Ming China, 1368-1644: A Concise History of a Resilient EmpireThis engaging, deeply informed book provides the first concise history of one of China's most important eras. Leading scholar John W. Dardess offers a thematically organized political, social, and economic exploration of China from 1368 to 1644. He examines how the Ming dynasty was able to endure for 276 years, illuminating Ming foreign relations and border control, the lives and careers of its sixteen emperors, its system of governance and the kinds of people who served it, its great class of literati, and finally the mass outlawry that, in unhappy conjunction with the Manchu invasions from outside, ended the once-mighty dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century. The Ming witnessed the beginning of China's contact with the West, and its story will fascinate all readers interested in global as well as Asian history. |
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administrative Annam arrested Beijing Buddhist Cambridge campaign capital career Censorate central century Chen Cheng-Zhu Chenghua Chief Grand Secretary Chinese Chongzhen civil bureaucracy civil officials command Confucian court Dictionary died Donglin elites Empress Esen eunuch exams father Forbidden City Fujian Goodrich and Fang Guizhou Henan History Huang Hubei Huguang imperial Jiajing Jiangxi Jianwen Jingtai jinshi Korea late Ming later leaders Li Zicheng literati Liu Jin Luchuan Manchuria Manchus metropolitan miles military Ming armies Ming China Ming dynasty Ming forces Ming founder Ming government Ming Studies Mongol Nanjing non-Chinese north China northern frontier outlaws palace eunuchs prefecture Prince province Qing raiders raiding realm rebellion region reign ruler Shaanxi shengyuan Sichuan Song southern Taizu Tang thousand Tianqi Tianshun Tibetan troops tusi University Press Wang Shizhen Wang Yangming Wang Yangming's Wanli Xuande Yan Song Yangzi Yongle emperor young Yuan Yunnan Zhang Xianzhong Zhejiang Zheng Zhengtong Zhu Di Zicheng