records show that it was during time that it began to make porcelain. Xinpin then was renamed Changnanzhen (Changnan Town) during the Northern Song Dynasty. It took the era name of the emperor during whose reign its porcelain production first rose to fame. In 1004 CE, during the North Song Dynasty, Changnanzhen became Jingdezhen.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was named one of four famous towns in Chinese history, along with Foshan (Guangdong Province), Hankou (Hubei Province) and Zhuxianzhen (Henan Province).
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Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, in present-day Cambodia, which was the site of the capital city during the empire's zenith. Angkor bears testimony to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. The empire's official religions included Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, until Theravada Buddhism prevailed, even among the lower classes, after its introduction from Sri Lanka in the 13th century. Modern researches by satellites have revealed Angkor to be the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world.
The history of Angkor as the central area of settlement of the historical kingdom of Kambujadesa is also the history of the Khmer from the 9th to the 13th centuries.
From Kambuja itself — and so also from the Angkor region — no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions. Therefore the current knowledge of the historical Khmer civilization is derived primarily from:
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Kingdom of Dali
Dali or Great Li (simplified Chinese: 大理国; traditional Chinese: 大理國; pinyin: Dàlǐguó) was a Bai kingdom centred in what is now Yunnan Province of China. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was conquered by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali.
The Kingdom of Dali was preceded by the Nanzhao Dynasty, which was overthrown in 902. Three dynasties followed in quick succession, until Duan Siping seized power in 937 and established Dali.Gao Shengtai forced the puppet king Duan Zhengming to abdicate and become a monk in 1095, and renamed the state Dazhong. He returned the power to the Duan family upon his death. Duan Zhengchun renamed the state Hou Li (lit. "Later Li") in the next year.
The 11th king of Nanzhao established Buddhism as the state religion. Ten of the 22 kings of Dali gave up the throne and became monks..
It is claimed that despite their military prowess and superior numbers, the Mongols could not breach the defenses of the Erhai valley, which was so suited to defense that even just a few defenders could hold out for years. It is said that the Mongols found a traitor who led them over the Cangshan mountains along a secret path, and only in this way were they able to penetrate and overrun the Bai defenders. Thus ended three centuries of independence. In 1274 the Province of Yunnan was created, and thus the region has since been incorporated within China as the result of the expansion of the Mongol Empire at the beginning of Yuan China.
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Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning (simplified Chinese: 东宁王国; traditional Chinese: 東寧王國; pinyin: Dōngníng Wángguó) was a government that ruled Taiwan between 1661 and 1683. A pro-Ming Dynasty state, it was founded by Koxinga (also known as Zheng Chenggong) (鄭成功) after the Ming government in mainland China was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty. Koxinga hoped to use the island as a base of operations to train military forces and recapture the mainland from the Manchus.
The Kingdom of Tungning is sometimes known as the Zheng Family Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 郑氏王朝; traditional Chinese: 鄭氏王朝; pinyin: Zhèngshì Wángcháo), Zheng Family Kingdom (simplified Chinese: 郑氏王国; traditional Chinese: 鄭氏王國; pinyin: Zhèngshì Wángguó) or Kingdom of Tungning (simplified Chinese: 延平王国; traditional Chinese: 延平王國; pinyin: Yánpíng Wángguó). Taiwan was referred to by Koxinga as Tungtu (simplified Chinese: 东都; traditional Chinese: 東都; pinyin: Dōngdū). In the West, it was known as the Kingdom of Taiwan, and the period of rule is sometimes referred to as the Koxinga Dynasty.
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Korean Empire
The Korean Empire (Hangul: 대한제국; Hanja: 大韓帝國; Daehan Jeguk; literally Great Korean Empire) is the name of the state of Korea that existed from the Proclamation of the Korean Empire in October 1897 to the Annexation of Korea by Japan on August 20, 1910. It succeeded the Joseon Dynasty.
In October 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, land system, education system, and various industries. Japan became terrified by the speed of the modernisation the Korean Empire was having and decided to speed up its plans for annexation. This was further speeded by the assassination of Ito Hirobumi. On August 22, 1910, Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan, which defeated the Russian Empire in 1905.
The Sino-Japanese War marked the rapid decline of any power the Joseon Dynasty of Korea had managed to hold against foreign interference, as the battles of the conflict itself had been fought on Korean soil and the surrounding seas. With its newfound preeminence over the waning and weak Qing Dynasty, Japan had delegates negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki with the Qing emissaries, through which Japan wrested control over the Liaodong Peninsula from the Qing (a move designed to prevent the southern expansion of Japan's new rival, Russia), and, more importantly over Korea. However, Russia recognized this agreement as an act against its interests in northeastern China and eventually brought France and Germany to its side in saying that the Liaodong Peninsula should be repatriated to the Qing China.
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Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 辽朝; traditional Chinese: 遼朝; pinyin: Liáo Cháo; Khitan language: Mos Jælut), also known as the Khitan Empire (simplified Chinese: 契丹国; traditional Chinese: 契丹國; pinyin: Qìdān Guó; Khitan: Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur), was an empire in East Asia that ruled over Mongolia and portions of Kazakhstan, the Russian Far East, and northern China proper between 907–1125. It was founded by the Khitan Great Khan Abaoji around the time of the collapse of the Han Chinese Tang Dynasty.
The Liao Empire was destroyed by the Jurchen of the Jin Dynasty in 1125. However, remnants of its people, led by Yelü Dashi, established Western Liao Dynasty, also known as Kara-Khitan Khanate, which ruled over parts of Central Asia for almost a century before being conquered by Genghis Khan's Mongolian army.
The Khitan were a Mongolic tribe who originally formed a part of Tanshihuai's Xianbei state before submitting along with the Kumo Xi to the Yuwen chieftains after the state's disintegration. They considered themselves descendants of the legendary Qishou Khagan, who was descended from Tanshihuai (reigned 157–181). The Kumo Xi and Khitan separated as one body from the Yuwen after the Yuwen were defeated by Murong Huang of the Murong tribe in 344. In 388 the Khitan separated from the Kumo Xi. This began the written history of the Khitan as an independent tribe. In the period of Zhenjun (r. 440–449) they 'asked for paying tribute' (any presentation of gifts by foreigners were seen as submissive 'tribute') and presented famous steeds to the court of the Northern Wei. In the Xianzu period (466–470) Mofuhe Hechen of the Khitan leading the eight Khitan tribes (Xiwandan, Hedahe, Fufuyu, Yuling, Rilian, Pijie, Li and Tuliuyu) presented famous steeds and high quality fur to the Northern Wei at their capital Datong and the Khitan were 'allowed' to trade in the area of modern-day Miyun County of Beijing City.
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Luoyang
Luoyang (simplified Chinese: 洛阳; traditional Chinese: 洛陽; pinyin: Luòyáng; Postal map spelling: Loyang; IPA: [lwɔ̂jɑ̌ŋ]) is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.
Situated on the central plain of China, one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization, Luoyang was one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.
The origin of the name "Luoyang" is the city's location to the north side ("yang") of the Luo River. The river flows from west to east and the sun is on south of the river, so that the sun shine is always on north side of the river. Luoyang has had several names over the centuries, including "Luoyi" (洛邑) and "Luozhou (洛州)", though Luoyang has been its primary name. It has been called, during various periods, "Dongdu" (东都, meaning the Eastern Capital, during the Tang Dynasty), "Xijing" (西京, meaning the West Capital, during the Song Dynasty), or "Jingluo" (京洛, meaning the general capital for China).
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Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
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Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.
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Mount Lu
Mount Lu (simplified Chinese: 庐山; traditional Chinese: 廬山; pinyin: Lúshān, Gan: Lu-san), also known as "Kuanglu" (匡庐) in ancient times, is situated in the northern part of Jiangxi (江西) province in southeastern China, and is one of the most renowned mountains in the country. The oval-shaped mountains are about 25 km long and 10 km wide, and neighbors Jiujiang city (九江市) and Yangtze River (长江) to the north, Nanchang city (南昌) to the south, and Poyang Lake (鄱阳湖) to the east. Its highest point is Dahanyang Peak (大汉阳峰), reaching 1,474 m above sea level, and is one of the hundreds of steep peaks that towers above a sea of clouds that encompass the mountains for almost 200 days out of the year. Mount Lu is known for its grandeur, steepness, and beauty, and is part of Lushan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, and a prominent tourist attraction, especially during the summer months when the weather is cooler.
Popular attractions in Mount Lu include the Immortal Caverns (仙人洞), Meilu Outhouse (美庐别墅), Five Old Man Peaks (五老峰), White Deer Cavern Academy (白鹿洞书院), Three Tiled Springs (三叠泉), Luling Lake (芦林湖), Lushan Hot Springs (庐山温泉), Botanical Gardens (植物园), the Bamboo Temple (竹山寺), Guanyin Bridge (观音桥), Peach Blossom Garden (桃花源), and many more.
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Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire, Shahan-e-Gurkhani, Shahan-e-Mughal, Sultanate-e-Mughliya, Daulat-e-Mughliya (Persian: شاهان گورکانی Shāhān-e Gūrkānī; Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت; self-designation: گوركانى Gūrkānī ), or Mogul (also Moghul) Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were direct descendants of Genghis Khan through Chagatai Khan and Timur. The Mughal Empire began in 1526; at the height of their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent—extending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south. According to "Babur-Nama", Kazakh tribal aristocracy along with number of other Turkic soldiers participated actively in the campaign of Babur, which made great influence over the development of Mughal Empire. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million, over a territory of more than 3.2 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles).
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Nanjing
Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng; Wade–Giles: Nan-ching) is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions. Its present name means "Southern Capital" and was widely romanized as Nankin and Nanking until the Pinyin language reform, after which Nanjing was gradually adopted as the standard spelling of the city's name in most languages that use the Roman alphabet.
Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has long been one of China's most important cities. It is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. It was the capital of Sun Quan's Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period and the capital of the Republic of China prior to its flight to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Nanjing has long been a national center of education, research, transport networks, and tourism. The city will host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
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Nanjing Museum
The Nanjing Museum (Chinese: 南京博物院; pinyin: Nánjīng Bówùyuán) is located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. With an area of 70,000 square metres (17 acres), it is one of the largest museums in China.
The Nanjing Museum was one of the first museums established in China. The predecessor of the Nanjing Museum was the preparatory department of the National Central Museum, which established in 1933. The museum took over 12.9 hectares (32 acres) in the Half Hill Garden of Zhongshan Gate. Cai Yuanpei, the first president of the council of the museum, proposed building three major halls, named "Humanity," "Craft" and "Nature". Because of China's political instability in the 1930s, only the Humanity Hall was built. Part of the museum's collection was relocated to Taiwan by the Kuomintang in 1949 and is now part of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
The main building was designed by Liang Sicheng in the 1930s combining Chinese and Western architectural styles. The front section is structure of traditional style and features a golden tiled roof. In the back is a Western-style flat-roof structure. Added in the 1990s to the west of the main building is an art hall which references Chinese architecture of the first half of the 20th century.
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Nazi Germany
The Third Reich, also Nazi Germany, is the common name for Germany when it was a totalitarian state ruled by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). On 30 January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany, quickly eliminating all opposition to rule as sole leader. The state idolized Hitler as its Führer ("leader"), centralizing all power in his hands. Historians have emphasized the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Kessel writes, "Overwhelmingly...Germans speak with mystification of Hitler's 'hypnotic' appeal..." Under the "leader principle", the Führer's word was above all other laws. Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power and curry favor with the Führer. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazi government restored prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of the Autobahns. The return to prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity; the suppression of all opposition made Hitler's rule mostly unchallenged.
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Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.
At 165.2 million square kilometres (64.1 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,797 ft).
The eastern Pacific Ocean was first sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century. Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and named it Mar del Sur (South Sea). The ocean's current name was given by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation in 1521, who encountered favourable winds as he reached the ocean and called it Mar Pacifico in Portuguese, meaning "peaceful sea".
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Parthian Empire
The Parthian (pronounced /ˈpɑrθiən/) Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid (/ˈɑrsəsɪd/) Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171–138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions. The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps. The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
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Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire (Portuguese: Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire (Ultramar Português) or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (Império Colonial Português), was the first global empire in history. In addition, it was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999 or the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now part of 53 different sovereign states.
Portuguese sailors began exploring the coast of Africa in 1419, using recent developments in navigation, cartography and maritime technology such as the caravel, in order that they might find a sea route to the source of the lucrative spice trade. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India. In 1500, either by an accidental landfall or by the crown's secret design, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on the South American coast. Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishing forts and factories as they went. By 1571, a string of outposts connected Lisbon to Nagasaki along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia. This commercial network brought great wealth to Portugal.
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Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.
The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in contemporary Northeastern China. The Aisin Gioro leader, Nurhachi, who was originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, began unifying the Jurchen clans in the late sixteenth century. By 1635, Nurhachi's son Hong Taiji could claim they constituted a single and united Manchu people and began forcing the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria. In 1644, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt, who then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell. When Li Zicheng moved against Ming general Wu Sangui, the latter made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchurian army. Under Prince Dorgon, they seized control of Beijing and overthrew Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun Dynasty. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.
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Qinghai
Coordinates: 36°00′N 96°00′E / 36°N 96°E / 36; 96
Qinghai ( listen (help·info)) (Chinese: 青海; pinyin: Qīnghǎi; Wade–Giles: Ching Hai, pronounced [tɕʰíŋxàɪ̯]); Oirat Mongolian: Көкнуур (transcribed into Cyrillic); Tibetan: མཚོ་སྔོན་; Salar:[citation needed]) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake. It borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest.
A large part of Qinghai's area, until the early 20th century most often referred to by its Mongol name Kokonur in English, lies outside of China proper and has been an ethnic melting pot for centuries, mixing Tibetan, Han Chinese, Mongol, and Turkic influences. The eastern part of the area of Qinghai was under the control of the Han Dynasty about 2000 years ago. It was a battleground during the Tang and subsequent Chinese dynasties when they fought against successive Tibetan tribes.
In the middle of 3rd century CE, nomadic people related to Xianbei migrated to pasture lands around Koko Nur (Qinghai Lake) and established Tuyuhun Kingdom. Since the 7th century, Tuyuhun Kingdom was attacked by both the Tibetan Empire and Tang Dynasty as both of them sought control over trade routes. Military conflicts severely weakened the kingdom and it was incorporated into the Tibetan Empire. After the disintegration of the Tibetan Empire, small local factions emerged. They were under titular authority of China and Tibet but maintained their autonomy. During the period of Mongol Yuan Dynasty's administrative rule of Tibet, majority of Qinghai belonged to one of the three commandaries of the Tibetan region divided at that time, namely Amdo (Tibetan: ཨ༌མདོ; Chinese: 安多; pinyin: Ānduō).
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Russian Empire
The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian orthography: Россійская Имперія, Modern Russian: Российская Империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the short-lived Russian Republic, which was succeeded by the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest empires in world history, surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires: at one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe across Asia and into North America.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean and into North America on the east. With 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third largest population of the world at the time, after Qing China and the British Empire. Like all empires, it represented a large disparity in economic, ethnic and religious positions. Its government, ruled by the Emperor, was the last absolute monarchy in Europe at the time of its demise.
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Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (Persian: سلسلهٔ صفويان; Azerbaijani: صفویلر) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in Muslim history. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736) and at their height, they controlled all of modern Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan and Republic of Armenia, most of Iraq, Georgia, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "gunpowder empires", along with its neighbours, the Ottoman and Mughal empires.
The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. It was of mixed ancestry (Azerbaijani,Kurdish and Turkmen, which included intermarriages with Georgian and Pontic Greek dignitaries). From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over all of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sassanid Empire to establish a unified Iranian state.
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Second French Empire
The Second French Empire (French: Le Second Empire Français) was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.
Although the machinery of government was almost the same under the Second Empire as it had been under the First, its founding principles were different. The function of the Empire, as Emperor Napoleon III often repeated, was to guide the people internally towards justice and externally towards perpetual peace. Holding his power by universal male suffrage, and having frequently, from his prison or in exile, reproached previous oligarchical governments with neglecting social questions, he set out to solve them by organising a system of government based on the principles of the "Napoleonic Idea", i.e. of the emperor, the elect of the people as the representative of the democracy, and as such supreme; and of himself, the representative of the great Napoleon I of France, "who had sprung armed from the French Revolution like Minerva from the head of Jove", as the guardian of the social gains of the revolutionary period.
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Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the largest city proper by population in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities of the PRC, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010. It is a global city, with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport. It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.
Located in the Yangtze River Delta in eastern China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the middle portion of the Chinese coast. The municipality borders Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces to the west, and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea.
Once a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to European recognition of its favorable port location and economic potential. The city was one of several opened to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the first opium war and the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking which allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became the undisputed financial hub of the Asia Pacific in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, the city's international influence declined. In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city.
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Shanhai Pass
Coordinates: 40°00′33.71″N 119°45′14.92″E / 40.0093639°N 119.7541444°E / 40.0093639; 119.7541444
Shanhai Pass (simplified Chinese: 山海关; traditional Chinese: 山海關; pinyin: Shānhǎi Guān) or Shanhaiguan, Shan-hai-kuan or Shan-hai-kwan, also known as Yu Pass (榆關), along with Jiayu Pass and Juyong Pass, is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China It is located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei. In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site.
It is a popular tourist destination, featuring the eastern end of the main line of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. The "First Pass Under Heaven" is also a noticeable tourist attraction. The place where the wall itself meets the Pacific Ocean (at the Bohai Sea) has been nicknamed the "Old Dragon's Head."
It is nearly 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Beijing and linked via the Jingshen Expressway that runs northeastward to Shenyang.
Throughout Chinese history, it served as a frontier of defense against tribes from Manchuria (e.g. the Khitan, Jurchen and the Manchus).
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Shanhaiguan District
Shanhaiguan District (simplified Chinese: 山海关区; traditional Chinese: 山海關區; pinyin: Shānhǎiguān Qū), formerly Shan-hai-kwan or Shan-hai-kuan, is a district of the city of Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, People's Republic of China, named after the pass of the Great Wall within the district, Shanhai Pass. It is located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the city centre.
There are 5 subdistricts, 3 towns, and 1 township in the district.
Subdistricts:
Towns:
The only township is Bohai Township (渤海乡).
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Shenyang
Shenyang (Chinese: 沈阳; pinyin: Shěnyáng; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂən˧˩jɑŋ˧˥]), or Mukden (
in Manchu), is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing (盛京) or Fengtian Fu (奉天府). Shenyang was first used by the Manchu people as their capital in the 17th century and is today the biggest city in the Northeast.
Along with its nearby cities, Shenyang is an important industrial centre in China, and serves as the transportation and commercial hub of China's northeast–particularly with Japan, Russia, and Korea. A titan of heavy industry since the 1930s, the city has been diversifying its industry and now has a solid industrial foundation, a good land and air transport network, abundant natural resources, and a skilled workforce. Investment subsidies are granted to multinational corporations (MNCs) that set up offices or headquarters in Shenyang.
The sub-provincial city region includes the metropolitan area of Shenyang proper, Xinmin county-level city, and three counties.
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Shun Dynasty
The Shun Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 顺朝; traditional Chinese: 順朝; pinyin: Shùn cháo) was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King (王), not Emperor (皇帝). The capture of Beijing by the Shun forces in April 1644 marked the end of the Ming dynasty, but Li Zicheng failed to solidify his mandate: in late May 1644, he was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu prince Dorgon. When he fled back to Beijing in early June, Li finally proclaimed himself Emperor of China and left the capital in a hurry. The Shun dynasty ended with Li's death in 1645.
After the Shun Dynasty was created, Li Zicheng ordered the soldiers to kill the Ming remnants still existing in Beijing. This resulted in strong rebellions from the forces of Southern Ming. In addition with the Shun ministers constantly fighting for power, the dynasty effectively lasted less than a year.
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Sichuan
Coordinates: 30°N 103°E / 30°N 103°E / 30; 103
Sichuan (help·info) (Chinese: 四川, known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan) is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu. The current name of the province, "四川", is an abbreviation of "四川路" (Sì Chuānlù), or "Four circuits of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from "川峡四路" (Chuānxiá Sìlù), or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the existing circuit into four during the Northern Song Dynasty.
The province and its vicinity were the cradle of unique local civilizations, which can be dated back to at least the fifteenth century BC (coinciding with the later years of the Shang Dynasty). Beginning from the ninth century BC, Shu (today Chengdu) and Ba (today Chongqing City) emerged as cultural and administrative centers where two rival kingdoms were established.
Shu's existence was unknown until an archaeological discovery in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui (三星堆) in Guanghan County. It is believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, where excavations have yielded invaluable archaeological information.
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Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
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Taiwan
Taiwan (i/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country, and New Taipei is the most populous city.
The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
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Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
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Tumu Crisis
Coordinates: 40°23′N 115°36′E / 40.383°N 115.6°E / 40.383; 115.6
The Tumu Crisis (Mongolian: Тумугийн тулалдаан) (simplified Chinese: 土木之变; traditional Chinese: 土木之變; pinyin: Tŭmù zhī Bìan); also called the Crisis of Tumu Fortress (simplified Chinese: 土木堡之变; traditional Chinese: 土木堡之變; pinyin: Tǔmùbǎo zhī Biàn) or Battle of Tumu (Chinese: 土木之役; pinyin: Tǔmù zhī Yì), was a frontier conflict between the Oirat Mongols and the Chinese Ming Dynasty which led to the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor on September 1, 1449, and the defeat of an army of 500,000 men by a much smaller force. This outcome was largely due to the Chinese army's remarkably bad deployment. The Ming expedition is regarded as the greatest military debacle of the dynasty.
In July 1449 Esen Tayisi (Chinese: 也先台吉) of the Oirat Mongols launched a large-scale, three-pronged invasion of China with his puppet khagan Toqtaq-Buqa. He personally advanced on Datong (in northern Shanxi province) in August. The eunuch official Wang Zhen, who dominated the Ming court, encouraged the 22-year-old Zhengtong Emperor to lead his own armies into battle against Esen. The size of Esen's army is unknown but a best guess puts it at some 20,000 men. The Ming army of about 500,000 was hastily assembled; its command was made up of 20 experienced generals and a large entourage of high-ranking civil officials, with Wang Zhen acting as field marshal.
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Warsangali Sultanate
The Warsangali Sultanate (Somali: Saldanadda Warsangeli, Arabic: سلطنة الورسنجلي) was a Somali imperial ruling house centered in northeastern and in some parts of southeastern Somalia. It was one of the largest sultanates ever established in the territory, and, at the height of its power, included the Sanaag region and parts of the northeastern Bari region of the country, an area historically known as Maakhir or the Maakhir Coast. The Sultanate was founded in the late 13th century in northern Somalia by a group of Somalis from the Warsangali branch of the Darod clan, and was ruled by the descendants of the Gerad Dhidhin. In the late 19th century, the influential Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire governed the Sultanate, assuming control during some of its most turbulent years. The Akil Dhahar ruled south of Sanaag and some portions of the Bari region. In 1884, the United Kingdom established the protectorate of British Somaliland through various treaties with the northern Somali sultanates, including the Warsangali Sultanate.
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Western Xia
The Western Xia Dynasty (Chinese: 西夏; pinyin: Xī Xià; Wade-Giles: Hsi Hsia; literally "Western Xia") or the Tangut Empire, was known to the Tanguts and the Tibetans as Minyak.
The state existed from 1038 to 1227 AD in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and southernmost Outer Mongolia, measuring about eight hundred thousand square kilometers. The state suffered from devastating destruction by the Mongols who founded Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), including most of its written records and architecture. Its founders and history therefore remained controversial until recent research conducted both in the West and within China. They occupied the area of important trade route between North China and Central Asia, the Hexi Corridor. The Western Xia made significant achievements in literature, art, music, and architecture, which was characterized as "shining and sparkling". Their extensive stance among the other empires of the Liao, Song, and Jin was attributable to their effective military organizations that integrated cavalry, chariots, archery, shields, artillery (cannons carried on the back of camels), and amphibious troops for combats on land and water.
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Xin Dynasty
The Xin Dynasty (Chinese: 新朝; pinyin: Xīn Cháo; Wade–Giles: Hsin Ch'ao; literally "New Dynasty") was a Chinese dynasty (although strictly speaking it had only one emperor) which lasted from AD 9 to 23. It followed the Western Han Dynasty and preceded the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The sole emperor of the Xin Dynasty, Wang Mang (王莽), was the nephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun. After the death of her step-grandson Emperor Ai in 1 BC, Wang Mang rose to power. After several years of cultivating a personality cult, he finally proclaimed himself emperor in AD 9. However, while a creative scholar and politician, he was an incompetent ruler, and his capital Chang'an was besieged by peasant rebels in AD 23. He died in the siege, and the Han Dynasty was restored by descendants of the former imperial clan.
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Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly spelled Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China after the Yangtze and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi). Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River basin has an east-west extent of 1900 km (1,180 mi) and a north-south extent of 1100 km (684 mi). Its total basin area is 742,443 km² (290,520 mi²).
The Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization" as its basin – specifically, the Wei valley that cuts across the long Ordos loop – was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilizations and the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. However, frequent devastating floods and course changes produced by the continual elevation of the river bed, sometimes above the level of its surrounding fields has also earned it the unenviable names "China's Sorrow" and "Scourge of the Sons of Han."
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Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝, p Yuán Cháo; Mongolian: Их Юань улс) was the branch of Mongol Borjigin dynasty established by Kublai Khan. Although the Mongols had ruled northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm – the Great Yuan Empire (t 大元帝國, s 大元帝国, p Dà Yuán Dìguó) – was by this point isolated from the other khanates and controlled only most of present-day China and its surrounding areas including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its remnants in Mongolia were known as the Northern Yuan.
The Yuan is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as an imperial Chinese dynasty. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
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Yuan dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝, p Yuán Cháo; Mongolian: Их Юань улс) was the branch of Mongol Borjigin dynasty established by Kublai Khan. Although the Mongols had ruled northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm – the Great Yuan Empire (t 大元帝國, s 大元帝国, p Dà Yuán Dìguó) – was by this point isolated from the other khanates and controlled only most of present-day China and its surrounding areas including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its remnants in Mongolia were known as the Northern Yuan.
The Yuan is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as an imperial Chinese dynasty. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
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Yunnan
Coordinates: 24°30′N 101°30′E / 24.5°N 101.5°E / 24.5; 101.5
Yunnan (simplified Chinese: 云南; traditional Chinese: 雲南; pinyin: Yúnnán; IPA: [y̌nnǎn] (
listen)) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers (152,000 sq mi) and with a population of 45.7 million (2009). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.
Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the population lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the relative height from mountain peaks to river valleys can be as much as 3,000 m.[citation needed] Yunnan is rich in natural resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of higher plants in China, Yunnan has perhaps 17,000 or more.[citation needed] Yunnan's reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, and there are also major reserves of copper and nickel.[citation needed] Yunnan has over 600 rivers and lakes, which provide an annual water supply of 222 billion cubic meters.[citation needed] Projected hydropower reserves stand at 103 GW, with an exploitable capacity of 90 GW.[citation needed]
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Zhejiang
Coordinates: 29°12′N 120°30′E / 29.2°N 120.5°E / 29.2; 120.5
Zhejiang (Chinese: 浙江; pinyin: Zhèjiāng; Wade–Giles: Che-chiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang (crooked river) was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital. The name of the province is often abbreviated to its first character, "浙".
Zhejiang borders Jiangsu province and Shanghai municipality to the north, Anhui province to the northwest, Jiangxi province to the west, and Fujian province to the south; to the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lie the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.
The area of modern Zhejiang was outside the major sphere of influence of early Chinese civilization during the Shang Dynasty (sixteenth century to eleventh century BC). Instead, this area was populated by peoples collectively known as the Yue, such as the Dongyue and the Ouyue. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Yue emerged in northern Zhejiang. The Yue state was heavily influenced by the Chinese civilization further north. Under King Goujian of Yue, Yue reached its zenith and was able to wipe out the powerful state of Wu to its immediate north, in 473 BC. Then, in 333 BC, Yue was in turn conquered by the state of Chu, which was to the west. In 221 BC, the state of Qin completed the conquest of the last of the formerly independent states of China, including the state of Chu. This conquest made what is now Zhejiang part of a unified Chinese empire.
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Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) (April 14, 1527 – June 28, 1598) was a Flemish cartographer and geographer, generally recognised as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World). He is also believed to be the first person to imagine that the continents were joined together before drifting to their present positions.
Ortelius was born in the city of Antwerp, which was then in the Habsburg ruled Seventeen Provinces. The Orthellius family were originally from Augsburg, a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1535, the family, had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism. Following the death of Ortelius' father, his uncle Jacobus van Meteren returned from religious exile in England to take care of Ortelius. Abraham remained close to his cousin Emanuel van Meteren who would later move to London. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy.
He traveled extensively in Europe. He is specifically known to have traveled throughout the Seventeen Provinces; in southern, western, northern, and eastern Germany (e.g., 1560, 1575–1576); France (1559–1560); England and Ireland (1576), and Italy (1578, and perhaps twice or thrice between 1550 and 1558).[citation needed]
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Almohad Caliphate
The Almohad Dynasty (Berber: Imweḥḥden, from Arabic الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun, "the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a MoroccanBerber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
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Buyid dynasty
The Buyid dynasty, also known as the Buyid Empire or the Buyids (Persian: آل بویه Āl-e Buye), also known as Buwaihids, Buyahids, or Buyyids, were a Shī‘ah Iranian dynasty that originated from Daylaman in Gilan. They founded a confederation that controlled most of modern-day Iran and Iraq in the 10th and 11th centuries.
The founders of the Būyid confederation were ‘Alī ibn Būyah and his two younger brothers, al-Hassan and Aḥmad. Originally a soldier in the service of the Ziyārīds of Ṭabaristān, ‘Alī was able to recruit an army to defeat a Turkish general from Baghdad named Yaqut in 934. Over the next nine years the three brothers gained control of the remainder of the 'Abbāsid Caliphate. While they accepted the titular authority of the caliph in Baghdad, the Būyid rulers assumed effective control of the state.
The first several decades of the Būyid confederation were characterized by large territorial gains. In addition to Fars and Jibal, which were conquered in the 930s, and central Iraq, which submitted in 945, the Būyids took Kermān (967), Oman (967), the Jazīra (979), Ṭabaristān (980), and Gorgan (981). After this, however, the Būyids went into a slow decline, with pieces of the confederation gradually breaking off and local dynasties under their rule becoming de facto independent.
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Chen Hongshou
This is a Chinese name; the family name is 陈 (Chen)
Chen Hongshou (simplified Chinese: 陈洪绶; traditional Chinese: 陳洪綬; pinyin: Chén Hóngshòu; Wade–Giles: Ch'en Hung-shou); 1598-1652) was a Chinese painter of late Ming Dynasty.
A native of Zhuji, ZheJiang province, was a painter of the Ming dynasty. His style name was Zhanghou (章侯). His pseudonyms were Laolian (老莲), Fuchi (弗迟), Yunmenseng (云门僧), Huichi (悔迟), Chiheshang (迟和尚) and Huiseng (悔僧). He once trained under Lan Ying, and was skilled in painting peculiar human figures, landscapes, flower-and-bird. He utilized plump, profound brushwork and precise color, creating a unique style. He always painted illustrations and made tapestry portraits.His two masterpieces," Shui Hu Ye Zi" (水浒叶子) and "Bo Gu Ye Zi", were the rare examples among the Ming and the Qing dynasties. He was very famous at that time, called "Chen in South and Cui in North", together with Cui Zizhong. He also was skilled in calligraphy,poetry and prose.
His works are kept in museums and galleries all over the world including these in the United States:
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Chen Youliang
Chen Youliang (1320 – August 23, 1363) was the founder of the insurgent state of Dahan (大漢; literally: "Great Han") in the late Yuan Dynasty period of Chinese history.
Chen was born with the surname Xie (謝) to a fishing family in Mianyang (沔陽; in present-day Hubei). He once served as a district official before becoming a general under Ni Wenjun during the Red Turban Rebellion. Chen later killed Ni Wenjun on the excuse that Ni planned to assassinate Xu Shouhui, the Red Turban rebels' leader. Chen later turned on Xu Shouhui and killed him.
In 1357, Chen proclaimed himself "King of Han" in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi), and emperor the next year after Xu Shouhui died. His era name, as well as his empire's name, was "Dahan" (大漢; literally "Great Han"). For 1359 to 1363 Chen's fleet was the strongest on the upper Yangtze River. His power was at least as great as that of another rebel state, Wu, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty.
In 1360 the Dahan fleet and army began a long war against Wu forces - based at that time in Jiqing (present-day Nanjing) and was later renamed "Ming" in 1368. An attack on the Wu capital was defeated thanks to excellent Wu intelligence (likely due to the defection of part of the Dahan fleet earlier in the year). The war continued till the climactic Battle of Lake Poyang where the Wu fleet narrowly defeated the larger fleet of Dahan after three days of fighting.
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Chenghua Emperor
The Chenghua Emperor (pronounced [tʂʰɤ̌ŋxwâ]; December 9, 1447 – September 9, 1487) was the second Emperor in the middle Ming dynasty in China, between 1464 and 1487. His era name means "Accomplished change".
Born Zhu Jianshen, he was the Zhengtong Emperor's son. He was only 2 years old when his father, the Zhengtong emperor, was captured by the Oirat Mongols and held captive in 1449. After that his uncle, the Jingtai Emperor took over whilst his father was put under house arrest for almost 7 years. During this time, Chenghua lived under his uncle's shadow and even had his title of crown prince removed while Jingtai installed his own son as heir. Chenghua was only reinstated as crown prince on the eve of the death of Emperor Jingtai in 1457.
Chenghua ascended the throne at the age of 16. During the early part of his administration, Chenghua carried out new government policies to reduce tax and strengthen the dynasty. However these did not last and by the closing years of his reign, governmental affairs once again fell into the hands of eunuchs, notably Wang Zhi. Peasant uprisings occurred throughout the country; however, they were violently suppressed. Chenghua's reign was also more autocratic than his predecessors' and freedom was sharply curtailed when Chenghua established institutes such as the Xi Chang (to complement the existing Dong Chang), monitoring all civilians' actions and words. This institute, not unlike a spy agency, would administer punishment to those whom they suspected of treason. The Xi Chang would eventually be shut down but it was the start of a dangerous trend and Chenghua's descendants would again revive the Xi Chang during the 16th century.
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Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor (simplified Chinese: 崇祯; traditional Chinese: 崇禎; pinyin: Chóngzhēn; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-chen/old spelling: Ch'ung-cheng) (February 6, 1611 - April 25, 1644) was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".
Born Zhu Youjian (朱由檢), Chongzhen was the fifth son of Zhu Changluo, the Taichang Emperor. His mother Lady Liu was a humble concubine of the Taichang Emperor. When he was four years old, she was killed by Zhu Changluo in his anger and anxiety, reason kept unknown. She was buried secretly, and Zhu Youjian was adopted by Consort Kang, some years later transferred to Consort Zhuang, as Consort Kang gave birth to another princess and adopted Zhu Youxiao as well.
As such, he grew up in a relatively lonely but quiet environment, since most of the younger sons were left out of the power struggle that their elder brother the Tianqi Emperor had to endure. Chongzhen succeeded his brother to the throne at age 17[clarification needed] and immediately eliminated the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madame Ke, who had become de facto rulers of the empire.
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Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a dramatically widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, and ideas between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. The contact between the two areas circulated a wide variety of new crops and livestock which supported increases in population in both hemispheres. Explorers returned to Europe with maize, potatoes, and tomatoes, which became very important crops in Eurasia by the 18th century. Similarly, Europeans introduced manioc and the peanut to tropical Southeast Asia and West Africa, where they flourished and supported growth in populations on soils that otherwise would not produce large yields.
In the biological and ecological exchange that took place following Spanish establishment of colonies in New World, people of Europe and Africa settled in the New World, and animals, plants and diseases of Eurasia and the Western Hemisphere were introduced to each area in an interchange.
This exchange of plants and animals transformed European, American, African, and Asian ways of life. New foods became staples of human diets, and new growing regions opened up for crops. For example, before AD 1000, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so dependent on the potato that a diseased crop led to the devastating Irish Potato Famine. Since being introduced by 16th-century Portuguese traders, who brought them from the Americas,maize and manioc replaced traditional African crops as the continent’s most important staple food crops. New staple crops that were introduced to Asia from the Americas via Spanish colonizers in the 16th century, including maize and sweet potatoes, contributed to the population growth in Asia.
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Confucius
Confucius (551–479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history.
The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, and sincerity. His followers competed successfully with many other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought era only to be suppressed in favor of the Legalists during the Qin Dynasty. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism.
Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many of the Chinese classic texts including all of the Five Classics, but modern scholars are cautious of attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but only many years after his death.
Confucius's principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their children (and in traditional interpretations of husbands by their wives), and family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself", an early version of the Golden Rule.
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Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".
In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.
For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.
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Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang (Chinese: 董其昌; pinyin: Dǒng Qíchāng; Wade–Giles: Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, 1555–1636), courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰), was a Chinese painter, scholar, calligrapher, and art theorist of the later period of the Ming Dynasty.
His work favored expression over formal likeness. He also avoided anything he deemed to be slick or sentimental. This led him to create landscapes with intentionally distorted spatial features. Still his work was in no way abstract as it took elements from earlier Yuan masters. His views on expression had importance to later "individualist" painters.
He considered there to be a Northern school, represented by Zhe, and a Southern school represented by literati painters. These names are misleading as they refer to Northern and Southern schools of Chan Buddhism thought rather than geographic areas. Hence a Northern painter could be geographically from the south and a Southern painter geographically from the north. In any event he strongly favored the Southern school and dismissed the Northern school as superficial or merely decorative.
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Dorgon
Dorgon (Manchu:
; literally "badger" in Manchu; 17 November 1612 – 31 December 1650) was a Manchu prince and regent of the early Qing Dynasty.
Dorgon was born of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the 14th son of Nurhaci, khan of the Later Jin Dynasty (later renamed to Qing Dynasty by Nurhaci's successor Hong Taiji). His mother was Nurhaci's primary consort Lady Abahai. Ajige and Dodo were his full brothers, and Hong Taiji was his half-brother. Dorgon was one of the most influential of Nurhaci's sons, and his role was instrumental to the occupation of Ming Dynasty's capital Beijing by Qing forces in 1644. During Hong Taiji's reign, Dorgon participated in many military campaigns, including the conquests of Mongolia and Korea.
After Hong Taiji died in 1643, Dorgon became involved in a power struggle with Hong Taiji's eldest son Hooge over the succession to the throne. The conflict was resolved with a compromise between the two contending parties - both of them backed out, and Hong Taiji's ninth son Fulin ascended to the throne as the Shunzhi Emperor. Since the Shunzhi Emperor was only six years old at that time, Dorgon was appointed regent and became a de facto ruler. Dorgon was conferred the title of "Emperor's Uncle and Prince Regent" (皇叔父攝政王), which later became "Emperor's Father and Prince Regent" (皇父攝政王). It was rumoured that Dorgon had a romantic affair with the Shunzhi Emperor's mother Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and even secretly married her, but this claim has been disputed.
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Emperor of China
The Emperor of China (Chinese: 皇帝; pinyin: Huángdì, pronounced [xu̯ɑ̌ŋ tî]) refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven (Chinese: 天子; pinyin: tiānzǐ, pronounced [ti̯ɛ́n tsɨ̀]), a title that predates the Qin unification, the Emperor was recognized as the ruler of "All under heaven" (i.e., the world). In practice not every Emperor held supreme power, though this was most often the case.[citation needed]
Emperors from the same family are generally classified in historical periods known as Dynasties. Most of China's imperial rulers have commonly been considered members of the Han ethnicity, although recent scholarship tends to be wary of applying current ethnic categories to historical situations. During the Yuan and Qing dynasties China was ruled by ethnic Mongols and Manchus respectively after being conquered by them. The orthodox historical view over the years sees these as non-native dynasties that were sinicized over time, though some more recent scholars argue that the interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex. Nevertheless, in both cases these rulers had claimed the Mandate of Heaven to assume the role of traditional emperors in order to rule over China proper.
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Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei (Italian pronunciation: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science".
His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.
Galileo's championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works, Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.
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Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator[pronunciation?] (born 5 March 1512 in Rupelmonde in the Hapsburg County of Flanders, Holy Roman Empire, died 2 December 1594 in Duisburg, United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Holy Roman Empire) was a cartographer. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him. This proved very useful to many later navigators who could (using his map) sail across the entire ocean on approximately straight paths (called rhumb lines). He died in Duisburg.
Mercator was born Gerard de gemor or de Cremer in the Flemish town of Rupelmonde to parents from Gangelt in the Duchy of Jülich, where he was raised. "Mercator" is the Latinized form of his name. It means "merchant". He was educated in 's-Hertogenbosch by the famous humanist Macropedius and at the University of Leuven. Despite Mercator's fame as a cartographer, his main source of income came through his craftsmanship of mathematical instruments. In Leuven, he worked with Gemma Frisius and Gaspar Myrica from 1535 to 1536 to construct a terrestrial globe, although the role of Mercator in the project was not primarily as a cartographer, but rather as a highly skilled engraver of brass plates. Mercator's own independent map-making began only when he produced a map of Palestine in 1537; this map was followed by another—a map of the world (1538) – and a map of Flanders (1540). During this period he learned Italic script because it was the most suitable type of script for copper engraving of maps. He wrote the first instruction book of Italic script published in northern Europe.
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Guo Shoujing
Guo Shoujing (Chinese: 郭守敬; pinyin: Guō Shǒujìng; Wade–Giles: Kuo Shou-ching, 1231–1316), courtesy name Ruosi (若思), was a Chinese astronomer, engineer, and mathematician born in Xingtai, Hebei who lived during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The later Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1591–1666) was so impressed with the preserved astronomical instruments of Guo that he called him "the Tycho Brahe of China."
In 1231, in Xingtai, Hebei province, China, Guo Shoujing was born into a poor family. He was raised primarily by his paternal grandfather, Guo Yong, who was famous throughout China for his expertise in a wide variety of topics, ranging from the study of the Five Classics to astronomy, mathematics, and hydraulics. He was a child prodigy, showing exceptional promise. By his teens, he obtained a blueprint for a water clock which his grandfather was working on, and realized its principles of operation. He improved the design of a type of water clock called a lotus clepsydra, a water clock with a bowl shaped like a lotus flower on the top into which the water dripped. After he had mastered the construction of such water clocks, he began to study mathematics at the age of 16. From mathematics, he began to understand hydraulics, as well as astronomy.
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Güshi Khan
Güshi (or Gushri) Khan (1582–1655), a Khoshut prince and leader of the Khoshut Khanate, who had supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan. His military assistance to the Gelug school enabled the 5th Dalai Lama to establish political control over Tibet. In 1637, Güshi Khan defeated a rival Mongolian prince Tsogtu Khung Taiji, a Kagyu follower, near Qinghai Lake (Kokonor) and established his khanate in Tibet.
Gushi Khan was born Torobaikhu, the 3rd son of Akhai Khatun and Khanai Noyan Khonggor, chief of the Oirat Khoshut tribe. At the age of 12 Torobaikhu had already won renown in battle against the Turkestanis. In 1630 he succeeded his elder brother Baibaghas as chief of the Khoshut with the title Gushi or Guushi Khan.
Sonam Rapten, the Regent during the youth of Lozang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama, sought the help of Gushri Khan to end persecution of the Gelugpa school, and unify Tibet. It took three years for Gushri Khan to install Lozang Gyatso as the head of a unified Tibet. The dGe-lugs-pa monasteries sent appeal for help against Karmapa and Bon-po partisans such as Tsogtu Taiji.
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He Chaozong
He Chaozong 何朝宗 was a celebrated early 17th century Chinese potter. He Chaozong fashioned mainly Buddhist white porcelain statuary in the tradition of the Dehua kilns in Fujian Province, known in the west as Blanc-de-Chine. Little documentary evidence remains for He Chaozong apart from extant examples of his ceramic art. A gazetteer entry for 1763 mentions him with other art notables of the Ming Dynasty and establishes that the artist had earned a considerable reputation by his own day. His works identified by his seal are in an entirely different category than the usual Dehua statuary of the period and those later. They are thickly potted and exhibit an artistic expressiveness and creativity unmatched by thinner and standardized unsigned works. He Chaozong and the few other artists of the Dehua kilns were nearly unique in Chinese ceramic history which was characterized by anonymous and industrial scale production. Blumenfield in his Blanc de Chine presents the reader with what may be one of the few believable examples of the artist, replete with a hidden inscription visible to ultraviolet light. Of great interest is the manner of carving of the piece which shows none of the exuberant flowing robes of other examples of the master that may be simply just superficially attractive to the eye. Of additional interest in the Blumenfield book is the He Chaozong seal impressed on an additional Guanyin (p. 133) statue attributed to He Chaozong. All of the characters in the seal appear in reverse. This indicates that at least some seals on Dehua porcelain figures were akin to brands and perhaps of metal construction that could be mistakenly impressed in reverse. The outer borders of the Blumenfield seal, and the seal presented with the Manjurisi statue accompanying this article, were both incised and evidently added after the characters were impressed on the bodies of the figures.
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Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (Chinese: 洪武帝; Wade–Giles: Hung-wu Ti; 21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang (Chinese: 朱元璋; Wade–Giles: Chu Yuan-chang) and by his temple name Taizu of Ming (Chinese: 明太祖; literally "Great Ancestor of Ming"), was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China. His era name, Hongwu, means "vastly martial".
In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu became a leader of an army that conquered China, ending the Yuan Dynasty and forcing the Mongols to retreat to the Mongolian steppes. With his seizure of the Yuan capital (present-day Beijing), he claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor peasant family in a village in Zhongli (鍾離, present day Fengyang, Anhui). His father was Zhu Shizhen (朱世珍, original name Zhu Wusi 朱五四) and his mother was Chen Erniang. He had seven older siblings, several of whom were "given away" by his parents, as they did not have enough food to support the family. When he was 16, the Yellow River broke its banks and flooded the lands where his family lived. Subsequently, a plague killed his family, except one brother.
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Hongxi Emperor
The Hongxi Emperor (洪熙 [xʊ̌ŋɕí]; 16 August 1378–29 May 1425) was the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. His era name means "Vastly bright".
Hongxi was born on 16 August 1378 and was educated by prominent Confucian tutors. He often acted as regent in Nanjing or Beijing during his father's northern military campaigns.
Already in May 1421, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, an order was issued for the suspension of Zheng He's maritime expeditions, apparently on account of their cost (although the order apparently did not affect the 6th voyage of Zheng He, staged around that time). Zhu Gaochi, as soon as he became the Hongxi Emperor in September 1424, canceled Zheng He's maritime expeditions permanently and abolished frontier trade of tea for horses as well as missions for gold and pearls to Yunnan and Vietnam. He restored disgraced Confucian officials, such as Yongle's minister of revenue Xia Yanji (imprisoned since 1421), and reorganized the administration to give high ranks to his close advisors. Hanlin academicians became grand secretaries, and they dismantled his father's unpopular militaristic policies to restore civil government. Hongxi improved finances by canceling requisitions for lumber, gold, and silver. Taxes were remitted so that vagrant farmers could return home, especially in the overburdened Yangtze River Delta. Hongxi appointed a commission to investigate taxes. He overruled his secretaries by ordering that grain should be sent immediately to relieve disaster areas.
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Hongzhi Emperor
The Hongzhi Emperor (弘治 IPA: [xʊ̌ŋtʂɨ̂]) (30 July 1470 – 8 June 1505) was emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1487 and 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng (often mispronounced as "Zhu Youtang" since 樘 has two pronunciations, and according to records[citation needed] it is pronounced as "cheng", meaning "foundation"), he was the son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called the Hongzhi Silver Age. His era name means "Great government". He was a wise and peace-loving ruler. Hongzhi also had only one empress and no concubines, and holds the distinction of being the sole perpetually-monogamous emperor in Chinese history. He was the third emperor of middle Ming Dynasty.
Hongzhi was born in an era where Lady Wan and her associates were on the lookout to eliminate any child born to the emperor Chenghua. It was through a stroke of luck that young Hongzhi was hidden away by the former empress of Chenghua that Hongzhi escaped the fate of death. Hongzhi was only then reunited with his father at the age of 5, in 1475 and was created crown prince. Hongzhi had been a brilliant child early on and he received the best education offered at that time. Hongzhi was immersed in Confucian schooling and he excelled in his studies.
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Hu Weiyong
Hu Weiyong (胡惟庸) (? - 1380) was the last Chancellor of China Ming Dynasty from 1373 to 1380.
Hu Weiyong was born in HaoZhou, Anhui Province (now part of Chuzhou). In 1363 Hu contributed a large number of warship to Zhu Yuanzhang to use for battle with Chen Youliang. Li Shanchang, chief of warship production was pleased with Hu and then recommend Hu to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Chancellor Hu Weiyong arrogated all authority to himself and accepted bribes, which stirred the wrath of other officers and the people. In 1380, a subordinate of Hu Weiyong reported to Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) that Hu Weiyong met with the envoy of another country secretly, attempting to rebel. Four days later Zhu executed Hu Weiyong. The emperor soon abolished the Chancellery of China, taking over direct responsibility of the Three Departments and Six Ministries. The Grand Secretariat later assumed responsibility for aiding the emperor in managing the state.
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Hui people
The Hui people (Chinese: 回族; pinyin: Huízú, Xiao'erjing: حُوِ ذَو / حواري) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in China. Hui people are found throughout the country, though they are concentrated mainly in the provinces of Ningxia, Qinghai, and Gansu. According to a 2000 census, China is home to approximately 9.8 million Hui people, the majority of whom are Chinese-speaking practitioners of Islam, though some practice other religions. Although many Hui people are ethnically similar to Han Chinese, the group has retained some Persian and Central Asian features, their ethnicity and culture having been shaped profoundly by their position along the Silk Road trading route.
In the People's Republic of China, the Hui people are one of 56 officially recognized ethnic groups. Under this definition, the Hui people are defined to include all historically Muslim communities in People's Republic of China that are not included in China's other ethnic groups. Since China's Muslims speaking various Turkic, Mongolic, or Iranian languages are all included into those other groups (e.g., Uyghurs, Dongxiang, or Tajiks) the "officially recognized" Hui ethnic group consists predominantly of Chinese speakers. In fact, the "Hui nationality" is unique among China's officially recognized ethnic minorities in that it does not have any particular non-Chinese language associated with it.
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Hunnic Empire
The Hunnic empire was formed under the reign of Attila, centered in present-day Hungary; its territory included parts of Germany, the Balkans, and Ukraine. It bordered the Eastern Roman Empire to the southeast and the Western Roman Empire to the west and southwest; its other boundaries are uncertain. The empire dissolved after Attila's death in 453 as a result of struggles over succession and leadership, finally disappearing around 469.
The origins of the Huns that swept through Europe during the 4th Century remain unclear; they may have been connected with the Xiongnu and the later Northern Xiongnu, defeated and dispersed by China some three centuries before. However, most mainstream historians consider them as a group of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with mixed origin.[citation needed] There was a Hunnic language, and Gothic seems also to have been used as a lingua franca.
European accounts first mention the Huns in the lands north-west of the Caspian Sea about 370, when they conquered a tribe of Alans to their west. Pushing further westward, the Huns subjugated many Ostrogoths. In 395, a Hun raid across the Caucasus mountains devastated Armenia, then captured Erzurum, besieged Edessa and Antioch, and even reached Tyre.
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Inca Empire
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as The Four Regions or The Four United Provinces.
There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."
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Jiajing Emperor
The Jiajing (or Chia-ching) Emperor (嘉靖 IPA: [tɕjɑ́tɕîŋ]; 16 September 1507–23 January 1567) was the 11th Ming Dynasty Emperor of China who ruled from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), the Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Cheng-hua emperor (1465–1487) and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperor's concubine, Lady Shao.
His era name means "Admirable tranquility".
As the nephew of the Hongzhi Emperor, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 with the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, Emperor Zhengde, who did not leave an heir. The 14 year old Zhu Houcong was chosen to become emperor, and so relocated from his father's fief (near today's Zhongxiang, in Hubei Province) to Beijing.
As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an "honorary" imperial rank, and had an imperial-style Xianling Mausoleum built for them near Zhongxiang.
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Jianwen Emperor
The Jianwen Emperor (Traditional Chinese: 建文; Simplified Chinese: 建文; pinyin: Jiànwén; Wade-Giles: Chien-wen) (5 December 1377–13 July 1402), with the personal name Zhu Yunwen (朱允炆), reigned as the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty. His reign name Jianwen means "Establishment of Civil Virtue".
His father, Zhu Biao, Crown Prince Yiwen (朱標), was the son and designated heir of the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Biao died in 1392 before ascending to the throne, the Hongwu Emperor made Zhu Biao's son, Zhu Yunwen, his successor, rather than Zhu Biao's younger brothers Zhu Shuang (the Prince of Qin), Zhu Gang (the Prince of Jin) or Zhu Di (the Prince of Yan).
Jianwen's reign was short (1398–1402). After he assumed the throne, Jianwen Emperor began to suppress feudal lords, including his uncle Zhu Di. Feeling threatened, Zhu Di raised an army and in 1399, began to march toward Nanjing from his northern base in Beijing under the banner of the Jingnan campaign. In 1402, Zhu Di's army finally reached Nanjing and, after a brief fight, Zhu Di usurped Jianwen Emperor's throne and was crowned as Yongle Emperor.
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Jiao Yu
Jiao Yu (Traditional and Simplified Chinese: 焦玉, Wade-Giles: Chiao Yü, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāo Yù) was a Chinese military officer loyal to Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398 AD), the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD). He was entrusted by Emperor Hongwu (洪武) as a leading artillery officer for the rebel army that overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, and established the Ming Dynasty. As a senior advisor and general, he was later appointed to the venerable and noble status of the Count of Dongning. He edited and wrote a famous military treatise that outlined the use of Chinese military technology during the mid 14th century, as far back as his military campaign of 1355 AD. However, descriptions of advanced gunpowder weapons in his treatise extended back to the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) in battles against the Khitans, Jurchens and Mongols. In his Huolongjing, he described the fire arrow, fire lance, the early grenade, firearm, bombard, cannon, exploding cannonballs, land mine, matchlocks, naval mine, rocket, rocket launcher, two-stage rockets, and use of various gunpowder solutions that included poisonous concoctions.
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Jingtai Emperor
The Jingtai Emperor (景泰 IPA: [tɕìŋtʰâɪ]) (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457) was Emperor of China from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his older brother, the Zhengtong Emperor, when the latter was captured by Mongols following the Tumu Crisis. He reigned for 8 years before being removed from the throne by his brother, who was restored as the Tianshun Emperor. The Jingtai Emperor's era name means "Exalted View".
Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne in 1449 after his older brother (the Zhengtong Emperor) was defeated and taken prisoner by the Oirat Mongols of Esen Khan.
The Zhengtong Emperor was eventually released in 1450 after the Mongols learned that the Ming government had installed Jingtai as the new emperor. After that, Jingtai continued to rule as emperor while his brother was granted a technical title of "grand-emperor" and was forced to live in obscurity.
During Jingtai's reign, aided by the prominent minister Yu Qian, he paid particular attention to matters affecting his country. He repaired the Grand Canal as well as the system of dykes along the Yellow River. As a result of his administration, the economy prospered and the dynasty was further strengthened.
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Johann Schreck
Johann(es) Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo, Deng Zhen Lohan, (1576, Bingen, Baden-Württemberg or Constance – 11 May 1630, Beijing) was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath. He is credited with the discovery of the scientific-technical terminology.
Schreck studied medicine starting 1590 at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, the University of Altdorf and after 1603 in Padua. He became a highly respected medic and was affiliated to the scientific society the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, whose other members included Galileo Galilei. At this academy he worked on the encyclopaedia of botany Rerum medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus alongside Francisco Hernández de Toledo.
To everyone's surprise (Galileo wrote: "Una gran perdita" - "a big loss"), Schreck became a Jesuit, to go to China as a missionary. He met the Belgian Pater Nicolas Trigault in 1614, with whom he prepared his scientific mission. He started his journey to China in April 1618 from Lisbon. After several pirate incidents and epidemics Schreck arrived in October 1618 in Goa, where he began his opus Plinius Indicus, a botanic and zoological encyclopaedia about Asia, which he was never able to finish. On 22 July 1619 they reached Macau. In 1621 he arrived in Hangzhou, and in late 1623 Beijing.
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Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (German pronunciation: [ˈkʰɛplɐ]; December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.
During his career, Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, Austria, where he became an associate of Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. Later he became an assistant to astronomer Tycho Brahe, and eventually the imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II and his two successors Matthias and Ferdinand II. He was also a mathematics teacher in Linz, Austria, and an adviser to General Wallenstein. Additionally, he did fundamental work in the field of optics, invented an improved version of the refracting telescope (the Keplerian Telescope), and mentioned the telescopic discoveries of his contemporary Galileo Galilei.
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John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth (republic) of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.
Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica, (written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship) is among history's most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and freedom of the press.
William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language"; though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of his republicanism). Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind". Though Johnson (a Tory and recipient of royal patronage) described his politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".
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Jonathan Spence
Jonathan D. Spence (Self-adopted Chinese name: simplified Chinese: 史景迁; traditional Chinese: 史景遷; pinyin: Shǐ Jǐngqiān, born August 11, 1936) is a British-born historian and public intellectual specializing in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several hundred years of Chinese history. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he has written a dozen books on China. He retired from Yale in 2008.
In May and June 2008, he gave the 60th anniversary Reith Lectures, which were broadcasted on BBC Radio 4.
Spence's major interest is modern China and, especially, its relations with the West. A notable recurring theme in Spence's work is the use of biographies to examine the wider cultural history of China. Another common theme to Spence's work is his interests in efforts on the part of both Westerners and Chinese to Westernize China, and why such efforts have failed.
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Joseph Edkins
Joseph Edkins (Chinese: 艾约瑟; December 19, 1823 – April 23, 1905) was a British Protestant missionary who spent 57 years in China, 30 of them in Beijing. As a Sinologue, he specialized in Chinese religions. He was also a linguist, a translator, and a philologist. Writing prolifically, he penned many books about the Chinese language and the Chinese religions especially Buddhism. In his China's Place in Philology (1871), he tries to show that the languages of Europe and Asia have a common origin by comparing the Chinese and Indo-European vocabulary.
Born at Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, he graduated from the University of London in 1843. He was ordained on December 8, 1847. Sent by the London Missionary Society, he arrived in China on July 22, 1848 at Hong Kong, and reached Shanghai on September 2. First he worked in the London Missionary Society Press in Shanghai under Walter Henry Medhurst. From 1852 to 1858 he edited the Chinese annual Chinese and Foreign Concord Almanach (華洋和合通書), later known as the Chinese and Western Almanac (中西通書). During this period of time, he collaborated with Li Shanlan, Wang Tao and others to translate many Western scientific works into Chinese. Besides this, he was involved in Bible translation and an active member of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In the 1850s he traveled extensively in the Shanghai and Ningbo regions. He also was involved in direct evangelism, and accompanied Hudson Taylor on some of his first canal-boat travels in China, distributing portions of Scripture and Christian tracts.
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Jurchen people
The Jurchens (Jurchen language:
jušen) were a Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria (present-day Northeast China) until the 17th century, when they adopted the name Manchu. They established the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) (Ancun gurun in ancient Jurchen and Aisin gurun in Standard Manchu) between 1115 and 1122, which lasted until 1234 with the arrival of the Mongols.
The form Jurchen dates back to at least the beginning of the tenth century AD, when the Balhae kingdom was destroyed by the Khitans. However, cognate ethnonyms like Sushen or Jichen (稷真) have been recorded in pre-Christian Era geographical works like the Shan Hai Jing and Book of Wei. It comes from the Jurchen word jušen, the original meaning of which is unclear. The standard English version of the name, "Jurchen," is an Anglicized transliteration of the Mongolian equivalent of the Jurchen term jušen (Mongolian: Jürchin, plural is Jürchid), and may arrived in the West via Mongolian texts. A less common English transliteration is "Jurched".
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Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush or Kush was an ancient African state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now the Republic of Sudan.
Established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, it was centered at Napata in its early phase. After king Kashta ("the Kushite") invaded Egypt in the 8th century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as Pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt for a century, until they were expelled by Psamtik I in 656 BC.
During Classical Antiquity, the Kushite imperial capital was at Meroe. In early Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia. The Kushite kingdom with its capital at Meroe persisted until the 4th century AD, when it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion. The Kushite capital was subsequently captured by the Beja Dynasty, who tried to revive the empire. The Kushite capital was eventually captured and destroyed by the kingdom of Axum. After the collapse of the Kushite empire several states emerged in its former territories, among them Nubia.
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Koxinga
Koxinga (simplified Chinese: 国姓爷; traditional Chinese: 國姓爺; pinyin: Guóxìngyé; Wade–Giles: Kuo-hsing-yeh; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kok-sèng-iâ/Kok-sìⁿ-iâ; literally "Lord with the Imperial Surname") is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong (simplified Chinese: 郑成功; traditional Chinese: 鄭成功; pinyin: Zhèng Chénggōng; Wade–Giles: Cheng Ch'eng-kung; Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tēⁿ Sêng-kong; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tshàng Sṳ̀n-Kûng; Foochow Romanized: Dâng Sìng-gŭng), a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa (Taiwan).
A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of the Ming troops on the maritime front for the later emperors of the withering dynasty, Koxinga devoted the last 16 years of his life to resisting the conquest of China by the Manchus. Upon defeating the forces of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on Formosa in his last campaign in 1661–1662, Koxinga took over the island in order to support his grand campaign against the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty. After Koxinga's death, his son and successor, Zheng Jing (鄭經), gradually became the ruler of an independent Kingdom of Tungning, the first Chinese state to rule the island.
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Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen (simplified Chinese: 李时珍; traditional Chinese: 李時珍; pinyin: Lǐ Shízhēn; Wade–Giles: Li Shih-Chen, July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi (东璧), was one of the greatest Chinese herbalists and acupuncturists in Chinese history. His major contribution to medicine was his 27-year work, which is found in his epic book the Bencao Gangmu (本草纲目 "Compendium of Materia Medica"). He is also considered to be the greatest naturalist of China, and was very interested in the proper classification of herb components.
The book has details about more than 1,800 drugs (Chinese Medicine), including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions. It also described the type, form, flavor, nature and application in disease treatments of 1,094 herbs. His Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages, and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine. His treatise included various related subjects such as botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy. The book was reprinted frequently and five of the original editions still exist.
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Li Zicheng
Li Zicheng (Chinese: 李自成; pinyin: Lĭ Zìchéng; Wade–Giles: Li Tzu-ch'eng); 1606–1645), born Li Hongji (李鴻基), was a Chinese rebel leader who overthrew the Ming Dynasty and ruled over China briefly as emperor of the short-lived Shun Dynasty.
Li was born in Mizhi District (米脂縣), Yan'an, during the late Ming Dynasty period. Initially a shepherd, Li started to learn horseriding and archery at the age of 20, and had also worked in a wine shop and as an ironworker's apprentice.
According to folklore, in 1630, Li was put on public display in an iron collar and shackles for his failure to repay loans to a usurious magistrate, Ai. Ai struck a guard who offered shade and water to Li, whence a group of peasants tore apart Li's shackles, spirited him to a nearby hill, and proclaimed him their leader. Although they were only armed with wooden sticks, Li and his band managed to ambush a group of government soldiers sent to arrest them, and obtained their first real weapons.
At the same time, the Shanxi region was hit by a famine, and the common people resented the Ming government. Li joined Gao YingXiang's (the "Dashing King" (闖王)) rebel army. After Gao's death, Li inherited the title "Dashing King" and became the commander of Gao's army.
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Liu Jin
Liú Jĭn (simplified Chinese: 刘瑾; traditional Chinese: (劉瑾) (? -1510) was a well-known Chinese eunuch during the reign of the Chinese Ming Dynasty Zhengde Emperor (r. 1506-1521). Liu was famous for being one of the most corrupt officials in Chinese history and the emperor in all but name for some time. He was the leader of the "Eight Tigers", a powerful group of eunuchs who controlled the imperial court.
The Zhengde Emperor 's dissolute lifestyle placed a heavy burden on the people of the empire. He would refuse to receive all his ministers and ignored all their petitions whilst sanctioning the growth of the eunuch community in the imperial palace. Liu made some reforms such as encouraging widows to remarry, a move which went against the Neo-Confucianism views of the time. Many officials and other eunuchs opposed Liu - the uprising of Prince Zhu Zhifan (安化王朱寘鐇) was a failed attempt to assassinate Liu and seize power. After officials suppressed the uprising an official called Yang Yiqing (楊一清) persuaded another eunuch Zhang Yong (张永/張永) to report Liu's plotting of rebellion. The Zhengde Emperor did not believe this report at first but took it seriously enough to consider expelling Liu to Fengyang County (凤阳县/鳳陽縣) in Anhui Province but Zhang's discovery of many weapons in Liu's houses sealed his fate.
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Liu Tong
Liu Tong (Chinese: 刘侗; Wade–Giles: Liu T'ung, c. 1593–1637) was a Chinese prose master and official from Macheng in Huanggang. He was a figure in the Ming Dynasty's Jingling school (竟陵派) of Chinese prose literature in contrast to the Gongan school (公安派) and the well known Yuan Hongdao and his brothers. He is credited with the Dijing Jingwulue.
His Dijing Jingwulue is thought to actually to have been a travel guide to the historical and geographical attractions of Beijing. The work includes mention of the Catholic cathedral and the tomb of the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. Its inclusion of anecdote and unusual detail make it an invaluable study of Beijing in the early 17th century. In 1630, Liu became a member of the National University and passed his Jinshi examination in 1634. He became a magistrate of Suzhou, but died enroute in 1637.
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Longqing Emperor
The Longqing Emperor (隆慶 [lʊ̌ŋtɕʰîŋ]; 4 March 1537- 5 July 1572) was the 12th emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1567-1572. His era name means "Great celebration". His name at birth was Zhu Zaihou and he was born during the reign of his father Emperor Jiajing, at the Forbidden City at the Ming Dynasty capital Beijing.. He was created Prince Yu in 1539.
After the death of the Jiajing Emperor, Longqing inherited a country in disarray after years of mismanagement and corruption. Realizing the depth of chaos his father's long reign had caused, Longqing set about reforming the government by re-employing talented officials previously banished by his father such as Hai Rui. He also purged the government of corrupt officials namely Daoist priests whom the Jiajing Emperor had favoured in the hope of improving the situation in the empire. Furthermore, Longqing restarted trade with other empires in Europe, Africa and other parts of Asia. Territorial security was reinforced through the appointment of several generals to patrol both land and sea borders. This included the fortification of seaports along the Zhejiang and Fujian coast to deter pirates, a constant nuisance during the Jiajing emperor's reign. Longqing also repulsed the Mongol army of Altan Khan, who had penetrated the Great Wall and reached as far as Beijing. A peace treaty to trade horses for silk was signed with the Mongols shortly thereafter.
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Manchu people
The Manchus (Manchu:
Manju; simplified Chinese: 满族; traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: Mǎnzú) are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria (northeastern China).
For centuries, the Manchu ethnicity has acculturated with the majority Han ethnicity of China. Most Manchu today speak Standard Chinese, while the Manchu language is only spoken by elderly people in remote northeastern China and a few scholars; there are around ten thousand speakers of Xibe, a closely related language spoken in the Ili region of Xinjiang. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large—with 10.68 million members (in China), Manchu is the 3rd largest ethnic group in China after the Han and the Zhuang. The adoption of favorable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission, government employment opportunities and exemption from the one child policy) has encouraged some people with mixed Han and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.
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Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ (October 6, 1552 – May 11, 1610; simplified Chinese: 利玛窦; traditional Chinese: 利瑪竇; pinyin: Lì Mǎdòu; courtesy name: 西泰 Xītài) was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th–18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God.
Matteo Ricci was born in 1552 in Macerata, part of the Papal States, and today a city in the Italian region of Marche. Ricci started learning theology and law in a Roman Jesuit school. He entered the order in 1571, and in 1577 he applied for a missionary expedition to India. His journey began in March 1578 in Lisbon, Portugal. He arrived in Goa, a Portuguese Colony, in September 1578. Four years later, he was dispatched to China.
In August 1582, Ricci arrived at Macau, a Portuguese trading post on the South China Sea. At the time, Christian missionary activity in China was almost completely limited to Macau, where some of the local Chinese people had converted to Christianity and lived in the Portuguese manner. No Christian missionary had attempted seriously to learn the Chinese language until 1579 (three years before Ricci's arrival), when Michele Ruggieri was invited from Portuguese India expressly to study Chinese, by Alessandro Valignano, founder of St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau), and to prepare for the Jesuits' mission from Macau into Mainland China.
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Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
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Mencius
Mencius (Chinese: 孟子; pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade–Giles: Meng Tzu; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇㄥˋ ㄗˇ, most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.
Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (originally Zouxian), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace.
He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. During the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in the State of Qi (1046 BCE to 221 BCE) from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.
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Mu Ying
Mu Ying (1345-1392) was a general during the Ming Dynasty, and an adopted son of its founder, the Hongwu Emperor (aka Zhu Yuanzhang). Mu Ying was a Chinese Muslim. Mu Ying was one of the few capable generals who survived the massacre of the Hongwu Emperor.
Mu and his descendants guarded Yunnan, a province near Burma and Vietnam, until the end of the Ming Dynasty. As late as the 1650s, his descendant Mu Tianbao was one of the main supporters of the Yongli Emperor, the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and accompanied the fugitive emperor all the way into Burma.
The descendants of Mu Ying are featured in Louis Cha's Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron, set in the early Qing Dynasty. The Mu Prince Residence based in Yunnan is a pro-Ming secret organisation that houses the descendants of Mu Ying and his followers.Mu Jianping of the seven wives of Wei Xiaobao (the protagonist), and her brother Mu Jiansheng, are direct descendants of Mu Ying.
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Ni Zan
Ni Zan (simplified Chinese: 倪瓒; traditional Chinese: 倪瓚; pinyin: Ní Zàn; Wade–Giles: Ni Tsan; 1301–1374) was a Chinese painter during the Yuan Dynasty. Along with Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, and Wang Meng, he is considered to be one of the four "Late Yuan" masters.
Ni Zan was born into a wealthy family in Wuxi. His style name was Yuan Zhen (元鎮). His pseudonyms were Yun Lin Zi (雲林子), Huan Xia Sheng (幻霞生), and Jing Man Min (荊蠻民). He was born after the death of the Kublai Khan, the Mongolian ruler who defeated the Song and established dominance over all that had traditionally been considered China. The Yuan rulers did not trust many of the Confucian scholars and instead preferred to instill Mongolians and Muslims to perform administrative tasks. Ni Zan was born into an elite who could afford to be educated despite the unavailability of high-paying governmental jobs that traditionally were the reward for a rigorous Confucian education. These wealthy scholars and poets were often entertained by the eccentric Ni Zan and were part of a movement that radically altered the traditional conceptions of Chinese painting. Their paintings depicted representations of natural settings that were highly localized, portraying personally valued vistas that reflected their individual feelings.
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Nicolas Trigault
Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Flemish Jesuit, and a missionary to China. He was also known by his latinised name Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jīn Nígé (金尼閣).
Born in Douai (then part of the Spanish Netherlands, now part of France), he became a Jesuit in 1594. Trigault left Europe to do missionary work in Asia around 1610, eventually arriving at Nanjing, China in 1611. He was later brought by the Chinese Catholic Li Zhizao to his hometown of Hangzhou where he worked as one of the first missionaries ever to reach that city and was eventually to die there in 1629.
In late 1612 Trigault was appointed by the China Mission's Superior, Niccolo Longobardi as the China Mission's procurator (recruitment and PR representative) in Europe. He sailed from Macau on February 9, 1613, and arrived to Rome on October 11, 1614, by the way of India, Persian Gulf, and Egypt. His tasks involved reporting on the mission's progress to Pope Paul V, successfully negotiating with the Jesuit Order's General Claudio Acquaviva the independence of the China Mission from the Japan Misson, and traveling around Europe to raise money and publicize the work of the Jesuit missions.Peter Paul Rubens did a portrait of Trigault when the latter stopped there in 1617 (at right).
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Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (German: Nikolaus Kopernikus; Italian: Nicolò Copernico; Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik (help·info); in his youth, Niclas Koppernigk; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe.
Copernicus' epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published just before his death in 1543, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution. His heliocentric model, with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a landmark in the history of science that is often referred to as the Copernican Revolution.
Among the great polymaths of the Renaissance, Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, jurist with a doctorate in law, physician, quadrilingual polyglot, classics scholar, translator, artist,Catholic cleric, governor, diplomat and economist.
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Nurhaci
Nurhaci (Manchu:
; simplified Chinese: 努尔哈赤; traditional Chinese: 努爾哈赤; pinyin: Nǔ'ěrhāchì; alternatively Nurhachi; 1559 – 30 September 1626) was an important Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late sixteenth century in Manchuria. Nurhaci was part of the Aisin Gioro clan, and reigned from 1616 to his death in September 1626.
Nurhaci reorganized and united various Jurchen tribes (the later "Manchu"), consolidated the Eight Banners military system, and eventually launched an assault on Ming Dynasty and Korea's Joseon Dynasty. His conquest of China's northeastern Liaoning province laid the groundwork for the conquest of the rest of China by his descendants, who would go on to found the Qing Dynasty in 1644. He is also generally credited with the creation of a written script for the Manchu language.
Nurhaci is written as in the Manchu language. Regarded as the founding father of the Qing Dynasty, he is given the customary temple name of Taizu, which is traditionally assigned to founders of dynasties. His name is also alternatively spelled Nurgaci, Nurhachi, or Nu-er-ha-chi (the last of these simply the transcription of the Chinese characters used to write his name).
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Oirats
Oirats (Mongolian: Ойрад, Oirad; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation, where they are called Kalmyks. The Kalmyks migrated from Dzungaria to the southeastern European part of the Russian Federation in the early XVII century.
Historically, the Oirats were composed of four major tribes: Dzungar (Choros or Ööled), Torghut, Dörbet, and Khoshut. The minor tribes include: Khoid, Bayid, Myangad, Zakhchin, Baatud, Barga and Darkhad.
In the 17th century, Zaya Pandita, a Gelug monk of the Khoshut tribe, devised a new writing system called Todo Bichig (clear script) for use by the Oirat people. This system was developed on the basis of the older Mongolian script, but had a more developed system of diacritics to exclude misreading, and reflected some lexic and grammar differences of the Oirat language from Mongolian.
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Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain (Spanish: Felipe IV, Portuguese: Filipe III; 8 April 1605 – 17 September 1665) was King of Castile and Aragon between 1621 and 1665, and King of Portugal until 1640. He was also king of Naples and Sicily as Philip III. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the challenging period of the Thirty Years War (1618–48).
On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish Empire had reached its seventeenth century territorial zenith, spanning a then unheard of 12.2 million square kilometres (4.7×10^6 sq mi), but in other respects was in decline, a process to which Philip's inability to achieve successful domestic and military reform is felt to have contributed.
Philip IV was born in Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Philip III and his wife, Margaret of Austria. Aged ten, he was married to Elisabeth of France in 1615, although the relationship does not appear to have always been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Philip to take mistresses instead. Philip had seven children, but only one son, through Elisabeth, Baltasar Carlos who died young at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Philip; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour following manoeuvering by Olivares' successor, de Haro.
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Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy ( /ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, Klaudios Ptolemaios; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. AD 90 – c. AD 168), was a Greek-Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid. This theory, proposed by Theodore Meliteniotes, could be correct, but it is late (ca. 1360) and unsupported. There is no reason to suppose that he ever lived anywhere else than Alexandria, where he died around AD 168.
Ptolemy was the author of several scientific treatises, at least three of which were of continuing importance to later Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest (in Greek, Ἡ Μεγάλη Σύνταξις, "The Great Treatise", originally Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, "Mathematical Treatise"). The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise known sometimes in Greek as the Apotelesmatika (Ἀποτελεσματικά), more commonly in Greek as the Tetrabiblos (Τετράβιβλος "Four books"), and in Latin as the Quadripartitum (or four books) in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day.
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Puyi
Puyi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the warlord Zhang Xun. In 1934 he was declared the Kangde Emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo by the Empire of Japan, and he ruled until the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945. After the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Puyi was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1964 until his death in 1967. Puyi's abdication in 1912 marked the end of centuries of dynastic rule in China, and he is also widely known as The Last Emperor.
Puyi's name is romanised in English as either Puyi (in pinyin) or P'u-i (in Wades-Giles). This naming is in accordance with the Manchu tradition of avoiding the use of a person's clan name and given name together,[citation needed] but is in complete contravention of Chinese tradition, whereby the given name of a ruler was considered taboo and ineffable. Using a former emperor's personal name (or even using a Chinese character from the name) was a punishable offence under traditional Chinese law. However after Puyi lost his imperial title in 1924, he was officially styled Mr. Puyi (simplified Chinese: 溥仪先生; traditional Chinese: 溥儀先生; pinyin: Pǔyí Xiānshēng) in Chinese and Mr. Fugi (溥儀先生; Fugi Sensei) in Japanese. His clan name Aisin Gioro (simplified Chinese: 爱新觉罗; traditional Chinese: 愛新覺羅; pinyin: Àixīn Juéluó) was seldom used.
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Qiu Ying
Qiu Ying (Chinese: 仇英; pinyin: Qiú Yīng; Wade–Giles: Ch'iu Ying; 1494? – 1552) was a Chinese painter who specialized in the gongbi brush technique.
Qiu Ying's courtesy name was Shifu (实父), and his pseudonym was Shizhou (十洲). He was born to a peasant family in Taicang (太仓 - now Jiangsu Province) and studied painting under Zhou Chen in Suzhou. Though Suzhou's Wu School encouraged painting in ink washes, Qiu Ying also painted in the green-and-blue style. He painted with the support of wealthy patrons, creating images of flowers, gardens, religious subjects, and landscapes in the fashions of the Ming Dynasty. He incorporated different techniques into his paintings, and acquired a few wealthy patrons. His talent and versatility allowed him to become regarded as one of the Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty.
Three of his best patrons were art collectors. One was Chen Guan from Suzhou. The other two were both younger than Qiu: Zhou Fenglai (1523–1555), from nearby Kunshan, and the well-known wealthy collector Xiang Yuanbian, whose home was in Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province.
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Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الراشدية al-khilāfat ar-Rāshidīyah), (c. 632-661) comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 (Year 10 A.H. in the Islamic calendar). At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. At its greatest extent it was one of the largest empires in history. It is also known as the Patriarchal Caliphate.
After Muhammad's death in 632, the Medinan Ansar debated which of them should succeed him in running the affairs of the Muslims while Muhammad's household was busy with his burial. Umar (a Quraish) and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, with the Ansar and the Quraish soon following suit. Abu Bakr thus became the first Khalifa Rasul Allah (Successor of the Messenger of God), and embarked on campaigns to propagate Islam. First, though, he would have to subdue the Arabian tribes which had gone back on their oaths of allegiance to Islam and the Islamic community. As a Khalifa or Caliph he was not a monarch and never claimed such a title nor did his three successors do so.
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Ray Huang
Ray Huang (simplified Chinese: 黄仁宇; traditional Chinese: 黃仁宇; pinyin: Huáng Rényǔ; June 25, 1918–January 8, 2000) was a Chinese historian and philosopher. He was an officer in the Nationalist army and fought in the Burma campaigns. He earned a Ph.D in history from the University of Michigan, worked with Joseph Needham and is a contributor of Needham's Science and Civilisation in China. Huang taught in the U.S., and is best known in his later years for the idea of macro history.
Ray Huang was born in Changsha, Hunan Province, in 1918. He was the oldest of three children. His father, Huang Zhenbai (黄震白), was an early member of the revolutionary group, Tongmenghui, who became less active in the group over the years. Ray Huang grew up in Hunan and went to study electrical engineering at Nankai University, Tianjin in 1936. At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, he returned to Changsha and wrote for the Japanese War Report (《抗日战报》).
Afterwards, he entered the Republic of China Military Academy (中華民國陸軍官校) at Chengdu, Sichuan, graduating in 1940. He was appointed Second Lieutenant Platoon Leader in 1941; he was a staff First Lieutenant stationed in India in 1942, and a Staff Major in the New First Army in the Burma theater from 1943-1945. While in Burma, he was shot through the thigh, but he made a complete recovery. After the war he attended the American Army Staff College (graduating in 1947), and was part of a military delegation to Japan from 1949-1950. However, with the loss of mainland China in 1949, the Nationalist army in Taiwan was downsized (and purged of political opponents) and as a result, Huang was discharged from the Nationalist Army in 1950. His military career was over.
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Salar people
Salar people (Salar: Salır, Turkic: Salar, Chinese: 撒拉族, Pinyin: Sālāzú) are a Turkic people. Their language belongs to the Oghuz group, classified within the Turkic language family.
The Salars are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.
The Salar people numbered 104,503 people in the last census of 2000. They live mostly in the Qinghai-Gansu border region, on both sides of the Yellow River, namely in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (循化撒拉族自治縣) and Hualong Hui Autonomous County (化隆回族自治縣) of Qinghai and the adjacent Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County of Gansu. There are also Salars in Xinjiang (in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture).
The Salars' ancestors were migrating Oghuz Turks who intermarried with Han Chinese, Tibetans, and Hui. They are a patriarchal agricultural society and are predominantly Muslim.
According to Salar tradition, they are the descendants of the Salur tribe, belonging to the Oghuz Turks tribe of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The word Salur meant "those who wave swords, spears and hammers everywhere." During the Tang Dynasty period, the Salur tribe dwelt within China's borders — later moving west towards Central Asia.
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Shen Kuo
Shen Kuo or Shen Gua (Chinese: 沈括; pinyin: Shěn Kuò; Wade–Giles: Shen K'uo) (1031–1095), style name Cunzhong (存中) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁), was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, agronomist, archaeologist, ethnographer, cartographer, encyclopedist, general, diplomat, hydraulic engineer, inventor, academy chancellor, finance minister, governmental state inspector, poet, and musician. He was the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, as well as an Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality. At court his political allegiance was to the Reformist faction known as the New Policies Group, headed by Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021–1086).
In his Dream Pool Essays (夢溪筆談; Mengxi Bitan) of 1088, Shen was the first to describe the magnetic needle compass, which would be used for navigation (first described in Europe by Alexander Neckam in 1187). Shen discovered the concept of true north in terms of magnetic declination towards the north pole, with experimentation of suspended magnetic needles and "the improved meridian determined by Shen's [astronomical] measurement of the distance between the polestar and true north". This was the decisive step in human history to make compasses more useful for navigation, and may have been a concept unknown in Europe for another four hundred years (evidence of German sundials made circa 1450 show markings similar to Chinese geomancer compasses in regards to declination).
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Shen Zhou
Shen Zhou (Chinese: 沈周; pinyin: Shěn Zhōu, 1427–1509), courtesy name Qinan (启南), was a Chinese painter in the Ming dynasty.
Shen Zhou was born into a wealthy family in Xiangcheng, near the thriving city of Suzhou, in the Jiangsu province, China. His genealogy traces his family’s wealth to the late Yuan period, but only as far as Shen’s paternal great-grandfather, Shen Liang-ch’en, who became a wealthy landowner following the dissolution of Mongol rule. After the collapse of the Yuan and the emergence of the new Ming dynasty, the position of tax collector was assigned to the head of the Shen family, under the Hongwu emperor’s new lijia system. This steadily and amply increased the family’s wealth, while freeing Shen Liang-ch’en’s male descendants from obligatory careers as Ming officials, and allowing them to live the majority of their lives as retired scholar-artists. Upon the death of his father, Shen Heng-chi, Shen Zhou decided to forgo official examinations and devote his life to the care of his widowed mother, Chang Su-wan. It is probable that he never intended to become an official, but refrained from making this obvious until his father had died. He thus renounced the life of official service while still preserving his reputation in an enduring act of filial piety. In this way, he was able to live a reclusive life, free of responsibility (except that of caring for his mother), and devote his time to artwork, socializing, and monastic contemplation of the natural world around him.
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Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor (Chinese: 順治帝; pinyin: Shùnzhìdì; Manchu: ᡳᠵᡳᠰᡥᡡᠨ ᡩᠠᠰᠠᠨ ijishūn dasan hūwangdi; Mongolian: Eyebeer Zasagch Khaan; 15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period. His personal name was Fulin (of the Aisin Gioro clan) and his temple name (chosen after he died) was Shizu 世祖.
A committee of Manchu princes chose the young Fulin to succeed his father Hong Taiji in September 1643 when he was only five. Two co-regents were also appointed: Nurhaci's fourteenth son Dorgon, and Nurhaci's nephew Jirgalang. From 1643 until Dorgon's death on the last day of 1650, political power lay mostly in the hands of Dorgon. After the young emperor started to rule personally in 1651, he tried, with mixed success, to fight corruption and to reduce the political influence of the Manchu nobility. He died of smallpox, a lethal disease that was endemic in China, but against which the Manchus had no immunity. He was succeeded by his third son Xuanye, who had already survived smallpox, and who subsequently reigned for sixty years as the Kangxi Emperor.
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Sima Guang
Sīmǎ Guāng (simplified Chinese: 司马光; traditional Chinese: 司馬光; pinyin: Sīmǎ Guāng; Wade–Giles: Ssu-ma Kuang) (1019–1086) was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty, jinshi 1038.
Sima Guang was born in 1019 in present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi to a wealthy family, and obtained early success as a scholar and officer. When he was barely twenty, he passed the Imperial examination with the highest rank of jìnshì (進士 "metropolitan graduate"), and spent the next several years in official positions.
In 1064, Sima presented to Emperor Yingzong of Song a book of five volumes (巻), the Liniantu (歷年圖 "Chart of Successive Years"). It chronologically summarized events in Chinese history from 403 BCE to 959 CE, and was something like a prospectus for sponsorship of his ambitious project in historiography. These dates were chosen because 403 BCE was the beginning of the Warring States period, when the ancient State of Jin was subdivided, which eventually led to the establishment of the Qin Dynasty; and because 959 CE was the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and the beginning of the Song Dynasty.
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Simon Stevin
Simon Stevin (1548/49 – 1620) was a Flemish mathematician and military engineer. He was active in a great many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated various mathematical terms into Dutch, making it one of the few European languages in which the word for mathematics, wiskunde ("the art of what is certain"), was not derived from Greek (via Latin).
Stevin was born in Bruges, Flanders (now Belgium) around the year 1548, to unmarried parents, Antheunis (Anton) Stevin and Catelyne van der Poort. His father is believed to have been a cadet son of a mayor of Veurne, while his mother Cathelijne (or Catelyne) was the daughter of a burgher family from Ypres. Simon's mother Cathelijne was later married to a man who was involved in the carpet and silk trade. Through her marriage Cathelijne became a member of a family who were Calvinists and it is presumed that Simon was brought in the Calvinist faith. Very little has been recorded about his life. Even the exact date of birth and the date and place of his death (The Hague or Leiden) are uncertain. It is known that he left a widow with two children; and one or two hints scattered throughout his works inform us that he began life as a merchant's clerk in Antwerp, that he travelled in Poland, Denmark and other parts of northern Europe. After his travels, in 1581, while in his thirties, he moved to Leiden where he attended the Latin school and at the age of 35 (1583) entered the University of Leiden where he befriended William of Orange's second son, Maurits (Maurice), the Count Of Nassau. Following William of Orange's assassination and Prince Maurice of Nassau's assumption of his father's office, he became an advisor and tutor of Maurice, who asked his advice on many occasions, and made him a public officer – at first director of the so-called "waterstaet" (the government authority for public works) from 1592, and later quartermaster-general of the army of the States-General.
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Somali people
Somalis (Somali: Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: الصوماليون) are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Ethnic Somalis number around 15-17 million and are principally concentrated in Somalia (more than 10 million), Ethiopia (4.6 million), Yemen (a little under 1 million), Kenya (900,000), Djibouti (464,600), and an unknown but large number live in parts of the Middle East, North America and Europe.
Samaale, the oldest common ancestor of several Somali clans, is generally regarded as the source of the ethnonym Somali. The name "Somali" is, in turn, held to be derived from the words soo and maal, which together mean "go and milk" — a reference to the ubiquitous pastoralism of the Somali people. Another plausible etymology proposes that the term Somali is derived from the Arabic for "wealthy" (dhawamaal), again referring to Somali riches in livestock.
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Song Yingxing
Song Yingxing (Traditional Chinese:宋應星; Simplified Chinese:宋应星; Wade Giles: Sung Ying-Hsing; 1587-1666 AD), born in Yichun of Jiangxi, was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). He was the author of an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons. Comparing him to the famous French encyclopedist Denis Diderot, the British sinologist and historian Joseph Needham called Song Yingxing, "The Diderot of China."
Song Yingxing achieved only modest wealth and influence during his life. Born in 1587 to a gentry family of reduced circumstances, he participated in the imperial examinations, and passed the provincial test in 1615, at the age of 28. However, he was repeatedly unsuccessful in the metropolitan examination. Song sat for the test five times, the last being in 1631 at the age of 44. After this last failure, he held a series of minor positions in provincial government. The works for which Song is known today all date from 1636 to 1637. The repeated trips to the capital to participate in the metropolitan examination likely provided him with the broad base of knowledge demonstrated in the works. Song retired from public life in 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty.
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Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city of Gao, where a Songhai state had existed since the 11th century. Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River in present day Niger and Burkina Faso.
The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years if one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom.
The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 CE, but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. However, the Dia dynasty soon gave way to the Sonni, proceeding the ascension of Sulaiman-Mar, who gained independence and hegemony over the city and was a forbear of Sonni Ali. Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the small Songhai kingdom at the time.
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Su Shi
Su Shi (traditional Chinese: 蘇軾; simplified Chinese: 苏轼; pinyin: Sū Shì) (January 8, 1037 – August 24, 1101), was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan (子瞻) and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi (東坡居士), and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo (蘇東坡). Besides his renowned poetry, his other extant writings are of great value in the understanding of 11th century Chinese travel literature as well as details of the 11th century Chinese iron industry.
Su Shi was born in Meishan, near Mount Emei in what is now Sichuan province. His brother Su Zhe (蘇轍) and his father Su Xun (蘇洵) were both famous literati. Su's early education was conducted under a Taoist priest at a local village school. Later in his childhood, he studied under his mother, herself a highly educated woman. Su married at age 17. In 1057, when Su was 19, he and his brother passed the (highest-level) civil service examinations to attain the degree of jinshi, a prerequisite for high government office. His accomplishments at such a young age attracted the attention of Ouyang Xiu, who became Su's patron thereafter. Ouyang had already been known as an admirer of Su Xun, sanctioning his literary style at court and stating that no other pleased him more. When the 1057 jinshi examinations were given, Ouyang Xiu required—without prior notice—that candidates were to write in the ancient prose style when answering questions on the Confucian classics. The Su brothers gained high honors for what were deemed impeccable answers and achieved celebrity status.
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Su Song
Su Song (simplified Chinese: 苏颂; traditional Chinese: 蘇頌; pinyin: Sū Sòng; style name: Zirong 子容) (1020–1101 AD) was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
Su Song was the engineer of a water-driven astronomical clock tower in medieval Kaifeng, which employed the use of an early escapement mechanism. The escapement mechanism of Su's clock tower had previously been invented by Buddhist monk Yi Xing and government official Liang Lingzan in 725 AD to operate a water-powered armillary sphere, although Su's armillary sphere was the first to be provided with a mechanical clock drive. Su's clock tower also featured the oldest known endless power-transmitting chain drive, called the tian ti (天梯), or "celestial ladder", as depicted in his horological treatise. The clock tower had 133 different clock jacks to indicate and sound the hours. Su Song's treatise about the clock tower, Xinyi Xiangfayao (新 儀 . 象 法 要), has survived since its written form in 1092 and official printed publication in 1094. The book has been analyzed by many historians, such as Joseph Needham. However, the clock itself was dismantled by the invading Jurchen army in AD 1127, and although attempts were made to reassemble the clock tower, it was never successfully reinstated. Although the Xinyi Xiangfayao was his best known treatise, the polymath had other works compiled as well. He completed a large celestial atlas of several star maps, several terrestrial maps, as well as a treatise on pharmacology. The latter discussed related subjects on mineralogy, zoology, botany, and metallurgy.
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Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu (simplified Chinese: 汤显祖; traditional Chinese: 湯顯祖; pinyin: Tāng Xiǎnzǔ; Wade–Giles: T'ang Hsientsu, September 24, 1550 — July 29, 1616), courtesy name Yireng (義仍), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.
Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial examinations at the age of 34. He held official positions in Nanjing, Zhejiang province, Guangdong province etc.. He retired in 1598 and returned to his hometown where he focused on writing.
His major plays are collectively called the Four Dreams, because of the decisive role dreams play in the plot of each one. All of them are still performed (in scenes, or in adapted full versions) on the Chinese Kun opera (kunqu) stage. Generally considered his masterpiece, the Mudan Ting is one of two of his works available in print in English, the other being Nanke Ji.
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Tang Yin
Tang Yin (Chinese: 唐寅; Pinyin: Táng Yín; Yale: Tong Yan; 1470–1524), better known by his courtesy name Tang Bohu (唐伯虎, though it is usually not the custom to address an individual by both surname and courtesy name), was a Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming Dynasty period whose life story has become a part of popular lore. Even though he was born during Ming Dynasty, Many of his paintings (especially paintings of people) were illustrated with elements from Pre-Tang to Song Dynasty (12th centuries)..
Tang Yin (1470–1523) is one of the most notable painters in Chinese art history. He is one of the painting elite the "Four Masters of Ming Dynasty” (Ming Si Jia), which also includes Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) and Qiu Ying (ca. 1495-1552). Tang is also a talented poet. Together with his contemporaries Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), Zhu Yunming (1460–1526), and Xu Zhenqing, known as the “Four Literary Masters of the Wuzhong Region.”
Tang's eccentric lifestyle has prompted storytellers to immortalize him as a trickster character in Chinese folklore. In one such story, he falls in love with a slave girl whom he glimpses on the boat of a high official passing through Suzhou. He has himself sold as a slave to the official's household so that he may approach her. With the help of his friends, he eventually succeeds in bringing her home. This story prompted the playwright "Three Words" by Feng Menglong and the opera "The Three Smiles".
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Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
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Tianqi Emperor
The Tianqi Emperor (23 December 1605 – 30 September 1627) was the 15th emperor of the Ming dynasty from 1620 to 1627. Born Zhu Youxiao, he was the Taichang Emperor's eldest son. His era name means "Heavenly opening".
Zhu Youxiao became emperor at the age of fifteen, on the death of his father who ruled less than a month. He did not pay much attention to affairs of state, and was accused of failing in his filial duties to his dead father by not continuing his father's wishes. It is possible that Zhu Youxiao suffered from a learning disability or something more. He was illiterate and showed no interest in his studies.
Because he was unable to read memorials and uninterested in the affairs of state, his head eunuch, Wei Zhongxian usurped the power along with Madam Ke, Zhu Youxiao's nanny. Zhu Youxiao apparently devoted his time to carpentry. Wei took advantage of the situation and began appointing the people he trusted to important positions in the palace. Meanwhile Madam Ke, who was the nanny of the young emperor sought to retain power by removing all other women from the emperor's harem by locking away the concubines of the emperor and starving them to death.
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Uyghur people
The Uyghurs (Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر, ULY: Uyghur; [ʔʊjˈʁʊː]; simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; pinyin: Wéiwú'ěr) are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. An estimated 80% of Xinjiang's Uyghurs live in the southwestern portion of the region, the Tarim Basin.
The largest community of Uyghurs outside Xinjiang in China is in Taoyuan County, in south-central Hunan province. Outside of China, significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Smaller communities are found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Uyghur is often pronounced /ˈwiːɡər/ by English speakers, though the most acceptable English pronunciation is ooy-goor. Several alternate romanizations also appear: Uighur, Uygur and Uigur. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region provincial government recommends that the generic ethnonym [ʔʊjˈʁʊː], adopted in the early 20th century for this Turkic people, be transcribed as "Uyghur".
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Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi (Chinese: 王安石; December 8, 1021 – May 21, 1086 ) was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted controversial, major socioeconomic reforms. These reforms constituted the core concepts and motives of the Reformists, while their nemesis, Chancellor Sima Guang, led the Conservative faction against them.
In economics, his reforms expanded the use of money, broke up private monopolies and introduced some forms of government regulation and social welfare. In military affairs, he supported the use of local militias; and in education and government, he expanded the examination system and tried to suppress nepotism. Though successful for a while, he eventually fell out of favor of the emperor.
Under the Song Dynasty, the unprecedented development of large estates, whose owners managed to evade paying their share of taxes, resulted in an increasingly heavy burden of taxation on the peasantry. The drop in state revenues, a succession of budget deficits, and widespread inflation prompted the Emperor Shenzong of Song to seek advice from Wang.
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Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming (王陽明, 1472–1529) was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. Wang was known as "Yangming Xiansheng" and/or "Yangming Zi" in literary circles: both mean "Brilliant Master Yangming".
In China, Japan, and Western countries, he is known by his honorific name rather than his private name.
Born Wang Shouren (王 守仁) in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, his courtesy name was Bo'an (伯安). His father was an earl and a minister responsible for supervising civil personnel. Wang earned the "recommended person" degree in 1492 and the "presented scholar" degree in 1499. He served as an executive assistant in various government departments until being banished for offending a eunuch in 1506. However, his professional career was later ensured when he became the Governor of Jiangxi.
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Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor (simplified Chinese: 万历; traditional Chinese: 萬曆; pinyin: Wànlì; Wade–Giles: Wan-li) (4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620) was emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1572 and 1620. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son. His rule of forty-eight years was the longest in the Ming dynasty and it witnessed the steady decline of the dynasty.
Wanli ascended the throne at the age of 9. For the first ten years of his reign, the young emperor was aided by a notable statesman, Zhang Juzheng (張居正). Zhang Juzheng directed the path of the country and exercised his skills and power as an able administrator. At the same time, Wanli deeply respected Zhang as a mentor and a valued minister. However as Wanli's reign progressed, different factions within the government began to openly oppose Zhang's policy as well as his powerful position in government and courted Wanli to dismiss Zhang. By 1582, Wanli was a young man of 19 and was tired of the strict routine Zhang still imposed on the emperor since childhood. As such, Wanli was willing to consider dismissing Zhang but before Wanli was able to act, Zhang died in 1582. Overall during these 10 years, the Ming Dynasty's economy and military power prospered in a way not seen since the Yongle Emperor and the "Ren Xuan Rule" from 1402 to 1435. After Zhang's death, Wanli felt that he was free of supervision and reversed many of Zhang's administrative improvements. In 1584, Wanli issued an edict and confiscated all of Zhang's personal wealth and his family members were purged.
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Wei Zhongxian
Wei Zhongxian (Chinese: 魏忠賢) (1568 – October 19, 1627) is considered by most historians as the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history. Originally a hoodlum[citation needed] and gambler, his initial name was Wei Si (魏四, literally, Wei Fourth). He took the step of becoming a eunuch and entering palace service to escape from his creditors, taking the name Li Jinzhong (李进忠). After entering the palace, he got into the service of Madam Ke (客氏), the wet-nurse of the future Ming emperor. The couple began manipulating the Tianqi Emperor, who renamed him Wei Zhongxian. The emperor's favour later gave Wei absolute power over the court.
Wei persecuted anyone who opposed his decisions, resulting in the death and imprisonment of many officials. He later proclaimed himself to be Nine-Thousand Years (九千歲) which meant that he was symbolically the second most important person in the country, just after the emperor, who is called the Ten-Thousand Years (萬歲). Wei also built many shrines (生祠) and erected god-like statues of himself in them. In 1627, his control of the court ended with the death of the Tianqi Emperor, whose brother and successor promptly eliminated him. He was forced to commit suicide (some sources say executed by strangulation) and his corpse was disembowelled.
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Wen Zhengming
Wen Zhengming (simplified Chinese: 文征明; traditional Chinese: 文徵明; pinyin: Wén Zhēngmíng; Wade–Giles: Wen Cheng-ming, 1470–1559) was a leading Ming Dynasty painter, calligrapher, and scholar.
Born in present-day Suzhou, he claimed to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty prime minister and patriot Wen Tianxiang. Wen’s family was originally from Hengyang, Hunan, where his family had established itself shortly after the 10th century. Not until the time of Wen's great-grandfather, Wen Hui, a military officer, did the family move to the Suzhou area.
Wen often chose painting subjects of great simplicity, like a single tree or rock. His work often brings about a feeling of strength through isolation, which often reflected his discontent with official life. Many of his works also celebrate the contexts of elite social life for which they were created. He collaborated in the design of the Humble Administrator's Garden, generally considered one of China's four greatest gardens.
Wintry trees after Li Cheng
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Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui (Chinese: 吳三桂; pinyin: Wú Sānguì; Wade–Giles: Wu San-kuei; style name Changbai (長白) or Changbo (長伯); 1612 – October 2, 1678) was a Chinese military general who was instrumental in the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644. Considered by traditional scholars as a traitor to both Ming, and ultimately, Qing, Wu in 1678 declared himself Emperor of China and ruler of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but his revolt was eventually quelled by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
Wu was born in Gaoyou, Jiangsu province to Wu Xiang (吳襄) and Lady Zu. Under the patronage of his father Wu Xiang and maternal uncle Zu Dashou, he quickly rose to the rank of full General (Zong Bing) at the young age of 27.
He was one of the generals in 1640 at the Battle of Songjin, in which Qing forces defeated the Ming armies. He, however, escaped capture.
In 1644, Wu opened the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhai Pass to let Qing forces into China proper.
He did not side with the Qing Dynasty until after the defensive capability of the Ming Dynasty had been greatly weakened and its political apparatus virtually destroyed by the rebel armies of Li Zicheng. Indeed, Wu was about to join the rebel forces of Li, who had already sacked the Ming capital Beijing, when he heard that his concubine Chen Yuanyuan and her father had been taken into custody by Li. Enraged, Wu contacted and negotiated with the Qing leader Dorgon, negotiations which resulted in the opening of the gates of the Great Wall. Qing forces swept through the gates and on to Beijing.
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Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (simplified Chinese: 武则天; traditional Chinese: 武則天; pinyin: Wǔ Zétiān, Mandarin pronunciation: [ù tsɯ̯ʌ̌ tʰi̯ɛ́n]) (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao (武曌), often referred to as Tian Hou (天后) during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu (武后, Wǔ Hòu) in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant (Huangdi). As de facto ruler of China first through her husband and her sons from 665 to 690, not unprecedented in Chinese history, she then broke all precedents when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhou (周) (interrupting the Tang Dynasty), and ruled personally under the name Sacred and Divine Empress Regnant (聖神皇帝) and variations thereof from 690 to 705. Her rise and reign has been criticized harshly by Confucian historians but has been viewed in a different light after the 1950s.
Wu was born in Lizhou (利州) (modern day Guangyuan City in Sichuan Province) in 624, the seventh year of Emperor Gaozu of Tang’s reign. In the same year, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible across China. Her father Wu Shihuo was engaged in the timber business and the family was relatively well off. During the final years of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan (李淵) (who would go on to become Emperor Gaozu of Tang), whilst holding appointments in both Hedong and Taiyuan, Li stayed in the Wu household many times and became close to the Wu family. After Li Yuan overthrew Emperor Yang, he was generous to the Wu family, providing them with money, grain, land and clothing. Once the Tang Dynasty became established, Wu Shihou held a succession of senior ministerial posts including governor of Yangzhou, Lizhou and Jingzhou (荊州) (modern day Jiangling County, Hubei Province).
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Xie Jin
Xie Jin (simplified Chinese: 谢晋; traditional Chinese: 謝晉; pinyin: Xiè Jìn; November 21, 1923 – October 18, 2008) was an important Chinese film director. He rose to prominence in 1957, directing the film Woman Basketball Player No. 5. Most recently he was known for the direction of The Opium War.
Xie was a popular director amongst the older generations of Chinese, with six of his films being voted Best Picture in the Hundred Flowers Awards. He was the only Chinese director to date to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Directors Guild of America.
Xie was born in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. He spent his childhood in his hometown, and attended primary school for one year there. In the 1930s, he moved to Shanghai with his parents and continued his education. In 1938, he followed his father to Hong Kong and studied there for one year. When returning to Shanghai in 1939, Xie enrolled in Daxia Affiliated High School and Jishan High School. In leisure time, Xie took courses at Huaguang Drama School and Jinxing Film Training School. His teachers included Huang Zuolin and Wu Renzhi. Meanwhile, he participated students drama activities led by Yu Ling, and acted as Yue Yun in multi-stage play Yue Yun.
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Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi (1562–1633), was a Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, agricultural scientist, astronomer, and mathematician in the Ming Dynasty. Xu was a colleague and collaborator of the Italian Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Sabatino de Ursis and they translated several classic Western texts into Chinese, including part of Euclid's Elements. He was also the author of the Nong Zheng Quan Shu, one of the first comprehensive treatises on the subject of agriculture. He was one of the "Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism".
Xu Guangqi was born into a relatively poor family in Shanghai on April 24, 1562. His father, Xu Sicheng, was in difficult financial situation when Guangqi was a child, and had to support the family with a small vegetable farm, but apparently still earned enough to be able to send his son to school at the age of six. Xu received the equivalent of his bachelor's degree at nineteen, but did not receive higher degrees until his thirties. Afterwards, he spent the majority of his time in positions of high office serving the Ming court. When he died, he held positions of Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet (内阁次辅) and Minister of Rites (礼部尚书) (Minister of Culture/Education/Foreign Affairs). He lived in a period when Chinese mathematics had gone into decline. The earlier efforts at algebra had been almost forgotten. Xu blamed some of the failures on a decline in interest of practical science in China and became something of a critic of Chinese society.
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Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake (Chinese: 徐霞客; pinyin: Xú Xiákè; Wade–Giles: Hsü Hsiak'o, January 5, 1587 – March 8, 1641), born Xu Hongzu (徐弘祖), courtesy name Zhenzhi (振之), was a Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery and humility. He traveled throughout China for more than 30 years, documenting his travels extensively. The records of his travels were compiled posthumously in The Travel Diaries Xu Xiake, and his work translated by Ding Wenjiang. Xu's writing falls under the old Chinese literary category of 'travel record literature' ('youji wenxue'“遊記文學”), which used narrative and prose styles of writing to portray one's travel experiences.
With ancestors from Jiangxi province, Xu Xiake was born in what is today Jiangyin (in Jiangsu province) as Xu Hongzu (宏祖), as the second son of Xu Yu'an (徐豫庵, 1545–1694) and Wang Ruren (王孺人, 1545–1625). It was often said his mother encouraged him to travel and this shaped Xu's predilections. His sobriquet is Zhenzhi (振之). Xiake was an alternate sobriquet (別號) given to him by his friend Chen Jiru (陳繼儒, 1558–1639) and it means "one who is in the sunset clouds". His other friend, Huang Daozhou (黃道周, 1585–1646), also gave Xu an alternate sobriquet: Xiayi (霞逸), meaning "untrammelled in the sunset clouds."
wn.com/Xu_Xiake -
Xuande Emperor
The Xuande Emperor (宣德 [ɕɥántɤ̌]; Beijing, 16 March 1399 – 31 January 1435) was Emperor of China from 1425 to 1435. His era name means "Proclamation of Virtue".
Born Zhu Zhanji, he was the eldest son of the Hongxi Emperor and Empress Cheng Xiao Zhao. Xuande was also fond of poetry and literature. Unlike his father, the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426-35) decided to keep Beijing as the capital and rule the dynasty in the style of his grandfather, Yongle. He ordered Zheng He to lead another maritime expedition to continue the Yongle Emperor's golden age.
Xuande's uncle Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han had been a favorite of Yongle for his military successes, but he disobeyed imperial instructions and in 1417 had been exiled to the small fief of Le'an in Shandong. When Zhu Gaoxu revolted, the new emperor Xuande took 20,000 soldiers and attacked him at Le'an. Zhu Gaoxu surrendered soon afterward. Zhu Gaoxu was reduced to a commoner and died from torture. Six hundred rebelling officials were executed, and 2,200 were banished. The Emperor did not wish to execute his uncle at the start, but later events angered the Emperor so much, that Zhu Gaoxu was executed through fire torture, and all Zhu Gaoxu's sons were executed as well. It is very likely that Zhu Gaoxu's arrogance, which is well detailed in many historic texts, offended the Emperor. A theory states that when the Emperor went to visit his uncle, Zhu Gaoxu intentionally tripped the Emperor.
wn.com/Xuande_Emperor -
Yao people
The Yao nationality (its great majority branch is also known as Mien; Traditional Chinese: 瑤族, Simplified Chinese: 瑶族, Pinyin: Yáo zú; Vietnamese: người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south. They also form one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognized by Vietnam. In the last census in 2000, they numbered 2,637,421 in China, and roughly 470,000 in Vietnam.
The origins of the Yao can be traced back 2,000 years ago, starting in Hunan Province. The Yao and Miao people were among the rebels during the Miao Rebellions against the Ming dynasty. Around 1890 the Guangdong government started taking action against Yao in northwestern Guangdong.
Some members of the Yao minority live in Wugang, Hunan. One branch of the Wugang Yao were known as "Tang" (擋). The hill lands of Hunan are home to Yao tribes. Yao working in agriculture usually learn the dialect of Chinese of the Han Chinese who employed them.
wn.com/Yao_people -
Ye Chunji
Ye Chunji (Chinese: 葉春及; 1532–1595) was a Chinese county official during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) of China.
He was a native of Guangdong province and served as a county official of Huian County in Fujian province. Although topographic features were part of maps in China for centuries, Ye was the first to base county maps on on-site topographical surveying and observations. His career was sidelined for seventeen years after he became a victim of political vengeance. He came up with a model of county commerce with goods of greatest, great, and lesser importance—the latter being non-subsistence surplus goods that could be traded out of the county for commercial profit.
He issued an order to limit wedding expenses in the 1570s, stating "The frugal man with only one bar of silver currency can have something left over, whereas the extravagant man with a thousand can still not have enough". However, the elites of Huian county and others did not care much for fiscally conservative warnings such as this, and flaunted their wealth in silver.
wn.com/Ye_Chunji -
Yi Xing
Yi Xing (Chinese: 一行; pinyin: Yī Xíng; Wade–Giles: I-Hsing, 683–727), born Zhang Sui (traditional Chinese: 張遂; simplified Chinese: 张遂), was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, mechanical engineer,and Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). His astronomical celestial globe featured a clockwork escapement mechanism, the first in a long tradition of Chinese astronomical clockworks.
In the early 8th century, the Tang court put Yi Xing in charge of a terrestrial-astronomical survey. This survey had many purposes. It was established in order to obtain new astronomical data that would aid in the prediction of solar eclipses. The survey was also initiated so that flaws in the calendar system could be corrected and a new, updated calendar installed in its place. The survey was also essential in determining the measurement of the length of meridian arc. This would resolve the confusion created by the earlier practice of using the difference between shadow lengths of the sun observed at the same time at two places to determine the ground distance between them. This was the same process used by the ancient Greek Eratosthenes (276–196 BC).
wn.com/Yi_Xing -
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor (Traditional Chinese: 永樂帝; Simplified Chinese: 永乐帝; pinyin: Yǒnglèdì; Wade-Giles: Yung-lo Ti; IPA: [jʊ̀ŋlɤ̂]) (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), born Zhu Di (朱棣), was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".
He was the Prince of Yan (燕王), possessing a heavy military base in Beijing. He became known as Chengzu of Ming Dynasty (明成祖 also written Cheng Zu, or Ch'eng Tsu (Cheng Tsu) in Wade-Giles) after becoming emperor (self title). He became emperor by conspiring to usurp the throne which was against Hongwu Emperor's wishes.
He moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing where it was located in the following generations, and constructed the Forbidden City there. After its dilapidation and disuse during the Yuan Dynasty and Hongwu's reign, the Yongle Emperor had the Grand Canal of China repaired and reopened in order to supply the new capital of Beijing in the north with a steady flow of goods and southern food supplies. He commissioned most of the exploratory sea voyages of Zheng He. During his reign the monumental Yongle Encyclopedia was completed. Although his father Zhu Yuanzhang was reluctant to do so when he was emperor, Yongle upheld the civil service examinations for drafting educated government officials instead of using simple recommendation and appointment.
wn.com/Yongle_Emperor -
Yu Qian
Yu Qian (Chinese: 于謙; pinyin: Yú Qiān; Wade–Giles: Yu Ch'ien) (1398–1457), a native of Qiantang (modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang province), was a Chinese Defence Minister during the Ming dynasty.
He is best known for saving China when the Zhengtong Emperor fought the Mongol leader Esen Tayisi in 1449 and was taken prisoner at the Tumu Crisis. The Mongol armies came within 80 km of the capital Beijing at which point the Jingtai Emperor was installed as ruler of China. Yu Qian, as the de-facto Defence Minister, took control of troops, repelling the Mongol invasion. After the Zhengtong Emperor was released and his plot to regain the throne succeeded, Yu was slandered as a traitor and executed along with many of the highly ranked officials in the Jingtai Emperor regime, but his rank was restored posthumously. He is considered by many to be a Chinese hero.
wn.com/Yu_Qian -
Yuan Hongdao
Yuan Hongdao (Chinese: 袁宏道; pinyin: Yuán Hóngdào; Wade–Giles: Yüan Hung-tao, 1568–1610) was Chinese poet of the Ming Dynasty, and one of the Three Yuan Brothers. His life spanned nearly the whole of the Wanli period (1573-1620) in Chinese history. Yuan was from Gong'an in Hukuang. His family had been military officials for generations. Yuan showed an interest in literature from youth and formed his own literary club at age fifteen. At the age of twenty-four in 1592 he took the chin-shih examination and subsequently received an official position in 1595. However he quit out of boredom after a year. Yuan traveled and consulted with the radical philosopher Li Zhi. On another trip his brothers joined him. Hu's elder brother was a Buddhist-Confucianist synchronist. His travels resulted in his publishing a poetry compilation Jietuo ji [Collection of One Released]. His and his two brothers' poetry, which focused on clarity and sincerity, produced a following eventually known as the Gong'an school, the central belief of which was that good writing was a result of genuine emotions and personal experience. When one of his brothers died in 1600, Yuan retired to a small island in a lake to meditate and write poetry. The resulting work is Xiaobi tangji [Jade-Green Bamboo Hall Collection].
wn.com/Yuan_Hongdao -
Yuan Zhongdao
Yuan Zhongdao 袁中道(Yüan Chung-tao), (1570 – 1624), Chinese poet, essayist, travel diarist and official was born in Kung-an in Hukuang. He shares his fame with two other brothers, Yuan Zongdao (1560–1600) and Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610). The three brothers dominated the literature of the period. From a family of financial means, they printed and distributed their own works. The youngest of the brothers, Yüan Zhongdao, took years in his pursuit of a civil-service examination degree. The brothers were all openly ambivalent about social position. Yuan Zhongdao spent quantities of money on boats for his extended excursions. His brothers and their families were haunted by disease. Yuan Zhongdao’s own life was a story of breakdown at the cumulative stress of family deaths and repeated failure at the civil service examination. Yuan Zhongdao’s principal health problem was perhaps tuberculosis. Yuan Zhongdao would record extremes of mood within even a daily period suggesting perhaps bipolar disorder. Yuan Zhongdao was denied the complete rest he needed for such a condition due to pressing family needs. Yuan’s diary, Yu chü-fei lu (Travels on Board a Boat) is his literary monument. Yuan’s precarious physical and psychological condition provided the background for his preoccupation with longevity and stress avoidance. He avoided a Buddhistic vegetarian diet, perceiving a need for protein in his diet. Excessive drinking and too many wives were other perceived impediments. His travel diary is full of such detail. Yuan records an early reading of the celebrated novel Jin Ping Mei (Golden Lotus). He was likewise associated with the radical philosopher Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602) and his espousals of popular literature. Likewise Yuan Zhongdao had the acquaintance of the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610). In 1616 he passed the Imperial examination and obtained a succession of official posts.
wn.com/Yuan_Zhongdao -
Zhang Juzheng
Zhang Juzheng (simplified Chinese: 张居正; traditional Chinese: 張居正; pinyin: Zhāng Jūzhèng; Wade–Giles: Chang Chü-cheng) (1525–1582), courtesy name: Shuda (叔大), pseudonym: Taiyue (太岳), was a powerful Grand Secretary in the Ming Dynasty under the Longqing and Wanli emperors. Zhang was born in Jiangling County, SouthWest of Jingzhou, Hubei province, China and died in Beijing.
Zhang Juzheng was embroiled in a deep political turmoil from the very start. He assisted his mentor Xu Jie in defeating Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan who in turn defeated Xia Yan who defeated Zhang Song who defeated Yang Shouhe. He formed a temporary alliance with Gao Gong before allying himself to the eunuch Feng Bao to overtake Gao Gong as Chief Privy Councillor with the support of the Emperor, enacting perhaps one of the most sophisticated political struggles in recorded history.
His benevolent rule and strong foreign and economic policies are considered to have brought the Ming Dynasty to its peak. He is credited with centralizing government, limiting special privileges, and reclaiming tax-exempt land. Zhang also played a very important role as mentor and regent during the early years of the reign of Emperor Wanli. He strongly influenced the young emperor and guided Wanli through his teenage years. However after Zhang died in 1582, many of his reforms and policies were ignored which slowly led to the disintegration of the dynasty in the years ahead. After his death, his family was purged and his wealth and estate confiscated on the Emperor's order. Zhang's reputation would only be rehabilitated more than half a century later, just before the downfall of the Ming dynasty.
wn.com/Zhang_Juzheng -
Zhang Xianzhong
Zhang Xianzhong or Chang Hsien-chung (simplified Chinese: 张献忠; traditional Chinese: 張獻忠; pinyin: Zhāng Xiànzhōng) (September 18, 1606 – January 2, 1647), nicknamed Yellow Tiger, was a Chinese rebel leader who conquered Sichuan Province in the middle of the 17th century. Upon capturing it, he declared himself emperor of the Daxi Dynasty (大西王朝).
According to Chinese chronicles[citation needed], many scholars rejected that claim, so he had them massacred. After killing the scholars, he went after the women, merchants, and all the officials. Then he had his soldiers kill each other and the officers' wives' feet cut off and put on top of a mound.
Zhang Xianzhong was obsessed with ears and feet[citation needed], so he had his own personal guards retrieve the ears and feet of the people killed in the outlying districts in order to count how many people they killed there. After the massacre was over, he supposedly had a stele, which came to be known as the Seven Kill Stele (七殺碑), erected in an important part of Chengdu with the following inscription:
wn.com/Zhang_Xianzhong -
Zheng He
Zheng He (1371–1433; simplified Chinese: 郑和; traditional Chinese: 鄭和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé), also known as Ma Sanbao (simplified Chinese: 马三宝; traditional Chinese: 馬三寶) and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin (Arabic: حاجي محمود شمس الدين) was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and the Horn of Africa collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from 1405 to 1433.
Zheng, born as Ma He (馬和 / 马和), was the second son of a Muslim family which also had four daughters, from Kunyang, present day Jinning, just south of Kunming near the southwest corner of Lake Dian in Yunnan.
He was the great great great grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a Persian who served in the administration of the Mongolian Empire and was appointed governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan Dynasty. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather carried the title of Hajji, which indicates they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His great-grandfather was named Bayan and may have been a member of a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.
wn.com/Zheng_He -
Zheng Zhilong
Zheng Zhilong (Chinese: 鄭芝龍; pinyin: Zhèng Zhīlóng; Wade–Giles: Cheng Chih-lung; 1604 – 1661) also known as Nicholas Iquan Gaspard, a native of Nan'an, Fujian, China. He was a Chinese merchant, pirate and admiral for the Ming Empire. He was the father of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), also a military leader. Under the Qing Dynasty, Zheng was elevated to the rank of Count of the Second Rank. His company was known as Iquan's Party.
Zheng was born in Nan'an, Fujian, the son of Zheng Shaozu (鄭紹祖), a mid-level financial official for the Quanzhou government, and Zheng Shaozu's wife Lady Huang (黃氏). Contemporary biographies tell a possibly apocryphal story of how when Zheng was a child, he and his brothers wanted to eat longan fruit. They found a fruit tree in an enclosed courtyard but whose branches hung over the top of the wall into the street. They threw stones in the hope of knocking some of the fruit clusters loose. It happened to be the courtyard of the governor of Quanzhou City, and he was struck by the stones. The boys ran but were caught and hauled before the governor. Due to the child's age and apparent charisma, the governor forgave Zheng and released him, saying "This is the face of one destined for wealth and nobility." The story may or may not be true, but it encapsulated the character of Zhilong: he ran wild, grasped at low hanging fruit, got in trouble, and came out the better for it.
wn.com/Zheng_Zhilong -
Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor (正德 [tʂə̂ŋtɤ̌]) (26 October 1491 – 20 April 1521) was emperor of China between 1505-1521 in the mid Ming Dynasty. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. His era name means "Right virtue" or "Rectification of virtue".
Zhengde was created crown prince at a very early age and because his father did not take up any other concubines, Zhengde did not have to contend with other princes for the throne. (His younger brother died in infancy.) Zhengde was thoroughly educated in Confucian literature and he excelled in his studies. Many of Emperor Hongzhi's ministers expected that Zhengde would become a benevolent and brilliant emperor like his father, but this was not to be.
Zhengde ascended the throne and was married to the Empress at the age of 14. Unlike his father, Zhengde was not interested in ruling or his Empress and disregarded all state affairs. His actions have been considered reckless, foolish or pointless. There are many instances where he showed a lack of responsibility.
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Zhengtong Emperor
Zhu Qizhen ( 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464) was the last emperor of the early Ming Dynasty and first emperor in the middle Ming Dynasty. He ruled as the Zhengtong Emperor (正統 IPA: [tʂɤ̂ŋtʰʊ̀ŋ]) from 1435 to 1449, and as the Tianshun Emperor (天順) from 1457 to 1464. His first era name means "Right governance" and the second one means "Obedient to Heaven".
Zhu Qizhen was the son of the Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji and his second wife, Empress Sun. At the beginning of Zhengtong's reign, the Ming Dynasty was prosperous and at the height of its power as a result of Xuande Emperor's able administration. Zhengtong's accession at the age of eight made him the first child emperor of the dynasty hence Zhengtong was easily influenced by others, especially the eunuch Wang Zhen. Zhengtong completely relied on Wang for advice and guidance.
At the age of 22, in 1449, he was imprisoned by the Mongols when, advised by Wang Zhen, he personally directed and lost the Battle of Tumu Fortress against the Mongols under Esen taishi (d.1455). His capture by the enemy force shook the Ming dynasty to its core and the ensuing crisis almost caused the dynasty to collapse had it not been for the capable governing of a prominent minister named Yu Qian. Although Zhengtong was a prisoner of the Mongols, he became a good friend to both Tayisung Khan Toghtoa Bukha (1416–1453) and his grand preceptor (taishi) Esen. Meanwhile, to calm the crisis at home, his younger brother Zhu Qiyu was installed as the Jingtai Emperor. This reduced Zhengtong's imperial status and he was granted the title of "grand emperor".
wn.com/Zhengtong_Emperor -
Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (Chinese: 朱熹, October 18, 1130, Youxi, Fujian Province, China – April 23, 1200, China) was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. His contribution to Chinese philosophy included his assigning special significance to the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean (the Four Books), his emphasis on the investigation of things (gewu), and the synthesis of all fundamental Confucian concepts.
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【New Frontier HQ】 Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:18
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
Channel: CCTV-9 International Program: New Frontier Documentary Date: 2008-12-09 Description: Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg==
http://wn.com/【New_Frontier_HQ】_Chinese_Civilization_17_The_Ming_Dynasty_Part_01
Channel: CCTV-9 International Program: New Frontier Documentary Date: 2008-12-09 Description: Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg==
Ming Dynasty
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:36
- Updated: 08 Feb 2013
Brief History of the Ming Dynasty
http://wn.com/Ming_Dynasty
【Travelogue HQ】 History Special / Ming Dynasty 1/2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:23
- Updated: 05 Feb 2013
Channel: CCTV-News International Program: Travelogue Date: 2009-02-20 Description: History Special / Ming Dynasty 1/2 Video Series ID: aJkYd92Xa98H9CeBuUbLLQ== Multipart Video ID: KYVljHslueIYLfwOuuM+Lw==
http://wn.com/【Travelogue_HQ】_History_Special_Ming_Dynasty_1_2
Channel: CCTV-News International Program: Travelogue Date: 2009-02-20 Description: History Special / Ming Dynasty 1/2 Video Series ID: aJkYd92Xa98H9CeBuUbLLQ== Multipart Video ID: KYVljHslueIYLfwOuuM+Lw==
- published: 16 Aug 2011
- views: 3804
- author: cctv9travelogue
The Evolution of Chinese Armor 5: Ming & Qing Dynasty
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:41
- Updated: 28 Jan 2013
Ming Dynasty revised video: www.youtube.com Musics: 风的誓言Fearless Soundtrack 武术精神The Warlord Soundtrack Shaolin Soccer - The Cup References: 画说中国历代甲胄(Illustrate Ancient Chinese Armor) by David Chen 陈大威e9studio.com tieba.baidu.com www.madefuns.com madefuns.com blog.udn.com www.ws61.com www.360doc.com hfsword.com wiudwing.blogspot.com www.chinahistoryforum.com www.360doc.com steppes.proboards.com bbs.tiexue.net
http://wn.com/The_Evolution_of_Chinese_Armor_5_Ming_Qing_Dynasty
Ming Dynasty revised video: www.youtube.com Musics: 风的誓言Fearless Soundtrack 武术精神The Warlord Soundtrack Shaolin Soccer - The Cup References: 画说中国历代甲胄(Illustrate Ancient Chinese Armor) by David Chen 陈大威e9studio.com tieba.baidu.com www.madefuns.com madefuns.com blog.udn.com www.ws61.com www.360doc.com hfsword.com wiudwing.blogspot.com www.chinahistoryforum.com www.360doc.com steppes.proboards.com bbs.tiexue.net
- published: 26 Nov 2010
- views: 14098
- author: firearthwater
Chinese Empire-- the Great Wall, The Qin, Han, Ming Dynasties and PRC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:58
- Updated: 13 Feb 2013
Engineering the Chinese Empire-- the Great Wall, The Qin Army, Han, Ming Naval Power and PRC--Clips from the History Channel.
http://wn.com/Chinese_Empire-_the_Great_Wall,_The_Qin,_Han,_Ming_Dynasties_and_PRC
Engineering the Chinese Empire-- the Great Wall, The Qin Army, Han, Ming Naval Power and PRC--Clips from the History Channel.
- published: 09 Nov 2008
- views: 40433
- author: americaninjustice
[New Frontier HQ] Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 1/2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:38
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Date: 2008-12-09 Resolution: HQ Program: New Frontier Series: Chinese Civilization Episode: Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 1/2 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg== Multipart Video ID: a07vrafDaxfz+BhkTb3jNw==
http://wn.com/_New_Frontier_HQ_Chinese_Civilization_17_The_Ming_Dynasty_Part_01_1_2
Date: 2008-12-09 Resolution: HQ Program: New Frontier Series: Chinese Civilization Episode: Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming Dynasty / Part 01 1/2 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg== Multipart Video ID: a07vrafDaxfz+BhkTb3jNw==
- published: 20 Aug 2011
- views: 2612
- author: cctv9documentary
【New Frontier HQ】 Chinese Civilization (18) The Ming Dynasty / Part 02
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 26:17
- Updated: 31 Jan 2013
Channel: CCTV-9 International Program: New Frontier Documentary Date: 2008-12-10 Description: Chinese Civilization (18) The Ming Dynasty / Part 02 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg==
http://wn.com/【New_Frontier_HQ】_Chinese_Civilization_18_The_Ming_Dynasty_Part_02
Channel: CCTV-9 International Program: New Frontier Documentary Date: 2008-12-10 Description: Chinese Civilization (18) The Ming Dynasty / Part 02 Video Series ID: k2wQCetndxyJ2pncXTN6Yg==
- published: 10 Oct 2011
- views: 6349
- author: cctv9documentary
Carter Wong in Heroes of the Ming Dynasty (1975)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 89:41
- Updated: 22 Jan 2013
Cast: Tin Peng (Tien Pung) || Polly Kuan || Pai Ying (Bai Ying) || Ngai Ping-Ngo (Wei Ping-Au) || Barry Chan || Carter Wong Ka-Tat || Tin Hok || Han Ying-Chieh || Kwan Hung || Shan Mao || Yuen Sam || Au Lap-Bo || Chow Jun || So Kwok-Leung || Lee Ying || Cheung Wai || Yeung Lit || Woo Hon-Cheung || Ma Chun || Lam Mong-Nam || Ng Kwan
http://wn.com/Carter_Wong_in_Heroes_of_the_Ming_Dynasty_1975
Cast: Tin Peng (Tien Pung) || Polly Kuan || Pai Ying (Bai Ying) || Ngai Ping-Ngo (Wei Ping-Au) || Barry Chan || Carter Wong Ka-Tat || Tin Hok || Han Ying-Chieh || Kwan Hung || Shan Mao || Yuen Sam || Au Lap-Bo || Chow Jun || So Kwok-Leung || Lee Ying || Cheung Wai || Yeung Lit || Woo Hon-Cheung || Ma Chun || Lam Mong-Nam || Ng Kwan
- published: 19 Dec 2012
- views: 2911
- author: ShuPei51
Rome Total War Battles of Asia Mod: Ming Dynasty v. Japan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:35
- Updated: 16 Jan 2013
This is just a random battle using the battles of asia mod normal difficulty.
http://wn.com/Rome_Total_War_Battles_of_Asia_Mod_Ming_Dynasty_v_Japan
This is just a random battle using the battles of asia mod normal difficulty.
- published: 18 Oct 2011
- views: 3426
- author: Rata11111111
Ming Dynasty
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:03
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
The Ming Dynasty was the last Han Chinese dynasty of Imperial China. The Ming, under the first Emperor Hongwu, came to power with the decline and fall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. The Ming era is often considered the peak of Chinese government efficiency. It was also during the Ming reign that the famous "Treasure Fleet" of Admiral Zheng He made its epic voyage. The Ming Dynasty declined, fell into turmoil and was finally overthrown by the Manchu Qing Dynasty that would see the Chinese Empire to its end.
http://wn.com/Ming_Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty was the last Han Chinese dynasty of Imperial China. The Ming, under the first Emperor Hongwu, came to power with the decline and fall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. The Ming era is often considered the peak of Chinese government efficiency. It was also during the Ming reign that the famous "Treasure Fleet" of Admiral Zheng He made its epic voyage. The Ming Dynasty declined, fell into turmoil and was finally overthrown by the Manchu Qing Dynasty that would see the Chinese Empire to its end.
- published: 22 Jul 2009
- views: 11238
- author: MadMonarchist
Roey Marquis 2, Chabs, Lunafrow, Twister & Profan 78 - Ming Dynasty
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:24
- Updated: 01 Feb 2013
Fetter Track vom Juice Sampler
http://wn.com/Roey_Marquis_2,_Chabs,_Lunafrow,_Twister_Profan_78_Ming_Dynasty
Ming Dynasty cast interview part 2 of 4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:59
- Updated: 05 Mar 2012
part 2 of 4
http://wn.com/Ming_Dynasty_cast_interview_part_2_of_4
Ming Nativism and the Local Turn
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 55:27
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
UC Berkeley's Frederic Wakeman, widely regarded as one of the world's finest China scholars, gave what turned out to be his last public lecture series on the history of China in April, 2006. In Part Two of this series, Wakeman examines the Manchu conquest of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644.) . The Wakeman series is presented by the Institute for International, Comparative and Area Studies at UC San Diego. [12/2006] [Humanities] [Show ID: 11711]
http://wn.com/Ming_Nativism_and_the_Local_Turn
UC Berkeley's Frederic Wakeman, widely regarded as one of the world's finest China scholars, gave what turned out to be his last public lecture series on the history of China in April, 2006. In Part Two of this series, Wakeman examines the Manchu conquest of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644.) . The Wakeman series is presented by the Institute for International, Comparative and Area Studies at UC San Diego. [12/2006] [Humanities] [Show ID: 11711]
- published: 03 Jan 2008
- views: 2249
- author: UCtelevision
China Trip: Dragon Dance at the Ming Dynasty Village
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:14
- Updated: 13 Feb 2013
This is a video showing the dragon dance at the Ming Dynasty village.
http://wn.com/China_Trip_Dragon_Dance_at_the_Ming_Dynasty_Village
This is a video showing the dragon dance at the Ming Dynasty village.
- published: 12 May 2007
- views: 151183
- author: Mandificus
Cantonese Opera 帝女花- The Last Royal Blood of Ming Dynasty.wmv
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:39
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
It tells the tragic story of (帝女花) Princess Chang Ping's joint-suicide with her bridegroom on their wedding night. This tragic event occurs during the end of the Ming Dynasty,and the invasion of the Manchus
http://wn.com/Cantonese_Opera_帝女花_The_Last_Royal_Blood_of_Ming_Dynastywmv
It tells the tragic story of (帝女花) Princess Chang Ping's joint-suicide with her bridegroom on their wedding night. This tragic event occurs during the end of the Ming Dynasty,and the invasion of the Manchus
- published: 13 Oct 2010
- views: 7843
- author: Alan Chin
Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty Trailer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:40
- Updated: 01 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Power_and_Glory_Court_Arts_of_China's_Ming_Dynasty_Trailer
MING TOMBS,BEIJING
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:22
- Updated: 17 Aug 2012
50 KILOMETERS NORTHWEST FROM BEIJING CITY LIES THE MING TOMBS,THE GENERAL NAME GIVEN TO THE MAUSOLEUMS OF 13 EMPERORS OF THE MING DYNASTY(1383-1644). AFTER PASSING THROUGH THE CEREMONIAL GATES,VISITORS WALK THROUGH THE SPRIT AVENUE,GUARDED 36 STATUES CARVED IN THE 15th CENTURY,THE STATUES INCLUDE 24 ANIMALS AND 12 HUMANS.
http://wn.com/MING_TOMBS,BEIJING
50 KILOMETERS NORTHWEST FROM BEIJING CITY LIES THE MING TOMBS,THE GENERAL NAME GIVEN TO THE MAUSOLEUMS OF 13 EMPERORS OF THE MING DYNASTY(1383-1644). AFTER PASSING THROUGH THE CEREMONIAL GATES,VISITORS WALK THROUGH THE SPRIT AVENUE,GUARDED 36 STATUES CARVED IN THE 15th CENTURY,THE STATUES INCLUDE 24 ANIMALS AND 12 HUMANS.
- published: 24 Aug 2008
- views: 1941
- author: JONSYBOY
Iconic: Ming Tomb
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:16
- Updated: 09 Aug 2012
Legendary in Chinese history, General Zu Dashou was celebrated for his defence of the Ming dynasty against the Manchu invasion. The Tomb of General Zu Dashou (Ming Tomb) now stands in the Gallery of Chinese Architecture at the Royal Ontario Museum and is one of the Museum's iconic objects.
http://wn.com/Iconic_Ming_Tomb
Legendary in Chinese history, General Zu Dashou was celebrated for his defence of the Ming dynasty against the Manchu invasion. The Tomb of General Zu Dashou (Ming Tomb) now stands in the Gallery of Chinese Architecture at the Royal Ontario Museum and is one of the Museum's iconic objects.
- published: 19 Mar 2009
- views: 10069
- author: RoyalOntarioMuseum
THE MING NECROPOLIS The Ming Dynasty Tombs China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:32
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
A dignified pavilion rises behind the main entrance of the magnificent Ming Necropolis, which is located 50km northwest of Beijing. Seven kilometres long, the holy avenue, 'Spirit Way', of the Ming Necropolis is lined with numerous beautiful stone figures. Dingling, the mausoleum of the 13th Ming Emperor, Wanli, is one of three restored grave sites where elegant stairs, decorated with beautiful stone masonry, lead up to the terrestrial section of the mausoleum. According to ancient Chinese tradition, an earthly section had to be built for the soul of the dead, in which the soul would be comforted. For this reason, the magnificent buildings and great halls were designed in the style of the emperor's palace. The expenditure for the royal funerals was without limit and it took almost six years and around 30000 workers to build the grave complex for Emperor Wanli. Changling is the largest mausoleum of the Necropolis and was built for Emperor Yongle, who reigned during the beginning of the 15th century. But this extremely well restored grave site has a darker side to it. Together with the Emperor, it is believed that 30 living concubines were buried in this grave.
http://wn.com/THE_MING_NECROPOLIS_The_Ming_Dynasty_Tombs_China
A dignified pavilion rises behind the main entrance of the magnificent Ming Necropolis, which is located 50km northwest of Beijing. Seven kilometres long, the holy avenue, 'Spirit Way', of the Ming Necropolis is lined with numerous beautiful stone figures. Dingling, the mausoleum of the 13th Ming Emperor, Wanli, is one of three restored grave sites where elegant stairs, decorated with beautiful stone masonry, lead up to the terrestrial section of the mausoleum. According to ancient Chinese tradition, an earthly section had to be built for the soul of the dead, in which the soul would be comforted. For this reason, the magnificent buildings and great halls were designed in the style of the emperor's palace. The expenditure for the royal funerals was without limit and it took almost six years and around 30000 workers to build the grave complex for Emperor Wanli. Changling is the largest mausoleum of the Necropolis and was built for Emperor Yongle, who reigned during the beginning of the 15th century. But this extremely well restored grave site has a darker side to it. Together with the Emperor, it is believed that 30 living concubines were buried in this grave.
- published: 16 Jun 2009
- views: 1754
- author: TravelVideoStore
![【滿清十三皇朝（一）】插曲Subtheme for [Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (Season 1)]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130214013228im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PFbsgk8nMyA/default.jpg "【滿清十三皇朝（一）】插曲Subtheme for [Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (Season 1)]")
【滿清十三皇朝（一）】插曲Subtheme for [Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (Season 1)]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Updated: 30 Jan 2013
TRANSLATION NOTES & COMMENTS: xiyouji0607.blog.com 英文翻譯Eng subs In 1583, Jurchen warrior Nurhaci begins a long path of conquering China, beginning with an army of less than a hundred against the Manchu traitor Nikan Wailan, who serves the oppressive Ming regime and is responsible for most of his family's death. Nurhaci's grandfather was a Ming Dynasty official, only to be killed by mistake during suppression of a Jurchen rebellion. The Ming Court merely compensated Nurhaci for the loss but did not put Nikan and all others involved to death. Nurhaci swears revenge, unites the Jurchen tribes divided by Ming's Jurchen policy, and eventually rules China.
http://wn.com/【滿清十三皇朝（一）】插曲Subtheme_for_Rise_and_Fall_of_Qing_Dynasty_Season_1_
TRANSLATION NOTES & COMMENTS: xiyouji0607.blog.com 英文翻譯Eng subs In 1583, Jurchen warrior Nurhaci begins a long path of conquering China, beginning with an army of less than a hundred against the Manchu traitor Nikan Wailan, who serves the oppressive Ming regime and is responsible for most of his family's death. Nurhaci's grandfather was a Ming Dynasty official, only to be killed by mistake during suppression of a Jurchen rebellion. The Ming Court merely compensated Nurhaci for the loss but did not put Nikan and all others involved to death. Nurhaci swears revenge, unites the Jurchen tribes divided by Ming's Jurchen policy, and eventually rules China.
- published: 01 Aug 2012
- views: 2532
- author: WuxiaMusicExperiment
treasures from the Ming Tomb
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:04
- Updated: 19 Aug 2012
treasures discovered from the Ming Tomb in Beijing
http://wn.com/treasures_from_the_Ming_Tomb
treasures discovered from the Ming Tomb in Beijing
- published: 22 Dec 2006
- views: 3077
- author: ChinaTour
Ming Tomb Part 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:53
- Updated: 28 Jun 2011
Walking down into the Ming Tombs.
http://wn.com/Ming_Tomb_Part_2
Epic drama series "The Winds & Rains of an Empire" opening
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:10
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Title: 江山風雨情This is the opening video of the Chinese historical drama series about the final years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), and its eventual collapse at the hands of the Manchu invaders. The Manchus are an ethnic group from Manchuria in North-Eastern China, who established the Qing Dynasty in 1644 after the fall of Ming dynasty.
http://wn.com/Epic_drama_series_The_Winds_Rains_of_an_Empire_opening
Title: 江山風雨情This is the opening video of the Chinese historical drama series about the final years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), and its eventual collapse at the hands of the Manchu invaders. The Manchus are an ethnic group from Manchuria in North-Eastern China, who established the Qing Dynasty in 1644 after the fall of Ming dynasty.
- published: 10 Apr 2007
- views: 74170
- author: mehnnan
photo: AP / Chris Carlson
13 Feb 2013
Investigators have found charred human remains in a burned out cabin in the mountains above Los Angeles following a fiery standoff with a gunman suspected to be a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer, authorities said. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's department said that identification of the remains would be attempted using forensic analysis ... The tension heightened as the day wore on, and local schools were locked down ... ....(size: 7.1Kb)
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
13 Feb 2013
The UN Security Council has promised action against North Korea over its third nuclear test, calling it a clear threat to international security. At an emergency meeting, the UN said it would begin work on measures to halt the North's nuclear ambitions. The US called the test highly provocative, while China, Pyongyang's sole key ally, said it was strongly dissatisfied ... Continue reading the main story Analysis ... 'Serious threat'....(size: 4.2Kb)
photo: AP / Los Angeles Police Department
11 Feb 2013
A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy searches a home for Christopher Dorner, a former police officer, on Sunday in Big Bear Lake, Calif. (Jae C. Hong, The Associated Press) ... "We will not tolerate anyone undermining the security of the community," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference. "We will not tolerate this reign of terror." ... "He has targeted those we entrust to protect the public." ... Copyright 2012 The Denver Post ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
photo: White House / Pete Souza
13 Feb 2013
Washington - President Barack Obama brought the wounds inflicted by the recent spate of shooting deaths to Congress on Tuesday, ending his State of the Union address with an emotional plea for tougher gun control. Speaking for victims' relatives and gun crime survivors among the guests attending the joint session of Congress, he demanded their voices be heard amid the raucous debate triggered by a spate of bloody mass shootings ... - AFP....(size: 15.2Kb)
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
12 Feb 2013
A magnitude 5.1 “artificial earthquake” was reported near a nuclear test site in North Korea on Tuesday morning, with South Korean Defence Ministry officials telling local media that the seismic activity was the result of a third nuclear test conducted by the reclusive state ... The reported test has, however, not yet been confirmed by North Korean State media ... The move is set to heighten regional tensions ... Keywords....(size: 3.4Kb)
New Straits/Business Times
13 Feb 2013
Inspiring couplets painted on the cloths hint of the obscure origins of the Ngee Heng society that can be traced back to Shaolin monks who were loyal to the Ming emperor ... It is interesting to note that as far back as 1400, the Chinese emperor of the Ming Dynasty was the first to use the word peng as an adjective to describe his army ... ming mu (Ming Tomb) ... Johor Baru’s Chinese community leaders paying their respects at the Ming Tomb....(size: 6.3Kb)
The Times of India
13 Feb 2013
It is called China's Venice of the East for its beautiful waterways and enchanting gardens and is fast emering as one of most popular tourist destinations in China. A part of Jiangsu province, Suzhou has a cultural history of over 2,500 years ... Restaurants, with local food and modern snacks, line up on both sides of the waterways for those who may desire a break and a leisurely snack or meal ... The architecture is that of Ming dynasty ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)
New Straits/Business Times
13 Feb 2013
In Terengganu, Teresa Yong-Leong visits Teng Lang Po heritage site to learn more about the first Chinese settlement in the state. FEW people know that Kampung Cina or Teng Lang Po in Kuala Terengganu was the first Chinese settlement in Terengganu ... This goodwill ambassador of the Ming dynasty was said to have led a huge fleet of about 200 vessels with some 28,000 marine officers and crew to the shores of Kuala Terengganu in 1414 ... ....(size: 7.8Kb)
The Star
11 Feb 2013
Huffington Post
11 Feb 2013
After Winter Storm “Nemo” passed through the Northeast this weekend, snow-bound residents shared these adorable photos of pets in the snow ... A number of discoveries took place as well ... In California, a minivan hit an escaped camel ... The zoo grounds were originally a Ming Dynasty imperial palace and finally opened to the public in 1908 ... The zoo grounds were originally a Ming Dynasty imperial palace and finally opened to the public in 1908 ... ....(size: 17.3Kb)
Jakarta Post
10 Feb 2013
Sindu said Chinese influence came to Indonesia several centuries ago even before Cheng Ho, an admiral from the Ming Dynasty, arrived in Java around 600 years ago. “His arrival was aimed at strengthening the relationship between the Chinese dynasty and the other kingdoms of the world, including in Indonesia,” said Sindu, adding that during the visit of Cheng Ho, the exchange of culture, trade and technology took place ... (ebf)....(size: 2.7Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
10 Feb 2013
Travel protection brand provides tip sheet for China-bound tourists. ATLANTA, Ga. (PRWEB) February 10, 2013 Chinese New Year is fast approaching and the country boasts some very attractive tourist destinations. Protect Your Bubble, travel protection brand, has some tips for those who want to celebrate Chinese New Year in China ... 1. Sichuan – One province in three regions, the center and south have bamboo forests and Ming-Dynasty villages ... ....(size: 4.4Kb)
Huffington Post
09 Feb 2013
For the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the venerable sports publication flew models to every continent, asking them to pose in the cold and the heat, in the dry and damp air. One location used for issue -- the only one already known to the public -- already stands out for its touristic potential. The question is ... The city has been popular with domestic tourists, including emperors, since the Ming Dynasty ... Loading Slideshow ... Like....(size: 5.2Kb)
The Star
09 Feb 2013
The biggest temple fair in southern China, called Jinxiu Zhonghua in Mandarin, offers visitors some of the most traditional and cultural experiences of the Chinese festivity ... But since the Ming dynasty, the fairs have been transformed into marketplaces with a myriad of commercial and cultural activities during Chinese New Year. The fair in Shenzhen has also evolved into something more complete and fun-packed over the past decade ... ....(size: 4.4Kb)
China Daily
08 Feb 2013
Later, in the Song Dynasty (AD 420-479), it was the main economic, political and cultural center of southern China. Yu the Great, one of China's legendary rulers in Xia Dynasty (c.21st century-16th century BC) came to Shaoxing twice and succeeded in taming the flood ... It contains a gourd-shaped pool, a stone bridge and a Song Dynasty well ... Built in the Ming Dynasty, the ancestral home, China's first premier, is on Laodong Road....(size: 4.0Kb)
Taipei Times
08 Feb 2013
noodls
08 Feb 2013
As early as the Qin Dynasty, some people hung peach wood charms on the gate, in order to "stay out of trouble and eliminate evil" ... In the Ming Dynasty, New Year picture developed into an independent art form, wherein, "Happiness, Prosperity and Longevity and Delight", "Kylin Bringing More Posterities", "Heavenly Palace Bringing Blessings", "Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity", etc....(size: 6.0Kb)
photo: WN / Periasamy
08 Feb 2013
Spring Festival in China is a time for family gatherings, parties and food - usually lots of it ... Dumplings were created by Zhang Zhongjing during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), originally as a treatment for frostbite. Their shape is similar to the gold ingots used as money in ancient China since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and because of this they became associated with good fortune and a staple Spring Festival dish ... ....(size: 3.9Kb)
| Great Ming 大明 |
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| Capital | Nanjing (1368–1421) Beijing (1421–1424) Nanjing (1424–1441) Beijing (1441–1644) |
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| Language(s) | Chinese | |||
| Religion | Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Chinese folk religion, Roman Catholicism | |||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | |||
| Emperor | ||||
| - 1368–1398 | Hongwu Emperor | |||
| - 1627–1644 | Chongzhen Emperor | |||
| Senior Grand Secretary | ||||
| - 1402–1407 | Xie Jin | |||
| - 1644 | Wei Zaode | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established in Nanjing | January 23, 1368 | |||
| - Fall of Beijing to Li Zicheng | April 25, 1644 | |||
| - End of the Southern Ming | January 22, 1662 | |||
| Area | ||||
| - 1415[1] | 6,500,000 km2 (2,509,664 sq mi) | |||
| Population | ||||
| - 1393 est. | 65,000,000 | |||
| - 1403 est. | 66,598,337¹ | |||
| - 1500 est. | 125,000,000² | |||
| - 1600 est. | 160,000,000³ | |||
| Currency | Chinese cash, Chinese coin, paper currency (later abolished) | |||
| Remnants of the Ming Dynasty ruled southern China until 1662, a dynastic period which is known as the Southern Ming. ¹The numbers are based on estimates made by CJ Peers in Late Imperial Chinese Armies: 1520–1840 ²According to A. G. Frank, ReOrient: global economy in the Asian Age, 1998, p. 109 ³According to A. Maddison, The World Economy Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective Volume 2, 2007, p. 238 |
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| Ming Dynasty | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 明朝 | ||||||||||||||
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| Empire of the Great Ming | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大明帝國 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大明帝国 | ||||||||||||||
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
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| ANCIENT | |||||||
| 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors | |||||||
| Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 BCE | |||||||
| Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 BCE | |||||||
| Zhou Dynasty 1045–256 BCE | |||||||
| Western Zhou | |||||||
| Eastern Zhou | |||||||
| Spring and Autumn Period | |||||||
| Warring States Period | |||||||
| IMPERIAL | |||||||
| Qin Dynasty 221 BCE–206 BCE | |||||||
| Han Dynasty 206 BCE–220 CE | |||||||
| Western Han | |||||||
| Xin Dynasty | |||||||
| Eastern Han | |||||||
| Three Kingdoms 220–280 | |||||||
| Wei, Shu and Wu | |||||||
| Jin Dynasty 265–420 | |||||||
| Western Jin | 16 Kingdoms 304–439 |
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| Eastern Jin | |||||||
| Southern and Northern Dynasties 420–589 |
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| Sui Dynasty 581–618 | |||||||
| Tang Dynasty 618–907 | |||||||
| (Second Zhou 690–705) | |||||||
| 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms 907–960 |
Liao Dynasty 907–1125 |
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| Song Dynasty 960–1279 |
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| Northern Song | W. Xia | ||||||
| Southern Song | Jin | ||||||
| Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368 | |||||||
| Ming Dynasty 1368–1644 | |||||||
| Qing Dynasty 1644–1911 | |||||||
| MODERN | |||||||
| Republic of China 1912–1949 | |||||||
| People's Republic of China 1949–present |
Republic of China (Taiwan) 1949–present |
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The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history",[2] was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops.[3] Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.[4]
Emperor Hongwu (ruled in 1368–98) attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities in a rigid, immobile system that would have no need to engage with the commercial life and trade of urban centers. His rebuilding of China's agricultural base and strengthening of communication routes through the militarized courier system had the unintended effect of creating a vast agricultural surplus that could be sold at burgeoning markets located along courier routes. Rural culture and commerce became influenced by urban trends. The upper echelons of society embodied in the scholarly gentry class were also affected by this new consumption-based culture. In a departure from tradition, merchant families began to produce examination candidates to become scholar-officials and adopted cultural traits and practices typical of the gentry. Parallel to this trend involving social class and commercial consumption were changes in social and political philosophy, bureaucracy and governmental institutions, and even arts and literature.
By the 16th century, the Ming economy was stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, the Somalis, the Spanish, and the Dutch. China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the Columbian Exchange. Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotes as the common medium of exchange in China. During the last decades of the Ming, the flow of silver into China diminished greatly, undermining state revenues. This damage to the Ming economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority.
Contents
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History[link]
Main article: History of the Ming Dynasty
For a more comprehensive list, see List of emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
Founding[link]
Revolt and rebel rivalry[link]
The Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. Alongside institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, other explanations for the Yuan's demise included overtaxing areas hard-hit by inflation, and massive flooding of the Yellow River as a result of the abandonment of irrigation projects.[5] Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River.[5]
A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang was a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352, but soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster daughter of a rebel commander.[6] In 1356, Zhu's rebel force captured the city of Nanjing,[7] which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
With the Yuan Dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country and thus the right to establish a new dynasty. In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his arch rival and leader of the rebel Han faction Chen Youliang in the Battle of Lake Poyang, arguably the largest naval battle in history. Known for its ambitious use of fire ships, Zhu's force of 200,000 Ming sailors were able to defeat a Han rebel force over triple their size, claimed to be 650,000-strong. The victory destroyed the last opposing rebel faction, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in uncontested control of the bountiful Yangtze River Valley and cementing his power in the south. After the dynastic head of the Red Turbans suspiciously died in 1367 while a guest of Zhu, there was no one left who was remotely capable of contesting his march to the throne, and he made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward the Yuan capital Dadu (present-day Beijing) in 1368.[8] The last Yuan emperor fled north to Shangdu and Zhu declared the founding of the Ming Dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu to the ground;[8] the city was renamed Beiping in the same year.[9] Zhu Yuanzhang took Hongwu, or 'Vastly Martial,' as his reign title.
Reign of the Hongwu Emperor[link]
Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built a 48 km (30 mi) long wall around Nanjing, as well as new palaces and government halls.[8] The History of Ming states that as early as 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had begun drafting a new Confucian law code, the Da Ming Lü, which was completed by 1397 and repeated certain clauses found in the old Tang Code of 653.[10] Hongwu organized a military system known as the weisuo, which was similar to the fubing system of the Tang Dynasty (618–907).
In 1380 Hongwu had the Chancellor Hu Weiyong (胡惟庸) executed upon suspicion of a conspiracy plot to overthrow him; after that Hongwu abolished the Chancellery and assumed this role as chief executive and emperor, a precedent mostly followed throughout the Ming period.[11][12] With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established the Jinyi Wei, a network of secret police drawn from his own palace guard. They were partly responsible for the loss of 100,000 lives in several purges over three decades of his rule.[11][13] For details of the many Ming policies laid down by the Hongwu Emperor, see History of the Ming Dynasty and Hongwu Emperor.
South-Western frontier[link]
Main article: Ming conquest of Yunnan
In Qinghai, the Salar Muslims voluntarily came under Ming rule, their clan leaders capitulating around 1370. Uyghur troops under Uyghur general Hala Bashi suppressed the Miao Rebellions of the 1370s and settled in Changde, Hunan.[14] Hui Muslim troops also settled in Changde, Hunan after serving the Ming in campaigns against other aboriginal tribes.[15] In 1381, the Ming Dynasty annexed the areas of the southwest that had once been part of the Kingdom of Dali following the successful effort by Hui Muslim Ming armies to defeat Yuan-loyalist Mongol and Hui Muslim troops holding out in Yunnan province. The Hui troops under General Mu Ying, who was appointed Governor of Yunnan, were resettled in the region as part of a colonization effort.[16] By the end of the 14th century, some 200,000 military colonists settled some 2,000,000 mu (350,000 acres) of land in what is now Yunnan and Guizhou. Roughly half a million more Chinese settlers came in later periods; these migrations caused a major shift in the ethnic make-up of the region, since formerly more than half of the population were non-Han peoples. Resentment over such massive changes in population and the resulting government presence and policies sparked more Miao and Yao revolts in 1464 to 1466, which were crushed by an army of 30,000 Ming troops (including 1,000 Mongols) joining the 160,000 local Guangxi. After the scholar and philosopher Wang Yangming (1472–1529) suppressed another rebellion in the region, he advocated single, unitary administration of Chinese and indigenous ethnic groups in order to bring about sinification of the local peoples.[17]
Relations with Tibet[link]
Main article: Tibet during the Ming Dynasty
The Mingshi— the official history of the Ming Dynasty compiled later by the Qing Dynasty in 1739 —states that the Ming established itinerant commanderies overseeing Tibetan administration while also renewing titles of ex-Yuan Dynasty officials from Tibet and conferring new princely titles on leaders of Tibet's Buddhist sects.[20] However, Turrell V. Wylie states that censorship in the Mingshi in favor of bolstering the Ming emperor's prestige and reputation at all costs obfuscates the nuanced history of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming era.[21]
Modern scholars still debate on whether or not the Ming Dynasty really had sovereignty over Tibet at all, as some believe it was a relationship of loose suzerainty which was largely cut off when the Jiajing Emperor (ruled in 1521–67) persecuted Buddhism in favor of Daoism at court [21][22][23] and some scholars argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship.[24][25] Others underscore the commercial aspect of the relationship, noting the Ming Dynasty's insufficient amount of horses and the need to maintain the tea-horse trade with Tibet.[26][27][28][29][30]
The Ming initiated sporadic armed intervention in Tibet during the 14th century, while at times the Tibetans also used successful armed resistance against Ming forays.[31][32] Patricia Ebrey, Thomas Laird, Wang Jiawei, and Nyima Gyaincain all point out that the Ming Dynasty did not garrison permanent troops in Tibet,[33][34][35] unlike the former Mongol Yuan Dynasty.[33] The Wanli Emperor (ruled in 1572–1620) made attempts to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations in the wake of a Mongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, the latter of which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) of China in their support for the Dalai Lama of the Yellow Hat sect.[21][36][37][38][39] By the late 16th century, the Mongols proved to be successful armed protectors of the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama after their increasing presence in the Amdo region, culminating in Güshi Khan's (1582–1655) conquest of Tibet in 1642.[21][40][41][42]
Reign of the Yongle Emperor[link]
Main article: Yongle Emperor
Rise to power[link]
The Hongwu Emperor specified his grandson Zhu Yunwen as his successor, and he assumed the throne as the Jianwen Emperor (1398–1402) after Hongwu's death in 1398. The most powerful of Hongwu's sons, Zhu Di, then the militarily mighty disagreed with this, and soon a political showdown erupted between him and his nephew Jianwen.[43] After Jianwen arrested many of Zhu Di's associates, Zhu Di plotted a rebellion, a rebellion that sparked a three-year civil war. Under the pretext of rescuing the young Jianwen from corrupting officials, Zhu Di personally led forces in the revolt; the palace in Nanjing was burned to the ground, along with Jianwen himself, his wife, mother, and courtiers. Zhu Di assumed the throne as the Yongle Emperor (1402–1424); his reign is universally viewed by scholars as a "second founding" of the Ming Dynasty since he reversed many of his father's policies.[44]
New capital and foreign engagement[link]
Yongle demoted Nanjing to a secondary capital and in 1403 announced the new capital of China was to be at his power base in Beijing. Construction of a new city there lasted from 1407 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily.[45] At the center was the political node of the Imperial City, and at the center of this was the Forbidden City, the palatial residence of the emperor and his family. By 1553, the Outer City was added to the south, which brought the overall size of Beijing to 4 by 4½ miles.[46]
Yongle also used Zheng He's treasure fleet to expand China's tributary trade system farther afield than ever before, used woodblock printing to spread Chinese culture, and used the military (especially cavalry) to expand China's borders north into Manchuria and south into Vietnam.
Treasure fleet[link]
Beginning in 1405, the Yongle Emperor entrusted his favored eunuch commander Zheng He (1371–1433) as the admiral for a gigantic new fleet of ships designated for international tributary missions. The Chinese had sent diplomatic missions over land and west since the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) and had been engaged in private overseas trade leading all the way to East Africa for centuries— culminating in the Song and Yuan dynasties —but no government-sponsored tributary mission of this grandeur and size had ever been assembled before. To service seven different tributary missions abroad, the Nanjing shipyards constructed two thousand vessels from 1403 to 1419, which included the large treasure ships that measured 112 m (370 ft) to 134 m (440 ft) in length and 45 m (150 ft) to 54 m (180 ft) in width.[47]
Tumu Crisis and the Ming Mongols[link]
Main articles: Tumu Crisis and Rebellion of Cao Qin
The Oirat Mongol leader Esen Tayisi launched an invasion into Ming China in July 1449. The chief eunuch Wang Zhen encouraged Emperor Zhengtong (ruled in 1435–49) to lead a force personally to face the Mongols after a recent Ming defeat; marching off with 50,000 troops, Zhengtong left the capital and put his half-brother Zhu Qiyu in charge of affairs as temporary regent. On September 8, Esen routed Zhengtong's army, and Zhengtong was captured—an event known as the Tumu Crisis.[48] The Mongols held the Zhengtong Emperor for ransom. However, this scheme was foiled once Zhengtong's younger brother assumed the throne as the Jingtai Emperor (ruled in 1449–57); the Mongols were also repelled once Jingtai's confidant and defense minister Yu Qian (1398–457) gained control of the Ming armed forces. Holding Zhengtong in captivity was a useless bargaining chip for the Mongols as long as another sat on his throne, so they released him back into Ming China.[48] Zhengtong was placed under house arrest in the palace until the coup against Jingtai in 1457 known as the "Wresting the Gate Incident".[49] Zhengtong retook the throne as the Tianshun Emperor (ruled in 1457–64).
Once Zhengtong regained the throne, his new reign as Tianshun proved to be a troubled one and Mongol forces within the Ming military structure continued to be problematic. On August 7, 1461, the Chinese general Cao Qin and his Ming troops of Mongol descent staged a coup against Tianshun out of fear of being next on his purge-list of those who aided Jingtai's succession.[50] Cao's rebel force managed to set fire to the western and eastern gates of the Imperial City (doused by rain during the battle) and killed several leading ministers before his forces were finally cornered and he was forced to commit suicide.[51]
While the Yongle Emperor had staged five major offensives north of the Great Wall against the Mongols, the constant threat of Mongol incursions prompted the Ming authorities to fortify the Great Wall from the late 15th century to the 16th century; nevertheless, John Fairbank notes that "it proved to be a futile military gesture but vividly expressed China's siege mentality."[52] Yet the Great Wall was not meant to be a purely defensive fortification; its towers functioned rather as a series of lit beacons and signalling stations to allow rapid warning to friendly units of advancing enemy troops.[53]
Decline and fall of the Ming Dynasty[link]
Main article: Fall of the Ming Dynasty
Reign of the Wanli Emperor[link]
The financial drain of the Imjin War in Korea against the Japanese was one of the many problems—fiscal or other—facing Ming China during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (ruled in 1572–1620). In the beginning of his reign, Wanli surrounded himself with able advisors and made a conscientious effort to handle state affairs. His Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng (in office from 1572 to 82) built up an effective network of alliances with senior officials. However, there was no one after him skilled enough to maintain the stability of these alliances;[54] officials soon banded together in opposing political factions. Over time Wanli grew tired of court affairs and frequent political quarreling amongst his ministers, preferring to stay behind the walls of the Forbidden City and out of his officials' sight.[55] Scholar-officials lost prominence in administration as eunuchs became intermediaries between the aloof emperor and his officials; any senior official who wanted to discuss state matters had to persuade powerful eunuchs with a bribe simply to have his demands or message relayed to the emperor.[56]
Role of eunuchs[link]
It was said that Hongwu forbade eunuchs to learn how to read or engage in politics. Whether or not these restrictions were carried out with absolute success in his reign, eunuchs during Yongle's reign and after managed huge imperial workshops, commanded armies, and participated in matters of appointment and promotion of officials. The eunuchs developed their own bureaucracy that was organized parallel to but was not subject to the civil service bureaucracy.[46] Although there were several dictatorial eunuchs throughout the Ming, such as Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, and Liu Jin, excessive tyrannical eunuch power did not become evident until the 1590s, when the Wanli Emperor increased their rights over the civil bureaucracy and granted them power to collect provincial taxes.[56][57][58]
The eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568–1627) dominated the court of the Tianqi Emperor (ruled in 1620–1627) and had his political rivals tortured to death, mostly the vocal critics from the faction of the Donglin Society. He ordered temples built in his honor throughout the Ming Empire, and built personal palaces created with funds allocated for building the previous emperor's tombs. His friends and family gained important positions without qualifications. Wei also published a historical work lambasting and belittling his political opponents.[59] The instability at court came right as natural calamity, pestilence, rebellion, and foreign invasion came to a peak. Although the Chongzhen Emperor (ruled in 1627–44) had Wei dismissed from court—which led to Wei's suicide shortly after—the problem with court eunuchs persisted until the dynasty's collapse less than two decades later.
Economic breakdown and disaster[link]
During the last years of Wanli's reign and those of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centered around a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver. Philip IV of Spain (ruled in 1621–65) began cracking down on illegal smuggling of silver from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific towards China, in favor of shipping American-mined silver directly from Spain to Manila. In 1639, the new Tokugawa regime of Japan shut down most of its foreign trade with European powers, causing a halt of yet another source of silver coming into China. These events occurring at roughly the same time caused a dramatic spike in the value of silver and made paying taxes nearly impossible for most provinces. People began hoarding precious silver as there was progressively less of it, forcing the ratio of the value of copper to silver into a steep decline. In the 1630s, a string of one thousand copper coins was worth an ounce of silver; by 1640 this was reduced to the value of half an ounce; by 1643 it was worth roughly one-third of an ounce.[60] For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and selling their crops with copper coins.[61]
In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China because of unusual dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season; these were effects of a larger ecological event now known as the Little Ice Age.[62] Famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, and natural disasters such as flooding and inability of the government to manage irrigation and flood-control projects properly caused widespread loss of life and normal civility.[62] The central government was starved of resources and could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing a large but unknown number of people.[63] The deadliest earthquake of all time, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed approximately 830,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.[64]
Rise of the Manchu[link]
A Jurchen tribal leader named Nurhaci (ruled in 1616–26), starting with just a small tribe, rapidly gained control over all the Manchurian tribes. During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), he offered to lead his tribes in support of the Ming and Joseon army. This offer was declined, but he was granted honorific Ming titles for his gesture. Recognizing the weakness of Ming authority north of their border, he united all of the adjacent northern tribes and consolidated power in the region surrounding his homeland as the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) had done previously.[65] In 1610, he broke relations with the Ming court; in 1618 he demanded the Ming pay tribute to him to redress the seven grievances which he documented and sent to the Ming court. This was effectively a declaration of war, as the Ming were not about to pay money to a former tributary.
By 1636, the Nurhaci's son Huang Taiji renamed his dynasty from the "Later Jin" to "Great Qing" at Shenyang, which had fallen to Qing forces in 1621 and was made their capital in 1625.[66][67] Huang Taiji also adopted the Chinese imperial title huangdi, took the reign title Chongde ("Revering Virtue"), and changed the ethnic name of his people from Jurchen to Manchu.[67][68] In 1638 the Manchu defeated and conquered Ming China's traditional ally Joseon with an army of 100,000 troops. Shortly after, the Koreans renounced their long-held loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.[68]
Rebellion, invasion, collapse[link]
A peasant soldier named Li Zicheng (1606–45) mutinied with his fellow soldiers in western Shaanxi in the early 1630s after the Ming government failed to ship much-needed supplies there.[62] In 1634 he was captured by a Ming general and released only on the terms that he return to service.[69] The agreement soon broke down when a local magistrate had thirty-six of his fellow rebels executed; Li's troops retaliated by killing the officials and continued to lead a rebellion based in Rongyang, central Henan province by 1635.[70] By the 1640s, an ex-soldier and rival to Li—Zhang Xianzhong (1606–47) —had created a firm rebel base in Chengdu, Sichuan, while Li's center of power was in Hubei with extended influence over Shaanxi and Henan.[70]
In 1640, masses of Chinese peasants who were starving, unable to pay their taxes, and no longer in fear of the frequently defeated Chinese army, began to form into huge bands of rebels. The Chinese military, caught between fruitless efforts to defeat the Manchu raiders from the north and huge peasant revolts in the provinces, essentially fell apart. Unpaid and unfed, the army was defeated by Li Zicheng— now self-styled as the Prince of Shun —and deserted the capital without much of a fight.[71] On May 26, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng when the city gates were treacherously opened from within.[71] On May 26, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng; during the turmoil, the last Ming emperor hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.[71]
Seizing opportunity, the Manchus crossed the Great Wall after the Ming border general Wu Sangui (1612–1678) opened the gates at Shanhai Pass. This occurred shortly after he learned about the fate of the capital and an army of Li Zicheng marching towards him; weighing his options of alliance, he decided to side with the Manchus.[72] The Manchu army under the Manchu Prince Dorgon (1612–50) and Wu Sangui approached Beijing after the army sent by Li was destroyed at Shanhaiguan; the Prince of Shun's army fled the capital on the fourth of June. On June 6, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor ruler of China. After being forced out of Xi'an by the Manchus, chased along the Han River to Wuchang, and finally along the northern border of Jiangxi province, Li Zicheng died there in the summer of 1645, thus ending the Shun Dynasty. One report says his death was a suicide; another states that he was beaten to death by peasants after he was caught stealing their food.[73]
Scattered Ming remnants held out after 1644, including that of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) on Taiwan (Formosa). Despite the loss of Beijing and the death of the emperor, Ming power was by no means totally destroyed. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Yunnan were all strongholds of Ming resistance. However, there were several pretenders for the Ming throne, and their forces were divided. Each bastion of resistance was individually defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last real hopes of a Ming revival died with the Yongli emperor, Zhu Youlang. Despite the Ming defeat, smaller loyalist movements continued until the proclamation of the Republic of China.
Government[link]
Province, prefecture, subprefecture, county[link]
The Ming emperors took over the provincial administration system of the Yuan Dynasty, and the thirteen Ming provinces are the precursors of the modern provinces. Throughout the Song Dynasty, the largest political division was the circuit (lu 路).[74] However, after the Jurchen invasion in 1127, the Song court established four semi-autonomous regional command systems based on territorial and military units, with a detached service secretariat that would become the provincial administrations of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.[75] Copied on the Yuan model, the Ming provincial bureaucracy contained three commissions: one civil, one military, and one for surveillance. Below the level of the province (sheng 省) were prefectures (fu 府) operating under a prefect (zhifu 知府), followed by subprefectures (zhou 州) under a subprefect. The lowest unit was the county (xian 縣), overseen by a magistrate. Besides the provinces, there were also two large areas that belonged to no province, but were metropolitan areas (jing 亰) attached to Nanjing and Beijing.[76]
Institutions and bureaus[link]
Institutional trends[link]
Departing from the main central administrative system generally known as the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, which was instituted by various dynasties since late Han (202 BCE – 220 CE), the Ming administration had only one Department, the Secretariat, that controlled the Six Ministries. Following the execution of the Chancellor Hu Weiyong in 1380, emperor Hongwu abolished the Secretariat, the Censorate, and the Chief Military Commission and personally took charge of the Six Ministries and the regional Five Military Commissions.[77][78] Thus a whole level of administration was cut out and only partially rebuilt by subsequent rulers.[77] The Grand Secretariat, at the beginning a secretarial institution that assisted the emperor with administrative paperwork, was instituted, but without employing grand counselors, or chancellors. The ministries, headed by a minister and run by directors remained under direct control of the emperor until the end of the Ming.
The Hongwu Emperor sent his heir apparent to Shaanxi in 1391 to "tour and soothe" (xunfu) the region; in 1421 the Yongle Emperor commissioned 26 officials to travel the empire and uphold similar investigatory and patrimonial duties. By 1430 these xunfu assignments became institutionalized. Hence, the Censorate was reinstalled and first staffed with investigating censors, later with censors-in-chief. By 1453, the "grand coordinators"— or "touring pacifiers", as Michael Chang notes —were granted the title vice censor-in-chief or assistant censor-in-chief and were allowed direct access to the emperor.[79] As in prior dynasties, the provincial administrations were monitored by a travelling inspector from the Censorate. Censors had the power to impeach officials on an irregular basis, unlike the senior officials who were to do so only in triennial evaluations of junior officials.[79][80]
Although decentralization of state power within the provinces occurred in the early Ming, the trend of central government officials delegated to the provinces as virtual provincial governors began in the 1420s. By the late Ming Dynasty, there were central government officials delegated to two or more provinces as supreme commanders and viceroys, a system which reined in the power and influence of the military by the civil establishment.[81]
Grand Secretariat and Six Ministries[link]
Governmental institutions in China conformed to a similar pattern for some two thousand years, but each dynasty installed special offices and bureaus, reflecting its own particular interests. The Ming administration had the Grand Secretaries assisting the emperor, with paperwork handled by them under Yongle's reign and finally appointed as top officials of agencies and Grand Preceptor, a top-ranking, non-functional civil service post, under the Hongxi Emperor (ruled in 1424–5).[82] The Grand Secretariat drew its members from the Hanlin Academy and were considered part of the imperial authority, not the ministerial one (hence being at odds with both the emperor and ministers at times).[83] The Secretariat was a coordinating agency, whereas the Six Ministries—which were Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Public Works—were direct administrative organs of the state.[84] The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of appointments, merit ratings, promotions, and demotions of officials, as well as granting of honorific titles.[85] The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of gathering census data, collecting taxes, and handling state revenues, while there were two offices of currency that were subordinate to it.[86] The Ministry of Rites was in charge of state ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices; it also oversaw registers for Buddhist and Daoist priesthoods and even the reception of envoys from tributary states.[87] The Ministry of War was in charge of the appointments, promotions, and demotions of military officers, the maintenance of military installations, equipment, and weapons, as well as the courier system.[88] The Ministry of Justice was in charge of judicial and penal processes, but had no supervisory role over the Censorate or the Grand Court of Revision.[89] The Ministry of Works was in charge of government construction projects, hiring of artisans and laborers for temporary service, manufacturing government equipment, the maintenance of roads and canals, standardization of weights and measures, and the gathering of resources from the countryside.[89]
Bureaus and offices for the imperial household[link]
The imperial household was staffed almost entirely by eunuchs and ladies with their own bureaus.[90] Female servants were organized into the Bureau of Palace Attendance, Bureau of Ceremonies, Bureau of Apparel, Bureau of Foodstuffs, Bureau of the Bedchamber, Bureau of Handicrafts, and Office of Staff Surveillance.[90] Starting in the 1420s, eunuchs began taking over these ladies' positions until only the Bureau of Apparel with its four subsidiary offices remained.[90] Hongwu had his eunuchs organized into the Directorate of Palace Attendants, but as eunuch power at court increased, so did their administrative offices, with eventual twelve directorates, four offices, and eight bureaus.[90] The dynasty had a vast imperial household, staffed with thousands of eunuchs, who were headed by the Directorate of Palace Attendants. The eunuchs were divided into different directorates in charge of staff surveillance, ceremonial rites, food, utensils, documents, stables, seals, apparel, and so on.[91] The offices were in charge of providing fuel, music, paper, and baths.[91] The bureaus were in charge of weapons, silverwork, laundering, headgear, bronzework, textile manufacture, wineries, and gardens.[91] At times, the most influential eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial acted as a de facto dictator over the state.[92]
Although the imperial household was staffed mostly by eunuchs and palace ladies, there was a civil service office called the Seal Office, which cooperated with eunuch agencies in maintaining imperial seals, tallies, and stamps.[93] There were also civil service offices to oversee the affairs of imperial princes.[94]
Personnel[link]
Scholar-officials[link]
After the reign of Hongwu—who from 1373 to 84 staffed his bureaus with officials gathered through recommendations only—the scholar-officials who populated the many ranks of bureaucracy were recruited through a rigorous examination system that was first established by the Sui Dynasty (581–618).[96][97][98] Theoretically the system of exams allowed anyone to join the ranks of imperial officials (although frowned upon for merchants to join); in reality the time and funding needed to support the study in preparation for the exam generally limited participants to those already coming from the landholding class. However, the government did exact provincial quotas while drafting officials.[99] This was an effort to curb monopolization of power by landholding gentry who came from the most prosperous regions, where education was the most advanced.[100] The expansion of the printing industry since Song times enhanced the spread of knowledge and number of potential exam candidates throughout the provinces.[101] For young schoolchildren there were printed multiplication tables and primers for elementary vocabulary; for adult examination candidates there were mass-produced, inexpensive volumes of Confucian classics and successful examination answers.[102]
As in earlier periods, the focus of the examination was classical Confucian texts,[96] while the bulk of test material centered on the Four Books outlined by Zhu Xi in the 12th century.[103] Ming era examinations were perhaps more difficult to pass since the 1487 requirement of completing the "eight-legged essay", a departure from basing essays off progressing literary trends.[103][104] The exams increased in difficulty as the student progressed from the local level, and appropriate titles were accordingly awarded successful applicants. Officials were classified in nine hierarchic grades, each grade divided into two degrees, with ranging salaries (nominally paid in piculs of rice) according to their rank.[105] While provincial graduates who were appointed to office were immediately assigned to low-ranking posts like the county graduates, those who passed the palace examination were awarded a jinshi ('presented scholar') degree and assured a high-level position.[106][107] In 276 years of Ming rule and ninety palace examinations, the number of doctoral degrees granted by passing the palace examinations was 24,874.[106] Ebrey states that "there were only two to four thousand of these jinshi at any given time, on the order of one out of 10,000 adult males."[99] This was in comparison to the 100,000 shengyuan ('government students'), the lowest tier of graduates, by the 16th century.[99]
The maximum tenure in office was nine years, but every three years officials were graded on their performance by senior officials.[108] If they were graded as superior then they were promoted, if graded adequate then they retained their ranks, and if graded inadequate they were demoted one rank. In extreme cases, officials would be dismissed or punished. Only capital officials of grade 4 and above were exempt from the scrutiny of recorded evaluation, although they were expected to confess any of their faults.[80] There were over 4,000 school instructors in county and prefectural schools who were subject to evaluations every nine years. The Chief Instructor on the prefectural level was classified as equal to a second-grade county graduate.[109] The Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction oversaw the education of the heir apparent to the throne; this office was headed by a Grand Supervisor of Instruction, who was ranked as first class of grade three.[94]
Lesser functionaries[link]
Scholar-officials who entered civil service through examinations acted as executive officials to a much larger body of non-ranked personnel called lesser functionaries. They outnumbered officials by four to one; Charles Hucker estimates that they were perhaps as many as 100,000 throughout the empire. These lesser functionaries performed clerical and technical tasks for government agencies. Yet they should not be confused with lowly lictors, runners, and bearers; lesser functionaries were given periodic merit evaluations like officials and after nine years of service might be accepted into a low civil service rank.[110] The one great advantage of the lesser functionaries over officials was that officials were periodically rotated and assigned to different regional posts and had to rely on the good service and cooperation of the local lesser functionaries.[111]
Eunuchs, princes, and generals[link]
Eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty gained unprecedented power over state affairs. One of the most effective means of control was the secret service stationed in what was called the Eastern Depot at the beginning of the dynasty, later the Western Depot. This secret service was overseen by the Directorate of Ceremonial, hence this state organ's often totalitarian affiliation.[91] Eunuchs had ranks that were equivalent to civil service ranks, only theirs had four grades instead of nine.[112]
Princes and descendants of the first Ming emperor were given nominal military commands and large land estates without title. These estates were not feudatories, the princes did not serve any administrative function, and it was only during the reign of the first two emperors that they partook in military affairs.[113] By contrast, princes in the Han and Jin Dynasties had been installed as local kings. Although princes served no organ of state administration, princes, consorts of imperial princesses, and ennobled relatives did staff the Imperial Clan Court, which took care of the imperial genealogy.[94]
Like scholar-officials, military generals were ranked in a hierarchic grading system and were given merit evaluations every five years (as opposed to three years for officials).[114] However, military officers had less prestige than officials. This was due to their hereditary service (instead of solely merit-based) and Confucian values that dictated those who chose the profession of violence (wu) over the cultured pursuits of knowledge (wen).[114][115] Although seen as less prestigious, military officers were not excluded from taking civil service examinations and after 1478 the military even held their own examinations to test military skills.[116] In addition to taking over the established bureaucratic structure from the Yuan period, the Ming emperors established the new post of the travelling military inspector. In the early half of the dynasty, men of noble lineage dominated the higher ranks of military office; this trend was reversed during the latter half of the dynasty as men from more humble origins eventually displaced them.[117]
Society and culture[link]
Literature and arts[link]
Further information: Ming Dynasty painting
As in earlier dynasties, the Ming Dynasty saw a flourishing in the arts, whether it was painting, poetry, music, literature, or dramatic theater. Carved designs in lacquerwares and designs glazed onto porcelain wares displayed intricate scenes similar in complexity to those in painting. These items could be found in the homes of the wealthy, alongside embroidered silks and wares in jade, ivory, and cloisonné. The houses of the rich were also furnished with rosewood furniture and feathery latticework. The writing materials in a scholar's private study, including elaborately carved brush holders made of stone or wood, were all designed and arranged ritually to give an aesthetic appeal.[118]
Connoisseurship in the late Ming period centered around these items of refined artistic taste, which provided work for art dealers and even underground scammers who made phony imitations of originals and false attributions to works of art.[118] This was noted even by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci while staying in Nanjing, writing that Chinese scam artists were ingenious when it came to making forgeries of artwork and made huge profits.[119] However, there were guides to help the wary new connoisseur; in Liu Tong's (d. 1637) book printed in 1635, he told his readers various ways to spot a fake and authentic pieces of art.[120] He revealed that a Xuande era (1426–1435) bronzework could be authenticated if one knew how to judge its sheen; porcelain wares from the Yongle era (1402–1424) could be judged authentic by their thickness.[121]
There was a great amount of literary achievement in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Xiake (1587–1641), a travel literature author, published his Travel Diaries in 404,000 written characters, with information on everything from local geography to mineralogy.[122][123] The first reference to the publishing of private newspapers in Beijing was in 1582; by 1638 the Beijing Gazette switched from using woodblock print to movable type printing.[124] The new literary field of the moral guide to business ethics was developed by the late Ming period, for the readership of the merchant class.[125] Although short story fiction was popular as far back as the Tang Dynasty (618–907),[126] and the work of contemporaneous authors such as Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, and Song Yingxing were often technical and encyclopedic, the Ming era witnessed the development of the novel. While the gentry elite were educated enough to fully comprehend the language of Classical Chinese, those with rudimentary education— such as women in educated families, merchants, and shop clerks —became a large, potential audience for literature and performing arts that employed Vernacular Chinese.[127] The Jin Ping Mei, published in 1610, is considered by some to be the fifth great novel of pre-modern China, in reference to the Four Great Classical Novels. Two of these novels, the Water Margin and Journey to the West were products of the Ming Dynasty. To complement the work of novels, the theater scripts of playwrights were equally imaginative. One of the most famous plays in Chinese history, The Peony Pavilion, was written by the Ming playwright Tang Xianzu (1550–1616), with its first performance at the Pavilion of Prince Teng in 1598.
In contrast to Xu Xiake, who focused on technical aspects in his travel literature, the Chinese poet and official Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610) used travel literature to express his desires for individualism as well as autonomy from and frustration with Confucian court politics.[128] Yuan desired to free himself from the ethical compromises which were inseparable from the career of a scholar-official. This anti-official sentiment in Yuan's travel literature and poetry was actually following in the tradition of the Song Dynasty poet and official Su Shi (1037–1101).[129] Yuan Hongdao and his two brothers, Yuan Zongdao (1560–1600) and Yuan Zhongdao (1570–1623), were the founders of the Gong'an School of letters.[130] This highly individualistic school of poetry and prose was criticized by the Confucian establishment for its association with intense sensual lyricism, which was also apparent in Ming vernacular novels such as the Jin Ping Mei.[130] Yet even gentry and scholar-officials were affected by the new popular romantic literature, seeking courtesans as soulmates to reenact the heroic love stories which arranged marriages often could not provide or accommodate.[131]
There were many famous visual artists in the Ming period, including Ni Zan, Shen Zhou, Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, Qiu Ying, Dong Qichang, and many others. They drew upon the techniques, styles, and complexity in painting achieved by their Song and Yuan predecessors, but added some new techniques and styles. Well-known Ming artists could make a living simply by painting, due to the high prices they demanded for their artworks and the great demand by the highly cultured community to collect precious works of art. The artist Qiu Ying was once paid 2.8 kg (100 oz) of silver to paint a long handscroll for the occasion of an eightieth birthday celebration for the mother of a wealthy patron. Renowned artists often gathered an entourage of followers, some who were amateurs who painted while pursuing an official career and others who were full-time painters.[132]
Beyond painters, some potters also became renowned for their artwork, such as He Chaozong in the early 17th century for his style of white porcelain sculpture. The major production centers for porcelain items in the Ming Dynasty were Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province and Dehua in Fujian province. The Dehua porcelain factories catered to European tastes by creating Chinese export porcelain by the 16th century. In The Ceramic Trade in Asia, Chuimei Ho estimates that about 16% of late Ming era Chinese ceramic exports were sent to Europe while the rest were destined for Japan and South East Asia.[133]
Religion[link]
The dominant religious beliefs during the Ming dynasty were the traditional mixtures of ancestor worship, Daoism and Buddhism. The Chinese believed in a host of deities in what may be termed Chinese folk religion.
The late Ming period saw the first arrival of Jesuit missionaries from Europe such as Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault. There were also other denominations including the Dominicans and Franciscans.
Ricci worked with the Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and agronomist Xu Guangqi to translate the Greek mathematical work Euclid's Elements into Chinese for the first time in 1607. The Chinese were impressed with European knowledge in astronomy, calendrical science, mathematics, hydraulics, and geography. Most European monks presented themselves more as educated elites than religious figures, in an effort to gain trust and admiration from the Chinese.[134] However, most Chinese were suspicious and even outright critical of Christianity due to Chinese beliefs and practices that did not coincide with the Christian faith.[134] The highpoint of this contention was the Nanjing Religious Incident of 1616–22, a temporary triumph of the Confucian traditionalists when Western missionaries and science were rejected in favor of the belief that Western science derived from a superior Chinese model; this was soon rejected in favor of once again staffing the Imperial Astronomical Board with Western missionaries learned in science.[135]
Besides Christianity, the Kaifeng Jews had a long history in China; Ricci discovered this when he was contacted by one of them in Beijing and learned of their history in China.[136] Islam in China had existed since the early 7th century during the Tang Dynasty; during the Ming Dynasty there were several prominent figures—including Zheng He—who was Muslim. The Hongwu Emperor also employed Muslim commanders in his army, such as Chang Yuqun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, and Mu Ying.[137]
Philosophy[link]
Wang Yangming's Confucianism[link]
During the Ming Dynasty, the doctrines of the Song Dynasty scholar-official Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and Neo-Confucianism were embraced by the court and the Chinese literati at large. However, total conformity to a single mode of thought was never a reality in the intellectual sphere of society. There were some in the Ming who—like Su Shi (1037–1101) of the Song—were rebels at heart and were not abashed to criticize the mainstream dogmatic modes of thought. Leading a new strand of Confucian teaching and philosophy was the scholar-official Wang Yangming (1472–1529), whose critics said that his teachings were contaminated by Chan Buddhism.[138]
In analyzing Zhu Xi's concept of "the extension of knowledge" (i.e. gaining understanding through careful and rational investigation of things and events; Chinese: 理學, or 格物致知), Wang realized that universal principles were concepts espoused in the minds of all.[139] Breaking from the mold, Wang said that anyone, no matter what socioeconomic status or background, could become as wise as the ancient sages Confucius and Mencius, and that the writings of the latter two were not the source of truth, but merely guides that could have flaws if carefully examined.[140] In Wang's mind, a peasant who had many experiences and drew natural truths from these was more wise than an official who had carefully studied the Classics but had not experienced the real world in order to observe what was true.[140]
Conservative reaction[link]
Conservative Confucian officials were wary of Wang's philosophical interpretation of the Confucian classics, the increasing number of his disciples while still in office, and his overall socially rebellious message.[138] To curb his political influence he was often sent out to deal with military affairs and rebellions far away from the capital.[138] Yet his ideas penetrated mainstream Chinese thought, and spurred new interest in Daoism and Buddhism.[138] Furthermore, people began to question the validity of the social hierarchy and the idea that the scholar was above the farmer.[138] Wang Yangming's disciple and salt-mine worker Wang Gen gave lectures to commoners about pursuing education to improve their lives, while his follower He Xinyin 何心隱 challenged the elevation and emphasis of the family in Chinese society.[138] His contemporary Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602) even taught that women were the intellectual equals of men and should be given a better education; both Li and He eventually died in prison, jailed on charges of spreading "dangerous ideas".[141] Yet these "dangerous ideas" of educating women had long been embraced with mothers giving their children primary education,[142] as well as courtesans who were as literate and similarly trained in calligraphy, painting, and poetry as their male hosts.[143]
In opposition to the liberal views of Wang Yangming were the conservative officials in the censorate—a governmental institution with the right and responsibility to speak out against malfeasance and abuse of power—and the senior officials of the Donglin Academy, which was reestablished in 1604.[144] These conservatives wanted a revival of orthodox Confucian ethics. Conservatives such as Gu Xiancheng (1550–1612) argued against Wang Yangming's idea of innate moral knowledge, stating that this was simply a legitimization for unscrupulous behavior such as greedy pursuits and personal gain.[144] These two strands of Confucian thought created factionalism amongst ministers of state, who—like the old days of Wang Anshi and Sima Guang in the Song Dynasty—used any opportunity to impeach members of the other faction from court.[144]
Urban and rural life[link]
Wang Gen was able to give philosophical lectures to many commoners from different regions because—following the trend already apparent in the Song Dynasty—communities in Ming society were becoming less isolated as the distance between market towns was shrinking. Schools, descent groups, religious associations, and other local voluntary organizations were increasing in number and allowing more contact between educated men and local villagers.[145] Jonathan Spence writes that the distinction between what was town and country was blurred in Ming China, since suburban areas with farms were located just outside and in some cases within the walls of a city. Not only was the blurring of town and country evident, but also of socioeconomic class in the traditional four occupations (Chinese: 士農工商), since artisans sometimes worked on farms in peak periods and farmers often traveled into the city to find work during times of dearth.[146]
A variety of occupations could be chosen or inherited from a father's line of work. This would include—but was not limited to—coffinmakers, ironworkers and blacksmiths, tailors, cooks and noodle-makers, retail merchants, tavern, teahouse, or winehouse managers, shoemakers, seal cutters, pawnshop owners, brothel heads, and merchant bankers engaging in a proto-banking system involving notes of exchange.[60][147] Virtually every town had a brothel where female and male prostitutes could be had.[148] Male catamites fetched a higher price than female concubines since pederasty with a teenage boy was seen as a mark of elite status, regardless of sodomy being repugnant to sexual norms.[149] Public bathing became much more common than in earlier periods.[150] Urban shops and retailers sold a variety of goods such as special paper money to burn at ancestral sacrifices, specialized luxury goods, headgear, fine cloth, teas, and others.[147] Smaller communities and townships too poor or scattered to support shops and artisans obtained their goods from periodic market fairs and traveling peddlers. A small township also provided a place for simple schooling, news and gossip, matchmaking, religious festivals, traveling theater groups, tax collection, and bases of famine relief distribution.[146]
Farming villagers in the north spent their days harvesting crops like wheat and millet, while farmers south of the Huai River engaged in intensive rice cultivation and had lakes and ponds where ducks and fish could be raised. The cultivation of mulberry trees for silkworms and tea bushes could be found mostly south of the Yangzi River; even further south of this sugarcane and citrus were grown as basic crops.[146] Some people in the mountainous southwest made a living by selling lumber from hard bamboo. Besides cutting down trees to sell wood, the poor also made a living by turning wood into charcoal, burning oyster shells to make lime, fired pots, and wove mats and baskets.[151] In the north traveling by horse and carriage was most common, while in the south the myriad of rivers, canals, and lakes provided cheap and easy water transport. Although the south had the characteristic of the wealthy landlord and tenant farmers, there were on average many more owner-cultivators north of the Huai River due to harsher climate, living not far above subsistence level.[152]
Science and technology[link]
Further information: History of science and technology in China, List of Chinese inventions, and List of Chinese discoveries
Compared to the flourishing of science and technology in the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty perhaps saw fewer advancements in science and technology compared to the pace of discovery in the Western world. In fact, key advances in Chinese science in the late Ming were spurred by contact with Europe. In 1626 Johann Adam Schall von Bell wrote the first Chinese treatise on the telescope, the Yuanjingshuo (Far Seeing Optic Glass); in 1634 the last Ming emperor Chongzhen acquired the telescope of the late Johann Schreck (1576–1630).[153] The heliocentric model of the solar system was rejected by the Catholic missionaries in China, but Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei's ideas slowly trickled into China starting with the Polish Jesuit Michael Boym (1612–59) in 1627, Adam Schall von Bell's treatise in 1640, and finally Joseph Edkins, Alex Wylie, and John Fryer in the 19th century.[154] Catholic Jesuits in China would promote Copernican theory at court, yet at the same time embrace the Ptolemaic system in their writing; it was not until 1865 that Catholic missionaries in China sponsored the heliocentric model as their Protestant peers did.[155] Although Shen Kuo (1031–95) and Guo Shoujing (1231–316) had laid the basis for trigonometry in China, another important work in Chinese trigonometry would not be published again until 1607 with the efforts of Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci.[156] Ironically, some inventions which had their origins in ancient China were reintroduced to China from Europe during the late Ming; for example, the field mill.[157]
The Chinese calendar was in need of reform since it inadequately measured the solar year at 365 ¼ days, giving an error of 10 min and 14 sec a year or roughly a full day every 128 years.[158] Although the Ming had adopted Guo Shoujing's Shoushi calendar of 1281, which was just as accurate as the Gregorian Calendar, the Ming Directorate of Astronomy failed to periodically readjust it; this was perhaps due to their lack of expertise since their offices had become hereditary in the Ming and the Statutes of the Ming prohibited private involvement in astronomy.[159] A sixth-generation descendant of Emperor Hongxi, the "Prince" Zhu Zaiyu (1536–611), submitted a proposal to fix the calendar in 1595, but the ultra-conservative astronomical commission rejected it.[158][159] This was the same Zhu Zaiyu who discovered the system of tuning known as equal temperament, a discovery made simultaneously by Simon Stevin (1548–1620) in Europe.[160] In addition to publishing his works on music, he was able to publish his findings on the calendar in 1597.[159] A year earlier, the memorial of Xing Yunlu suggesting a calendar improvement was rejected by the Supervisor of the Astronomical Bureau due to the law banning private practice of astronomy; Xing would later serve with Xu Guangqi in reforming the calendar (Chinese: 崇禎暦書) in 1629 according to Western standards.[159]
When the Ming founder Hongwu came upon the mechanical devices housed in the Yuan Dynasty's palace at Khanbaliq— such as fountains with balls dancing on their jets, self-operating tiger automata, dragon-headed devices that spouted mists of perfume, and mechanical clocks in the tradition of Yi Xing (683–727) and Su Song (1020–101)—he associated all of them with the decadence of Mongol rule and had them destroyed.[161] This was described in full length by the Divisional Director of the Ministry of Works, Xiao Xun, who also carefully preserved details on the architecture and layout of the Yuan Dynasty palace.[161] Later, European Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault would briefly mention indigenous Chinese clockworks that featured drive wheels.[162] However, both Ricci and Trigault were quick to point out that 16th century European clockworks were far more advanced than the common time keeping devices in China, which they listed as water clocks, incense clocks, and "other instruments... with wheels rotated by sand as if by water" (Chinese: 沙漏).[163] Chinese records— namely the Yuan Shi (Chinese: 元史)—describe the 'five-wheeled sand clock', a mechanism pioneered by Zhan Xiyuan (fl. 1360–80) which featured the scoop wheel of Su Song's earlier astronomical clock and a stationary dial face over which a pointer circulated, similar to European models of the time.[164] This sand-driven wheel clock was improved upon by Zhou Shuxue (fl. 1530–58) who added a fourth large gear wheel, changed gear ratios, and widened the orifice for collecting sand grains since he criticized the earlier model for clogging up too often.[165]
The Chinese were intrigued with European technology, but so were visiting Europeans of Chinese technology. In 1584, Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) featured in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the peculiar Chinese innovation of mounting masts and sails onto carriages, just like Chinese ships.[166] Gonzales de Mendoza also mentioned this a year later— noting even the designs of them on Chinese silken robes —while Gerardus Mercator (1512–94) featured them in his atlas, John Milton (1608–74) in one of his famous poems, and Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1739–801) in the writings of his travel diary in China.[167]
The encyclopedist Song Yingxing (1587–1666) documented a wide array of technologies, metallurgic and industrial processes in his Tiangong Kaiwu (Chinese: 天工開物) encyclopedia of 1637. This includes mechanical and hydraulic powered devices for agriculture and irrigation,[169] nautical technology such as vessel types and snorkeling gear for pearl divers,[170][171][172] the annual processes of sericulture and weaving with the loom,[173] metallurgic processes such as the crucible technique and quenching,[174] manufacturing processes such as for roasting iron pyrite in converting sulphide to oxide in sulfur used in gunpowder compositions— illustrating how ore was piled up with coal briquettes in an earthen furnace with a still-head that sent over sulfur as vapor that would solidify and crystallize[175] —and the use of gunpowder weapons such as a naval mine ignited by use of a rip-cord and steel flint wheel.[176]
Focusing on agriculture in his Nongzheng Quanshu, the agronomist Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) took an interest in irrigation, fertilizers, famine relief, economic and textile crops, and empirical observation of the elements that gave insight into early understandings of chemistry.[177]
There were many advances and new designs in gunpowder weapons during the beginning of the dynasty, but by the mid to late Ming the Chinese began to frequently employ European-style artillery and firearms.[178] The Huolongjing, compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji sometime before the latter's death on May 16, 1375 (with a preface added by Jiao in 1412),[179] featured many types of cutting-edge gunpowder weaponry for the time. This includes hollow, gunpowder-filled exploding cannonballs,[180] land mines that used a complex trigger mechanism of falling weights, pins, and a steel wheellock to ignite the train of fuses,[181] naval mines,[182] fin-mounted winged rockets for aerodynamic control,[183] multistage rockets propelled by booster rockets before igniting a swarm of smaller rockets issuing forth from the end of the missile (shaped like a dragon's head),[184] and hand cannons that had up to ten barrels.[185]
Li Shizhen (1518–93)— one of the most renowned pharmacologists and physicians in Chinese history —belonged to the late Ming period. In 1587, he completed the first draft of his Bencao Gangmu, which detailed the usage of over 1,800 medicinal drugs. Although it purportedly was invented by a Daoist hermit from Mount Emei in the late 10th century, the process of inoculation for smallpox patients was in widespread use in China by the reign of the Longqing Emperor (ruled 1567–72), long before it was applied anywhere else.[186] In regards to oral hygiene, the ancient Egyptians had a primitive toothbrush of a twig frayed at the end, but the Chinese were the first to invent the modern bristle toothbrush in 1498, although it used stiff pig hair.[187]
Population[link]
Sinologist historians still debate the actual population figures for each era in the Ming Dynasty. The historian Timothy Brook notes that the Ming government census figures are dubious since fiscal obligations prompted many families to underreport the number of people in their households and many county officials to underreport the number of households in their jurisdiction.[188] Children were often underreported, especially female children, as shown by skewed population statistics throughout the Ming.[189] Even adult women were underreported;[190] for example, the Daming Prefecture in North Zhili reported a population of 378 167 males and 226 982 females in 1502.[191] The government attempted to revise the census figures using estimates of the expected average number of people in each household, but this did not solve the widespread problem of tax registration.[192] Some part of the gender imbalance may be attributed to the practice of female infanticide. The practice is well documented in China, going back over two thousand years, and it was described as "rampant" and "practiced by almost every family" by contemporary authors.[193] However, the dramatically skewed sex ratios, which many counties reported exceeding 2:1 by 1586, can't likely be explained by infanticide alone.[190]
The number of people counted in the census of 1381 was 59 873 305; however, this number dropped significantly when the government found that some 3 million people were missing from the tax census of 1391.[195] Even though underreporting figures was made a capital crime in 1381, the need for survival pushed many to abandon the tax registration and wander from their region, where Hongwu had attempted to impose rigid immobility on the populace. The government tried to mitigate this by creating their own conservative estimate of 60 545 812 people in 1393.[194] In his Studies on the Population of China, Ho Ping-ti suggests revising the 1393 census to 65 million people, noting that large areas of North China and frontier areas were not counted in that census.[196] Brook states that the population figures gathered in the official censuses after 1393 ranged between 51 and 62 million, while the population was in fact increasing.[194] Even the Hongzhi Emperor (ruled in 1487-505) remarked that the daily increase in subjects coincided with the daily dwindling amount of registered civilians and soldiers.[151] William Atwell states that around 1400 the population of China was perhaps 90 million people, citing Heijdra and Mote.[197]
Historians are now turning to local gazetteers of Ming China for clues that would show consistent growth in population.[189] Using the gazetteers, Brook estimates that the overall population under the Chenghua Emperor (ruled in 1464–1487) was roughly 75 million,[192] despite mid-Ming census figures hovering around 62 million.[151] While prefectures across the empire in the mid-Ming period were reporting either a drop in or stagnant population size, local gazetteers reported massive amounts of incoming vagrant workers with not enough good cultivated land for them to till, so that many would become drifters, conmen, or wood-cutters that contributed to deforestation.[198] The Hongzhi and Zhengde emperors lessened the penalties against those who had fled their home region, while the Jiajing Emperor (ruled in 1521–67) finally had officials register migrants wherever they had moved or fled in order to bring in more revenues.[191]
Even with Jiajing's reforms to document migrant workers and merchants, by the late Ming era the government census still did not accurately reflect the enormous growth in population. Gazetteers across the empire noted this and made their own estimations of the overall population in the Ming, some guessing that the population had doubled, tripled, or even grown fivefold since 1368.[199] Fairbank estimates that the population was perhaps 160 million in the late Ming Dynasty,[200] while Brook estimates 175 million,[199] and Ebrey states perhaps as large as 200 million.[201] However, a great epidemic that entered China through the northwest in 1641 ravaged the densely populated areas along the Grand Canal; a gazetteer in northern Zhejiang noted more than half the population fell ill that year and that 90% of the local populace in one area was dead by 1642.[202]
See also[link]
- 1421 Hypothesis
- Economy of the Ming Dynasty
- Kaifeng flood of 1642
- Kingdom of Tungning
- List of tributaries of Imperial China
- Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns
- Ming ceramics
- Ming Dynasty family tree
- Ming Dynasty military conquests
- Ming official headwear
- Ming poetry
- Taxation in premodern China
- Ye Chunji (for further information on rural economics in the Ming)
- Zheng Zhilong
Notes[link]
- ^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of world-systems research 12 (2): 219–229. ISSN 1076–156x. http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol12/number2/pdf/jwsr-v12n2-tah.pdf. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ^ Edwin Oldfather Reischauer, John King Fairbank, Albert M. Craig (1960) A history of East Asian civilization, Volume 1. East Asia: The Great Tradition, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 271.
- ^ For the lower population estimate, see (Fairbank & Goldman 2006:128), for the higher estimate see (Ebrey 1999:197).
- ^ a b Gascoigne (2003), 150.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 190–1.
- ^ Gascoigne (2003), 151.
- ^ a b c Ebrey (1999), 191.
- ^ Naquin, Susan (2000). Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400–1900. Berkeley: University of California press. p. xxxiii. ISBN 0-520-21991-0.
- ^ Andrew & Rapp (2000), 25.
- ^ a b Ebrey (1999), 192–3.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 130.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 129–30.
- ^ "Ethnic Uygurs in Hunan Live in Harmony with Han Chinese". People's Daily. 29 December 2000. http://english.people.com.cn/english/200012/28/eng20001228_59085.html.
- ^ Zhiyu Shi (2002). Negotiating ethnicity in China: citizenship as a response to the state. Volume 13 of Routledge studies—China in transition (illustrated ed.). Psychology Press. p. 270. ISBN 0-415-28372-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=8ePxMW066j8C&pg=PA133&dq=jian+uyghur+hunan&hl=en&ei=-BO9TJ3BK4SBlAfLxZ2GDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Michael Dillon (1999). China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects. Richmond: Curzon Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-7007-1026-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=hUEswLE4SWUC&pg=PA34&dq=lan+yu+yunnan+muslim&hl=en&ei=UVjMTLHaKIT6lwf05fjiCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 197.
- ^ Zhang, Yuxin; Xiang, Hongjia; Information Office of the State Council. People's Republic of China (2002). Testimony of History. China: China Intercontinental Press. p. 73. ISBN 7-80113-885-6.
- ^ Wang Jiawei & Nyima Gyaincain (1997), 39–41.
- ^ Mingshi-Geography I «明史•地理一»: 東起朝鮮，西據吐番，南包安南，北距大磧。; Geography III «明史•地理三»: 七年七月置西安行都衛於此，領河州、朵甘、烏斯藏、三衛。; Western territory III «明史•列傳第二百十七西域三»
- ^ a b c d Wylie (2003), 470.
- ^ Wang & Nyima (1997), 1–40.
- ^ Laird (2006), 106–7.
- ^ Norbu (2001), 52.
- ^ Kolmaš, 32.
- ^ Wang & Nyima (1997), 39–40.
- ^ Sperling (2003), 474–5, 478.
- ^ Perdue (2000), 273.
- ^ Kolmaš, 28–9.
- ^ Laird (2006), 131
- ^ Langlois (1988), 139, 161.
- ^ Geiss (1988), 417–8.
- ^ a b Laird (2006), 137.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 227.
- ^ Wang & Nyima (1997), 38.
- ^ Kolmaš, 30–1.
- ^ Goldstein (1997), 8.
- ^ Laird (2006), 143–4.
- ^ The Ming Biographical History Project of the Association for Asian Studies (1976), 23.
- ^ Kolmaš, 34–5.
- ^ Goldstein (1997), 6–9.
- ^ Laird (2006), 152.
- ^ Robinson (2000), 527.
- ^ Atwell (2002), 84.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 272.
- ^ a b Ebrey (1999), 194.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 137.
- ^ a b Ebrey (2006), 273.
- ^ Robinson (1999), 83.
- ^ Robinson (1999), 84–5.
- ^ Robinson (1999), 79, 101–8.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 139.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 208.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 31.
- ^ Spence (1999), 16.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 17.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 194–5.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 11.
- ^ Spence (1999), 17–8.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 20.
- ^ Spence (1999), 20–1.
- ^ a b c Spence (1999), 21.
- ^ Spence (1999), 22–4.
- ^ Tsunami among world's worst disasters. BBC News. December 30, 2004.
- ^ Spence (1999), 27.
- ^ Spence (1999), 24, 28.
- ^ a b Chang (2007), 92.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 31.
- ^ Spence (1999), 21–2.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 22.
- ^ a b c Spence (1999), 25.
- ^ Spence (1999), 32–3.
- ^ Spence (1999), 33.
- ^ Yuan (1994), 193–4.
- ^ Hartwell (1982), 397–8.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 5.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 28.
- ^ Chang (2007), 15, footnote 42.
- ^ a b Chang (2007), 16.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 16.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 23.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 29–30.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 30.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 31–32.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 32.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 33.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 33–35.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 35.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 36.
- ^ a b c d Hucker (1958), 24.
- ^ a b c d Hucker (1958), 25.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 11, 25.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 25–26.
- ^ a b c Hucker (1958), 26.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 200.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 12.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 96.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 145–6.
- ^ a b c Ebrey (1999), 199.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 198–9.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 201–2.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 202.
- ^ a b Ebrey (1999), 198.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 13.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 11–2.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 14.
- ^ Brook (1998), xxv.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 15–6.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 17.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 18.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 18–9.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 24–5.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 8.
- ^ a b Hucker (1958), 19.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 109–12.
- ^ Hucker (1958), 19–20.
- ^ Robinson (1999), 116–7.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 10.
- ^ Brook (1998), 224–5.
- ^ Brook (1998), 225.
- ^ Brook (1998), 225–6.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 524.
- ^ Hargett (1985), 69.
- ^ Brook (1998), xxi.
- ^ Brook (1998), 215–7.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 104–5.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 202–3.
- ^ Chang (2007), 318–9.
- ^ Chang (2007), 319.
- ^ a b Chang (2007), 318.
- ^ Brook (1998), 229–31.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 201.
- ^ Brook (1998), 206.
- ^ a b Ebrey (1999), 212.
- ^ Wong (1963), 30–2.
- ^ White (1966), Volume 1, 31–8.
- ^ Lipman (1998), 39.
- ^ a b c d e f Ebrey (2006), 282.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 281.
- ^ a b Ebrey (2006), 281–282.
- ^ Ebrey (2006), 283.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 158.
- ^ Brook (1998), 230.
- ^ a b c Ebrey (1999), 213.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 206.
- ^ a b c Spence (1999), 13.
- ^ a b Spence (1999), 12–3.
- ^ Brook (1998), 229, 232.
- ^ Brook (1998), 232–3.
- ^ Schafer (1956), 57.
- ^ a b c Brook (1998), 95.
- ^ Spence (1999), 14.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 444–5.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 444–7.
- ^ Wong (1963), 31 (footnote 1).
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 110.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 255–7.
- ^ a b Kuttner (1975), 166.
- ^ a b c d Engelfriet (1998), 78.
- ^ Kuttner (1975), 166–7.
- ^ a b Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, pp. 133, 508.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 438.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 509.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 511.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 510–1.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 276.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 274–6.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 171–2.
- ^ Song (1966), 7–30, 84–103.
- ^ Song (1966), 171–2, 189, 196.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 3, 668
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 3, 634, 649–50, 668–9.
- ^ Song (1966), 36–6.
- ^ Song (1966), 237, 190.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 126.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 205, 339 F.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 6, Part 2, 65–6.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 372.
- ^ Needam (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 24–5.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 264.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 203–5.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 205.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 498–502.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 508.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 229.
- ^ Temple (1986), 137.
- ^ "Who invented the toothbrush and when was it invented?". The Library of Congress. 2007-04-04. http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/tooth.html. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ Brook (1998), 27.
- ^ a b Brook (1998), 267.
- ^ a b Brook (1998), 97–9.
- ^ a b Brook (1998), 97.
- ^ a b Brook (1998), 28, 267.
- ^ Anne Behnke Kinney. Chinese views of childhood. pp. 200–201.
- ^ a b c Brook (1998), 28.
- ^ Brook (1998), 27–8.
- ^ Ho (1959), 8–9, 22, 259.
- ^ Atwell (2002), 86.
- ^ Brook (1998), 94–6.
- ^ a b Brook (1998), 162.
- ^ Fairbank & Goldman (2006), 128.
- ^ Ebrey (1999), 195.
- ^ Brook (1998), 163.
References[link]
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- Dupuy, R. E.; Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Collins Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present. Glasgow: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-470143-7. Source for "Fall of the Ming Dynasty"
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, James B. Palais. (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4.
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999), The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-66991-X
- Engelfriet, Peter M. (1998). Euclid in China: The Genesis of the First Translation of Euclid's Elements in 1607 & Its Reception Up to 1723. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. ISBN 90-04-10944-7.
- Fairbank, John King; Goldman, Merle (2006), China: A New History; Second Enlarged Edition, Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-01828-1
- Gascoigne, Bamber. (2003). The Dynasties of China: A History. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1219-8 (Paperback).
- Geiss, James. (1988). "The Cheng-te reign, 1506–1521," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1, 403–439, edited by Denis Twitchett and John K. Fairbank. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24332-7.
- Gernet, Jacques (1962). Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276. Translated by H. M. Wright. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0720-0
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Further reading[link]
- Huang, Ray (1981). 1587, a Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02518-1.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ming Dynasty |
- Notable Ming Dynasty Painters and Galleries at China Online Museum
- Ming Dynasty art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Ming Dynasty With a total of 16 emperors, the Ming Dynasty lasted 276 years, from 1368 to 1644.
| Preceded by Yuan Dynasty |
Dynasties in Chinese history 1368–1644 |
Succeeded by Qing Dynasty (see also Shun Dynasty) |
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