I. Rise of the Ming
- Another interstate system during last 20-30 years of Yuan– different Mongol factions in north, eight Chinese states
- Zhu Yuanzhang 1367 invades North China, sweeps Mongols out of Beijing by 1368
- Hongwu Emperor obsessed with returning China to former status – refuses to accept 400-year system of rough “equality”
- Demands tributary relations with all neighbors
- Koryo kingdom tries to straddle fence, pay tribute to Ming while also maintaining relations with Mongols
- Japanese also doubtful of Ming power – shogun 1380 in letter rejects idea of “Son of Heaven”
- Hongwu defeats Tibetans and Mongols, expands into Southwest
- Hongwu Emperor’s insecurity – commoner status, past rebel associations (Red Turbans)
- Almost paranoid about officials subtly insulting him with their flowery language
- Restores exam system 1367, sets up new network of Confucian Academies
- 1376 “Case of the Pre-stamped Documents” – thousands of officials executed for supposedly hiding information from Emperor
- 1380 Chief Councilor Hu Weiyong assassination plot – executes up to 15,000 people “involved”

II. The Yongle Emperor
- Jianwen Emperor succeeds Hongwu 1398
- 1399 uncle Zhu Di (Prince of Yan) attacks – civil war until 1402 under pretext of “protecting” his nephew from corrupt officials
- Scorned by scholar officialdom – “Where is King Cheng?”
- Yongle Emperor also firm believer in Ming hegemony in East Asia:
- (1) Mongols send tribute to Beijing, but Yongle has to lead five campaigns against them
- (2) Uighurs side with Ming vs. Mongols
- (3) War with Vietnam (Annam) 1407-1427
- (4) Jurchens accept tributary status
- (5) Koreans first to offer tribute to Yongle
- (6) Japanese finally submit 1403

III. Zheng He and the Ming Armada
- Admiral Zheng He, Muslim eunuch from Yunnan
- Incredible expenses, new technology
- “Treasure Ships”: 440 feet long, 9 masts, 2500 tons capacity
- First fleet 317 ships, including 62 Treasure Ships, crews of 28,000 men
- Seven voyages 1405-1433: prove power of Ming, tribute and trade, assistance to tributary allies
- Chinese merchants also settle all along these routes
- Zheng He dies 1433, voyages end - Confucian officials’ problems with project
- China ceases 700-year reign as masters of the seas just before European powers emerge

IV. Ming Commerce and Economy
- Ming as the very center of the world economy
- Half of the precious metals mined in the New World end up in China!
- Population more than doubles
- Land under cultivation increases by 25-30%
- New crops from New World by 1500s
- Growth of industry as well –industrial cities of one million people
- Goods distributed widely via canal network

V. Changes in Ming Society
- Continued rise of merchant class – formation of new “gentry” class combining wealth and scholar-official titles
- Social mobility decreasing as gentry class grows in influence
- Population figures show missing women – why?
- (1) Less surviving to adulthood?
- (2) Women evading registration by leaving home?
- (3) Men not registering them?
- “Decrease” in numbers of women as both a statistical illusion and a social fact

VI. The Late Ming in International Context
- Post-Yongle retreat from expansionist policies
- 1440s Western Mongols (Oyirat) tribes united, harass border
- 1449 Zhengtong Emperor leads counter attack against Oyirats, ambushed and captured
- Dynasty has to review northern policies – 1474 turn to defensive strategy of building the Great Wall
- “Wokou” piracy of merchant and official shipping