Chinese defeating the Mongolians
The Yuan dynasty
collapsed soon after the outbreak of a rivalry between the
Mongolians and the consequent natural disasters and other peasant
revolutionary acts. In 1368 AD, a Han Chinese peasant who was also
the former Buddhist monk and later turned into a rebel army leader
founded the Ming Dynasty that lasted till 1644 AD. The Ming
Dynastys initial capital was at Nanjing (or Southern Capital) and
then at Beijing (or Northern Capital). In the first quarter of the
fifteenth century itself, the Ming was able to gain control over his
kingdom. The army of China triumphed over the Annam again, which was
earlier known as Northern Vietnam in Southeast Asia, and the Mongols
were kept behind the trails. The Chinese navy was able to sail
through the China seas and the Indian Ocean, towards the east coast
of Africa. The Chinese emperor was offered tribute through
emissaries by the maritime Asian nations. The Grand Canal was also
extended to its extreme limits and served as a spur for domestic
trade.
Post 1433 AD, the
maritime expeditions during the Ming dynasty came to a standstill.
In other words, 1433 was the last date of voyage in this period.
According to the historians, all large-scale expeditions carried
huge expenditure during their preoccupation with northern defences
against the Mongolians. There was much opposition from the court as
well, which can be considered as another contributing factor towards
the stoppage of voyage. Conservative officials evaluated that the
expansion and commercial ventures were opposed to the Chinese
government ideology. The powerful Neo-Confucian bureaucratic system
also exerted tremendous pressure which gave rise to a stricter
agrarian society. The Ming dynasty had always been stable towards
its approach in different aspects. There had been no disturbances of
the populace of 100 million at that time, economy, society, arts, or
politics. This resulted into the promotion of a belief amongst the
Chinese people that they had attained the most reasonable
civilization on earth and no foreign products were required anymore.
The Ming rule was
later weakened due to big wars against the Mongols, invasion of
Japanese into Korean societies and harassment by the Japanese over
the Chinese coastal cities during the sixteenth century. The Ming
dynasty was then conquered by an alien, similar to the Chinese
dynasties as before. Later in 1644 AD, the Manchus took over the
Northern China (Beijing) and gained mastery over the region. The
Manchus established the last imperial dynasty in China the Qing
Dynasty from 1644-1911 AD.
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