-
Period: Dec 7, 602 to Dec 7, 664
Xuan Zang
Monkey King was based on the true story of a famous Tang monk, Xuan Zang. After years of trials and tribulations he traveled on foot to what is today India, the birthdplace of Buddhism, to seek the Sutra, the Buddhist holy book. -
Period: Nov 9, 1279 to Nov 9, 1368
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty ruled throughout the years of 1279 to 1368 -
Period: Nov 9, 1351 to Nov 9, 1367
Uprising Goods
The final days of the Yuan Dynasty, uprising floods, famine, and rivalries from 1351 to 1367 lead to the fall of the dynasty. -
Period: Nov 1, 1368 to
Ming Dynasty ruled China
From 1368 to 1644 the Ming Dynasty ruled China for almost 300 years. It was bracketed by 2 foreign dynasties, the Mongol and Manchu. The Ming was ruled by a powerful local Han CHinese imperial family, the Zhu clan. -
Nov 9, 1368
Hongwu Era
The Hongwu Era begins in 1368, when Zhu Yuanzhang leads an army into Beijing. The next four events begin during the Hongwu era. -
Nov 9, 1368
Administration
The Hongwu emperor, using both Confucian scholar-officials and eunuchs, built a large bureaucracy to help administer his vast kingdom. He discovered a widespread plot to overthrow his reign by his cheif minister. -
Nov 9, 1368
The Examination System
The Ming revival of the pure Chinese rule looked to strenghten the examination system to that of the earlier Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. -
Period: Nov 10, 1368 to Nov 10, 1398
Hongwu
Hongwu emperor -
Period: Nov 10, 1393 to Nov 10, 1414
Land, People, Taxes
Land, People, and Taxes Under the Hongwu and Yongle emperors, population reaches 60 mllion. Land registers between 1393-1414 show 129 million acres under cultivation. -
Period: Nov 1, 1403 to Nov 1, 1424
Ming Chengzu
From 1403-1424 Ming Chengzu was the third emperor and left a powerful stamp on China. He came to power through civil war, seizing the legitimate throne from his nephew and carrying out a bloodbath against those who opposed him. -
Period: Nov 10, 1403 to Nov 10, 1424
Yongle
Yongle emperor -
Nov 11, 1404
Scholarship
In order to increase scholarship and strengthen the literary and historical traditions of China, the Yogle Emperor established the Hanlin Academy. -
Period: Nov 11, 1405 to Nov 11, 1433
Maritime Expeditions
During the reigns of the Yongle and Hongxi emperors, China sent out seven great maritime expeditions. The expeditions were led by a court enuch named Zheng. -
Nov 11, 1433
Ming Anti-Commercialism
Despite Zheng He's Success, China Failed to become a world maritime power because rich and self-sufficent China lacked the motivation and need that their Japanese and European counterparts would have centuries later. -
Period: Oct 25, 1472 to Oct 25, 1528
Confucians advocated to re-write values and rites
Some Confucians even advocated passion and daring emotion to replace the ancient values of propriety and Rites. Many rewrote Confucianism in a period of influencial shifts during 1472-1528, one person especially, Wang Yangming. -
Period: Dec 7, 1488 to Dec 7, 1521
Hongzhi and Zhengde
The first necolassical movement in literature was initiated by the "Former Seven Scholars," headed by Li Mengyang and He Jingming in the reigns of Hongzhi and Zhengde. -
Jan 1, 1500
Portuguese in Ming China
Portuguese arrived in the port cities of Ming China in the 1500's. They were a very powerful group of men. They had never seen a class of rulers who held athority primarily because they had mastered an exam. -
Period: Dec 7, 1507 to
Wu Cheng'en
We Cheng'en was born in Jiangsu province, where Ming economic and cultural development was particularly evident. Wu became fairly well known, even in his early years, as a descriptive poet who wrote about scenery and the behavior of animals. -
Period: Nov 1, 1518 to
Wang Shizhen
Wang Shizhen listed the properties, therapies, and dangers of almost 1,000 drugs derived from plant, animal, and mineral products. In it he listed the collection and use of steroids, smallpox inoculations, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, and discussed diseases such as beriberi, caused by nutritional deficiencies. Poium, well known in China, was described as an analgesic and anesthetic. -
Dec 7, 1530
Mongol Problem
As the Hongwu emperor sought ot regain the control of China, he sent armies into Mongolia to break the Mongol forces the remained. He mangaed to conquer and pacify Mongol chieftains by giving them titles, honors, and guardianship of the border. However, problems along the Mongol frontier worsened and, until the fall of the dynasty, the Ming would constantly have to deal with the Mongol Problem -
Period: Dec 7, 1550 to
Troubles with Japan
The Ming suffered numerous raids from Japanese pirates, who would prowl the Chinese coastline, occasionally raiding small towns and villages. Despite constant patrolling, the Ming were helpless to stop the pirates. The Ming decided to prohibit maritime trade with Japain in hopes of not providing the pirates with any opportunities. However, with the military reunification of Japan, the Ming learned of a Japanese plan to invade China via Korea. -
Period: Nov 11, 1573 to
Tribute
From Hongwu through Wanli emperor. The Ming set up a tribute system dominant power in East Asia. China sent envoys to Korea, Japan, Annam, Tibet, and other Souteast Asian countries in order to assume its position as the largest and oldest Asian country. -
Period: Dec 7, 1573 to
Reign of Wanli
Two neoclassical movements in literature occurred in the Ming prior to the reign of Wanli. -
Period: Dec 7, 1573 to
Wan-li Reign
a far cry from the Hongwu and Yongle emperors, the Wanli Emperor showed very little interest in the affairs of the state. Rather than rule, he let eunuchs and other officials make decisions for him while he entertained himself with literature and woodcarving. He rarely held or attended court and let the treasury diminish at the hands of corrupt and greedy officals. By the end of his reign, the Ming dynasty was in a terrible state of affairs. -
Portuguese Ship
In 1592 the British captured a Portuguese ship, the "Madre de Dios," laden with goods from China. THe British customs officers listed the silks in the hold of the captured ship as "damasks, taffetas, sarcents, altobassos, unwroght silks, sleaved sild, white twisted silk, curled cypresse." -
Period: to
Gu Yanwu
The scholar Gu Yanwu estimated that 50% of the imperial income derived rom high taxes collected from the coastal cities. While the government taxed and negleted, merchant empires increased. -
The Manchus
Manchu under Nurhaci begin attacking the Ming. Between 1629 and 1637, the attack north China, Korea, and Monglia. In 1644 with assistance of Ming armies, Manchus defeat Li and come to rule China in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). -
Period: to
Donglin Party
Composed of ex-Confucian scholar-officials, the Donglin (Eastern Forest) Party was intent on returning Chinese society and government to the traditional procnciples of Confucial conduct. They condemned what they viewed as the philosophical electiscism of the Ming-the blendingof Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. -
Ming Government
In 1626 the Ming government was forced to quell a riot. There were many riots over the years, especially in the huge urban centers of the south. But the riot of 1626 in the southern city of Suzhou was especially troublesome. Tons of people formed an alliance against government policy. -
Period: to
Rise of Rebellion
A majority of the provinces in the Northwest China experienced severe famines. At teh same time, a young postal worker from that area named Li Zicheng lost his job due to unwise economic administrative policies. Li, joining his uncle who was already a bandit, became the leader of a bandit group that was successfully raided numerous provinces in Northwest China. -
End of Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty ended in 1644 then started the Qing Dynasty. -
Ming emperor Taizu
Ming emperor Taizu established his capital. He is the dynastys founding emperor, he was a military genius and led expeditions that pused the Mongols out of China. -
Grand Military Achievement
Zhu Yuanzhang becaume known as the Hongwu, or "grand military achievement," emperor as he created a large and intricate military system. -
Eunuchs
Despite Hongwu's warnings, enuchs became increasingly powerful in the court. Later emperors grew very fond of the eunuchs, who helped raise them; thus, the rank and duties of many eunuchs gradually increased. -
Early Song
In the early Song, storytellers flourished in the marketplaces of the northern capital, Bianliang, and the southern capital, Hangzhou. -
Period: to Nov 1, 1276
Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty, 960-1276, since then the coastal cities of China had produced great industry and trade, great ship builders and great merchant dynasties. Song ships were considered the most seaworthy and they dominated trade throughout the China Sea from Japan to Indonesia.
