{"slug": "ming-dynasty", "label": "Ming dynasty", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9903", "qid": "Q9903", "description": "imperial dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644", "entries": 139, "years": 109, "span": [1281, 1661], "span_label": ["1281 CE", "1661 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 48}, {"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 22}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 11}, {"title": "Culture & Society", "count": 10}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 10}, {"title": "Climate & Environment", "count": 8}, {"title": "Deaths", "count": 7}, {"title": "Crime & Justice", "count": 6}, {"title": "Births", "count": 4}, {"title": "Health & Medicine", "count": 4}, {"title": "Economy & Finance", "count": 4}, {"title": "Religion & Belief", "count": 4}, {"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 1}], "related": [{"slug": "china", "label": "China", "shared": 22}, {"slug": "hongwu-emperor", "label": "Hongwu Emperor", "shared": 20}, {"slug": "yongle-emperor", "label": "Yongle Emperor", "shared": 12}, {"slug": "nanjing", "label": "Nanjing", "shared": 9}, {"slug": "qing-dynasty", "label": "Qing dynasty", "shared": 8}, {"slug": "beijing", "label": "Beijing", "shared": 8}, {"slug": "yuan-dynasty", "label": "Yuan dynasty", "shared": 7}, {"slug": "portuguese-empire", "label": "Portuguese Empire", "shared": 7}, {"slug": "zheng-he", "label": "Zheng He", "shared": 6}, {"slug": "emperor-yingzong-of-ming", "label": "Emperor Yingzong of Ming", "shared": 6}, {"slug": "manchu-people", "label": "Manchu people", "shared": 5}, {"slug": "wu-sangui", "label": "Wu Sangui", "shared": 5}], "items": [{"year": 1281, "year_label": "1281 CE", "section": "Births", "date": null, "text": "Zhu Shizhen, Chinese founder of the Ming dynasty (d. 1344)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351320525#Births", "title": "1281", "revid": 1351320525, "section": "Births"}}, {"year": 1352, "year_label": "1352 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "After years of begging and being a Buddhist monk, the penniless Chinese peasant Zhu Yuanzhang joins the Red Turban Rebellions against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China; he will later become the first emperor of the Ming dynasty.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1294629592#Date_unknown", "title": "1352", "revid": 1294629592, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1355, "year_label": "1355 CE", "section": "Births", "date": "October 10", "text": "October 10 – Zhu Biao, eldest son of the Hongwu Emperor and crown prince of the Ming dynasty (d. 1392)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357199170#Births", "title": "1355", "revid": 1357199170, "section": "Births"}}, {"year": 1356, "year_label": "1356 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Zhu Yuanzhang, one of the leaders in the Red Turban Rebellion, captures the city of Nanjing from the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China; from then on it becomes his base of power, and the capital of a new dynasty he would establish in 1368, the Ming dynasty.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1350441440#Date_unknown", "title": "1356", "revid": 1350441440, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1366, "year_label": "1366 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Zhu Yuanzhang, leader of the Red Turban Rebellion that will overthrow the Yuan dynasty and establish the Ming dynasty two years later, begins building the walls for a new capital city at Nanjing.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361982215#Date_unknown", "title": "1366", "revid": 1361982215, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1368, "year_label": "1368 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "January 23", "text": "January 23 – Zhu Yuanzhang establishes the Ming dynasty with himself as the Emperor Hongwu. The new dynasty will last until 1644. The Emperor immediately orders every county magistrate to set up four granaries, and halts government taxation on books. Work begins later year on restoring the surviving Great Wall of China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371792677#January–March", "title": "1368", "revid": 1371792677, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1369, "year_label": "1369 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "The Hongwu Emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty issues a decree ordering every country magistrate in the empire to open a Confucian school of learning.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371621472#Dates_unknown", "title": "1369", "revid": 1371621472, "section": "Events › Dates unknown"}}, {"year": 1369, "year_label": "1369 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 20", "text": "July 20 – In the continued conquest of Yuan dynasty China by the Ming dynasty, General Chang Yuchun captures the Yuan capital, Shangdu, forcing the Yuan Emperor Huizong to flee further northward.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371621472#July–September", "title": "1369", "revid": 1371621472, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1370, "year_label": "1370 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "The city of Xi'an in Ming dynasty China is given a new defensive city wall.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370872148#Date_unknown", "title": "1370", "revid": 1370872148, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1370, "year_label": "1370 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "June 6", "text": "June 6 – At Yingchang, now part of the Hexigten province of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara is crowned as Emperor of the Northern Yuan, the remaining portion of the Chinese territory that had been ruled by the Yuan dynasty prior its overthrow in 1368 by the rulers of the Ming dynasty. Prince Ayushiridara is the son of the late Emperor Huizong of Yuan.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370872148#April–June", "title": "1370", "revid": 1370872148, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1371, "year_label": "1371 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China introduces the census registration system of lijia, or the hundreds-and-tithing system, throughout the Yangzi Valley. This system groups households into units of ten and groups of one hundred, whereupon their capacities for paying taxes and providing the state with corvée labor service can be assessed. The system becomes fully operational in 1381, when it counts 59,873,305 people living in China (the historian Timothy Brook asserts that the number was much higher, somewhere between 65 million and 75 million).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370413855#Date_unknown", "title": "1371", "revid": 1370413855, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1371, "year_label": "1371 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May", "text": "May – Under the direction of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor Hongwu, the Ming conquest of Xia begins as troops from China, led by Generals Fu Youde and Tang He invade what is now the Sichuan province from the north, while Admiral Liao Yongzhong leads an attack on Xia's east coast and along the Yangtze river.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370413855#April–June", "title": "1371", "revid": 1370413855, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1371, "year_label": "1371 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "November 18", "text": "November 18 – Shen-Chi and Chang-Jhing-Chi, diplomatic envoys from China, land in Java to deliver a message from the Chinese Emperor to Muhammad Shah of Brunei.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370413855#October–December", "title": "1371", "revid": 1370413855, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1372, "year_label": "1372 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Kingdom of Chūzan, ruled by King Satto on the island of Okinawa, in Japan) enters tributary relations with Ming dynasty China by way of an envoy, Yang Zai, sent by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370079239#Date_unknown", "title": "1372", "revid": 1370079239, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1373, "year_label": "1373 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, suspends the traditional civil service examination system after complaining that the 120 new jinshi degree-holders are too incompetent to hold office; he instead relies solely upon a system of recommendations, until the civil service exams are reinstated in 1384.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369605206#Date_unknown", "title": "1373", "revid": 1369605206, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1377, "year_label": "1377 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "King U of Goryeo adopts the Ming calendar and begs to be invested by the Hongwu Emperor.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368383535#Date_unknown", "title": "1377", "revid": 1368383535, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1377, "year_label": "1377 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "August", "text": "August – The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China scraps the Office of Reports Inspection (established in 1370) for a new Office of Transmission, in his efforts to create a more efficient communicatory system in the empire. A month before this he noted that anyone could send memorials to the throne; commoners often did, although the only times their petitions were read aloud to the emperor were when they called for the impeachment of local officials who were not up to par with their official duties.Wilkinson, 534–535.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368383535#July–September", "title": "1377", "revid": 1368383535, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1380, "year_label": "1380 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Hongwu Emperor purges the chancellor of China, Hu Weiyong, and abolishes that office, as he imposes direct imperial rule over the six ministries of central government, for the Ming Empire.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360515041#Date_unknown", "title": "1380", "revid": 1360515041, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1380, "year_label": "1380 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "February 12", "text": "February 12 – Hu Weiyong, the Grand Chancellor of Ming dynasty China, is accused of treason and executed as the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Hongwu) begins a purge of over 30,000 people perceived as opponents of the Imperial government.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360515041#January–March", "title": "1380", "revid": 1360515041, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1381, "year_label": "1381 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "The Ming dynasty of China annexes the areas of the old Kingdom of Dali, in modern-day Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, inhabited by the Miao and Yao peoples. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese (including military colonists) will migrate there from the rest of China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365430794#Date_not_known", "title": "1381", "revid": 1365430794, "section": "Events › Date not known"}}, {"year": 1381, "year_label": "1381 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": null, "text": "In Ming dynasty China, the lijia census registration system begun in 1371 is now universally imposed, during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor. The census counts 59,873,305 people living in China in this year. This depicts a drastic drop in population since the Song dynasty, which counted 100 million people at its height in the early 12th century. A modern historian states that the Ming census is inaccurate, as China at around this time has at least 65,000,000 inhabitants, if not 75,000,000.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365430794#Date_not_known", "title": "1381", "revid": 1365430794, "section": "Events › Date not known"}}, {"year": 1382, "year_label": "1382 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 9", "text": "April 9 – Ming dyansty China, ruled by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, completes the conquerst of Yunnan the remaining portion of China still occupied by the Yuan dyansty in what is now the Yunnan province. General Fu Youde leads 250,000 Ming Chinese troops overwhelming the smaller Yunnan force of Mongol and Chinese Muslim troops.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367364320#April–June", "title": "1382", "revid": 1367364320, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1382, "year_label": "1382 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "January 6", "text": "January 6 – Basalawarmi, the Yuan dynasty Prince of Liang (now in the Henan province), commits suicide at his palace in Kaifeng after having been forced to retreat from the Ming dynasty armies.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367364320#January–March", "title": "1382", "revid": 1367364320, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1384, "year_label": "1384 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "August 16", "text": "August 16 – The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China hears a case of a couple who tore paper money notes, while fighting over them. Under the law, this is considered an act of destroying stamped government documents, which is to be punished by a caning with a bamboo rod of 100 strokes. However, the Emperor decides to pardon them, on the grounds that it was unintentional.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369176313#July–September", "title": "1384", "revid": 1369176313, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1385, "year_label": "1385 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "The Hongwu Emperor of China's Ming dynasty relents after eighteen tribute missions over the previous eight years, and agrees to invest King U of Goryeo.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362439687#Date_unknown", "title": "1385", "revid": 1362439687, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1388, "year_label": "1388 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "November 18", "text": "November 18 – Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür, the Emperor of the Northern Yuan dynasty in Mongolia, is killed by the Ming Chinese General Jorightu Khan Yesüder , who becomes the new Emperor.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360557860#October–December", "title": "1388", "revid": 1360557860, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1389, "year_label": "1389 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "January 19", "text": "January 19 – In Ming dynasty China, General Lan Yu is rewarded by the Emperor Zhu Chongba of the Hongwu era for his victory over Mongol invaders in 1388. Lan Yu is given the title Duke of Liang, with rule over what is now the Gansu province.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360559797#January–March", "title": "1389", "revid": 1360559797, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1392, "year_label": "1392 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": "September 24", "text": "September 24 – Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor of Ming dynasty China, declares that all males must wear the queue hairstyle.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360558319#July–September", "title": "1392", "revid": 1360558319, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1394, "year_label": "1394 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China orders the Ministry of Public Works to issue a public notice, that every 100 households in the lijia system are to set aside 2 mu (1,390 m 2 ) of land, for planting mulberry and jujube trees.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371593498#Date_unknown", "title": "1394", "revid": 1371593498, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1396, "year_label": "1396 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Ming dynasty court of China sends two envoys, Qian Guxun and Li Sicong, to the Ava Kingdom of Burma and the Tai polity of the Mong Mao, in order to resolve a dispute between these two. The travels of the Chinese ambassadors are recorded in the historical text of the Baiyi Zhuan.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360576293#Date_unknown", "title": "1396", "revid": 1360576293, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1401, "year_label": "1401 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "Japan re-enters into a tributary relationship with China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1347806355#Date_unknown", "title": "1401", "revid": 1347806355, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1401, "year_label": "1401 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Joseon dynasty in present-day Korea officially enters into a tributary relationship with Ming dynasty China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1347806355#Date_unknown", "title": "1401", "revid": 1347806355, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1401, "year_label": "1401 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 15", "text": "July 15 – Jingnan campaign: Chinese Empire troops, led by Fang Zhao, launch a raid on the Yan principality capital at Beiping, forcing Yan PrinceZhu Di to bring his troops back north.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1347806355#July–September", "title": "1401", "revid": 1347806355, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1401, "year_label": "1401 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "June 24", "text": "June 24 – (13th day of 5th month Ōei 8) The shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu dispatches a mission to Ming Dynasty China as the first step of opening trade between the two nations.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1347806355#April–June", "title": "1401", "revid": 1347806355, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1402, "year_label": "1402 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "July 17", "text": "July 17 – The Ming dynasty prince Zhu Di of Yan is formally crowned as the Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming at Nanjing, marking the end of the Jingnan campaign.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371594109#July–September", "title": "1402", "revid": 1371594109, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1405, "year_label": "1405 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 11", "text": "July 11 – Ming Dynasty fleet commander Zheng He sets sail from Suzhou, to explore the world for the first time.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1337543539#July–September", "title": "1405", "revid": 1337543539, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1406, "year_label": "1406 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "Construction of the Forbidden City begins in Beijing during the Chinese Ming dynasty.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357536622#Date_unknown", "title": "1406", "revid": 1357536622, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1406, "year_label": "1406 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 11", "text": "May 11 – Ming conquest of Đại Ngu: China's Emperor Chengzu sends two battalions to invade the Kingdom of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) under the command of the Duke Zhu Neng.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357536622#April–June", "title": "1406", "revid": 1357536622, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1408, "year_label": "1408 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Zheng He delivers 300 virgins from Korea to the Chinese Emperor Cheng Zu.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360565942#Date_unknown", "title": "1408", "revid": 1360565942, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1408, "year_label": "1408 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "August 20", "text": "August 20 – Abdul Majid Hassan, the Sultan of Brunei, sets off on a voyage to China at the invitation of the Emperor Cheng Zu and arrives in the capital, Nanjing, by September, becoming the first foreign monarch to make a peaceful visit to the Chinese Empire. While visiting, the Sultan becomes ill and dies on October 19.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360565942#July–December", "title": "1408", "revid": 1360565942, "section": "Events › July–December"}}, {"year": 1409, "year_label": "1409 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Cheng Ho (or Zheng He), admiral of the Ming empire fleet, deposes the king of Sri Lanka.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361998092#Date_unknown", "title": "1409", "revid": 1361998092, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1411, "year_label": "1411 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "Under the reign of Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming China, work begins to reinstate the ancient Grand Canal of China, which fell into disuse and dilapidation during the previous Yuan dynasty. Between 1411 and 1415, a total of 165,000 laborers dredge the canal bed in Shandong, build new channels, embankments, and canal locks. Four large reservoirs in Shandong are also dug, in order to regulate water levels, instead of resorting to pumping water from local tables. A large dam is also constructed, to divert water from the Wen River southwest into the Grand Canal.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1354941251#Date_unknown", "title": "1411", "revid": 1354941251, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1411, "year_label": "1411 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 6", "text": "July 6 – Ming dynasty Chinese Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after his third voyage, and presents the ruler Vira Alakesvara, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to China's Emperor Cheng Zu.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1354941251#July–September", "title": "1411", "revid": 1354941251, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1412, "year_label": "1412 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Years after its publication in the 14th century, the Ming dynasty Chinese artillery officer Jiao Yu adds the preface to his classic book on gunpowder warfare, the Huolongjing.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357537157#Date_unknown", "title": "1412", "revid": 1357537157, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1412, "year_label": "1412 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "December 18", "text": "December 18 – China's Emperor Cheng Zu orders the fourth of the Ming treasure voyages, to be led by Admiral Zheng He.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357537157#October–December", "title": "1412", "revid": 1357537157, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1413, "year_label": "1413 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March 31", "text": "March 31 – Trùng Quang Đế, Emperor of Vietnam (at the time Đại Việt), surrenders the Kingdom to the control of China. The Chinese occupying force installs Trần Cảo as the figurehead king.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357114633#January–March", "title": "1413", "revid": 1357114633, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1414, "year_label": "1414 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March 30", "text": "March 30 – The rebellion by Vietnamese Emperor Tran Quy Khoang against the Ming dynasty Chinese occupying armies comes to an end when Tran is captured and imprisoned by General Zhang Fu, marking a turning point in the Ming–Việt War.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368828978#January–March", "title": "1414", "revid": 1368828978, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1415, "year_label": "1415 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use; restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Emperor Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north, towards his new capital at Beijing. With this action, the food supply crisis is solved by the end of the year.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371593286#Date_unknown", "title": "1415", "revid": 1371593286, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1416, "year_label": "1416 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "November 14", "text": "November 14 – China's Emperor Cheng Zu and his fleet return to Nanjing from his fourth expedition for treasure after having been away since 1413.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368829186#October–December", "title": "1416", "revid": 1368829186, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1420, "year_label": "1420 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "October 28", "text": "October 28 – Beijing (\"Northern Capital\") is officially designated the capital of Ming dynasty China by the Yongle Emperor, replacing Nanjing, during the same year that the Forbidden City, the seat of government, is completed and construction begins on the Temple of Heaven in the new capital city.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365937924#October–December", "title": "1420", "revid": 1365937924, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1423, "year_label": "1423 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "August", "text": "August – China's Emperor Cheng Zu launches his fourth campaign against the Northern Yuan.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365656788#July–September", "title": "1423", "revid": 1365656788, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1424, "year_label": "1424 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "September 7", "text": "September 7 – Prince Zhu Gaochi of China becomes the Hongxi Emperor (Emperor Renzong) of the Ming dynasty, beginning the Hongxi era, after the August 12 death of his father, the Emperor Zhu Di.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365656911#July_–September", "title": "1424", "revid": 1365656911, "section": "Events › July –September"}}, {"year": 1425, "year_label": "1425 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Beijing, capital of China, becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Nanjing (estimated date).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360580047#Date_unknown", "title": "1425", "revid": 1360580047, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1425, "year_label": "1425 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 27", "text": "June 27 – Zhu Zhanji is formally enthroned as the Ming dynasty Emperor of China as the Emperor Xuanzong, beginning the Xuande Era.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360580047#April_–June", "title": "1425", "revid": 1360580047, "section": "Events › April –June"}}, {"year": 1426, "year_label": "1426 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "Eunuch-dominated secret police start to control the palace guards and imperial workshops, infiltrate the civil service, and head all foreign missions in China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360579570#Date_unknown", "title": "1426", "revid": 1360579570, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1427, "year_label": "1427 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March 29", "text": "March 29 – In Vietnam, the Ming dynasty China army invades a second time, bringing 120,000 reinforcement troops led by General Mu Sheng to crush the Lam Sơn uprising.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365937201#January–June", "title": "1427", "revid": 1365937201, "section": "Events › January–June"}}, {"year": 1428, "year_label": "1428 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Lam Sơn uprising: Lê Lợi, founder of the Lê dynasty in Vietnam, liberates Annam (the territory occupied by Ming dynasty China in 1407) and restores the kingdom as Đại Việt.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359832254#Date_unknown", "title": "1428", "revid": 1359832254, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1429, "year_label": "1429 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "A series of seven customs offices and barriers are installed along the Grand Canal of China, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351320610#Date_unknown", "title": "1429", "revid": 1351320610, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1433, "year_label": "1433 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 22", "text": "July 22 – Admiral Zheng He and the crew of the seventh Ming Chinese overseas expedition return to China, arriving at Beijing two and one half years after their departure on January 19, 1411 from Nanjing. With the completion of the maritime expedition, the fleet is dispersed, altering the balance of power in the Indian Ocean, and making it easier for Portugal and other Western naval powers to gain dominance over the seas.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351320602#July–September", "title": "1433", "revid": 1351320602, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1433, "year_label": "1433 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "September 14", "text": "September 14 – Emperor Xuanzong of Ming dynasty China welcomes the envoys of 11 foreign nations that had sent representatives to travel back to China with Admiral Zheng He's fleet. Present at the Imperial Court as guests are envoys of the kings of Samudera, Kingdom of Kotte, Kingdom of Cochin, Calicut, Dhofar, Aden, Coimbatore, Hormuz, Jayile and Mecca.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351320602#July–September", "title": "1433", "revid": 1351320602, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1434, "year_label": "1434 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "In Ming Dynasty China, a long episode of drought, flood, locust infestation, and famine cripple agriculture and commerce in areas throughout the country, until 1448.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1335073150#Date_unknown", "title": "1434", "revid": 1335073150, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1435, "year_label": "1435 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": null, "text": "China returns to a policy of isolation.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370372061#Date_unknown", "title": "1435", "revid": 1370372061, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1436, "year_label": "1436 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "In Ming dynasty China, the inauguration of the Zhengtong-era Emperor Yingzong of Ming takes place.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351320639#Date_unknown", "title": "1436", "revid": 1351320639, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1438, "year_label": "1438 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": null, "text": "Just two years after the Ming dynasty court of China allowed landowners paying the grain tax to pay their tax in silver instead, the Ming court now decides to close all silver mines and prohibit all private silver mining in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. This is a concerted effort to halt the increase of silver circulating into the market. The illegal mining of silver is now an offense punishable by death; although it becomes a dangerous affair, the high demand for silver also makes it very lucrative, and so many chose to defy the government and continue to mine.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365935905#Date_unknown", "title": "1438", "revid": 1365935905, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1438, "year_label": "1438 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 8", "text": "December 8 – In Ming dynasty China, the Emperor Yingzong gives the order to his General, Mu Sheng, to go to war against the state of the Dai people (on the border with the Burmese Kingdom of Ava)and their ruler, King Möng Mao.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365935905#October–December", "title": "1438", "revid": 1365935905, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1440, "year_label": "1440 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": null, "text": "Zhu Quan writes the Cha Pu (\"Tea Manual\") in China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1343605568#Date_unknown", "title": "1440", "revid": 1343605568, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1443, "year_label": "1443 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": null, "text": "The Buddhist Zhihua Temple (智化寺) is built in Beijing, at the order of Wang Zhen, chief eunuch at the court of the Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349474708#Date_unknown", "title": "1443", "revid": 1349474708, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1448, "year_label": "1448 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "After a long episode of drought, flood, locust infestation and famine in Ming dynasty China since the year 1434, these natural afflictions finally wane, and agriculture and commerce return to a state of normality.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367832753#Date_unknown", "title": "1448", "revid": 1367832753, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1449, "year_label": "1449 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "September 1", "text": "September 1 – Battle of Tumu Fortress: The Oirat Mongols defeat the Ming dynasty army, and capture the Emperor Xingzong of China on September 3. The Emperor is officially deposed, while his brother Zhu Qiyu ascends as the Jingtai Emperor the next year.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365251873#July–September", "title": "1449", "revid": 1365251873, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1450, "year_label": "1450 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "January 19", "text": "January 19 – The Jingtai Era begins in China under the Emperor Daizong, and the Zhengtong Era ends after 14 years.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358834049#January–March", "title": "1450", "revid": 1358834049, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1450, "year_label": "1450 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "September 19", "text": "September 19 – China's Emperor Yingzong returns to Beijing after having been held as a prisoner of war by the Mongols since September 1, 1449. Upon returning, he is held under house arrest in the Forbidden City along with his wife, the Empress Qian, on orders of his younger brother Emperor Daizong.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358834049#July–September", "title": "1450", "revid": 1358834049, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1457, "year_label": "1457 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "February 11", "text": "February 11 – In Ming dynasty China, the Emperor Yingzong of Ming is returned to the throne by General Cao Jixiang and other officers who had staged a coup d'etat and overthrown his brother, the Emperor Daizong. Yingzong, whose first reign was the Zhengtong era, proclaims the Tianshun era.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359845780#January–March", "title": "1457", "revid": 1359845780, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1461, "year_label": "1461 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "August 7", "text": "August 7 – The Ming Dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor; after setting fire to the eastern and western gates of the Imperial City, Beijing (which are doused by pouring rains during the day-long uprising), Cao Qin finds himself hemmed in on all sides by imperial forces, loses three of his own brothers in the fight, and instead of facing execution, he flees to his home in the city, and commits suicide by jumping down a well located within his walled compound.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365256665#July–September", "title": "1461", "revid": 1365256665, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1464, "year_label": "1464 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "In China, a small rebellion occurs in the interior province of Huguang, during the Ming Dynasty; a subsequent rebellion springs up in Guangxi, where a rebellion of the Miao people and Yao people forces the Ming throne to respond, by sending 30,000 troops (including 1,000 Mongol cavalry) to aid the 160,000 local troops stationed in the region, to crush the rebellion that will end in 1466.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367795127#Date_unknown", "title": "1464", "revid": 1367795127, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1464, "year_label": "1464 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "February 23", "text": "February 23 – Prince Zhu Jianshen becomes the new Ming dynasty Emperor of China, taking the regnal name Emperor Xianzong upon the death of his father, the Emperor Yingzong of Ming. His reign is subsequently designated as the Chenghua Era.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367795127#January–March", "title": "1464", "revid": 1367795127, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1465, "year_label": "1465 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "Massive flooding in central and southern China motivates the initial construction of hundreds of new bridges.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370409749#Date_unknown", "title": "1465", "revid": 1370409749, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1480, "year_label": "1480 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 7", "text": "December 7 – During the war between Dai Viet and Lan Xang (now the northern part of Vietnam and the entire nation of Laos), Emperor Xianxong of Ming dynasty China is informed by his envoys that Dai Viet had subdued Lan Xang and was preparing to invade Lan Na", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370179650#October–December", "title": "1480", "revid": 1370179650, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1490, "year_label": "1490 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March", "text": "March or April – 1490 Qingyang event, a presumed meteor shower or air burst over Qingyang in the Gansu province in Ming dynasty China. Some later accounts lists casualties of more than 10,000 people. The only date given for the Qingyang event is that it was in \"the third lunar month\" on the Chinese lunar calendar coinciding with a period beginning on March 12 and ending on April 19, 1490.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365746432#January–March", "title": "1490", "revid": 1365746432, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1492, "year_label": "1492 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "In Ming dynasty China, the commercial transportation of grain to the northern border, in exchange for salt certificates, is monetized.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366150846#Unknown_dates", "title": "1492", "revid": 1366150846, "section": "Events › Unknown dates"}}, {"year": 1498, "year_label": "1498 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "October 28", "text": "October 28 – In the Chinese Empire, two days after being blamed by the Emperor Zhu Youcheng for bringing misfortunes to the Empire by having built a pavilion in the imperial gardens that disregarded feng shui principles, royal administrator Li Guang commits suicide. The Emperor's daughter Princess Taikang had died suddenly on October 1, and a fire had broken out in one of the palaces in Beijing's Forbidden City on October 26.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1363338704#October–December", "title": "1498", "revid": 1363338704, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1505, "year_label": "1505 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 19", "text": "June 19 – Zhu Houzhao, the 13-year-old son of the late Hongzhi Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, is enthroned as the Zhengde Emperor upon his father's death.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360582113#April–June", "title": "1505", "revid": 1360582113, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1506, "year_label": "1506 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": null, "text": "In Ming dynasty China, the costs of the courier system are met by a tax in silver on land, instead of corvée labor service.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368141766#Date_unknown", "title": "1506", "revid": 1368141766, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1510, "year_label": "1510 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 12", "text": "May 12 – The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan, Prince of Anhua, kills all the officials invited to a banquet, and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin, during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor in China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366972051#April–June", "title": "1510", "revid": 1366972051, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1516, "year_label": "1516 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Italian explorer Rafael Perestrello, a cousin of the wife of Christopher Columbus, commands an expedition from Portuguese Malacca to land on the shores of mainland southern China, and trade with Chinese merchants at Guangzhou, during the Ming Dynasty.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368315851#Date_unknown", "title": "1516", "revid": 1368315851, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1517, "year_label": "1517 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "August 15", "text": "August 15 – Portuguese merchant Fernão Pires de Andrade meets Ming Dynasty Chinese officials through an interpreter, at the Pearl River estuary and lands, at what is now in the jurisdiction of Hong Kong. Although the first European trade expeditions to China took place in 1513 and 1516 by Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello, respectively, Andrade's mission is the first official diplomatic mission of a European power to China, commissioned by a ruler of Europe (Manuel I of Portugal).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366649067#July–September", "title": "1517", "revid": 1366649067, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1519, "year_label": "1519 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "August 20", "text": "August 20 – Ming Dynasty Chinese philosopher and general Wang Yangming, governor of Jiangxi, defeats Zhu Chenhao, ending the Prince of Ning rebellion. Wang has expressed the intention of using fo–lang–ji cannons in suppressing the rebellion, probably the earliest reference in China to the breech-loading Frankish culverin.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365433723#July–September", "title": "1519", "revid": 1365433723, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1519, "year_label": "1519 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 10", "text": "July 10 – The Prince of Ning rebellion begins, after Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty's Zhengde Emperor a usurper, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365433723#July–September", "title": "1519", "revid": 1365433723, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1521, "year_label": "1521 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "May 27", "text": "May 27 – After the death of his cousin, Prince Zhu Houcong became the new Ming dynasty Emperor of China, taking the imperial name of the Emperor Jiajing<.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369246997#April–June", "title": "1521", "revid": 1369246997, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1522, "year_label": "1522 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": null, "text": "Chinese Ming dynasty War Ministry official He Ru is the first to acquire the Portuguese breech-loading culverin, while copies of them are made by two Westernized Chinese at Beijing, Yang San (Pedro Yang) and Dai Ming.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372799978#Date_unknown", "title": "1522", "revid": 1372799978, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1523, "year_label": "1523 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": null, "text": "The Ming dynasty Chinese navy captures two Western ships with Portuguese breech–loading culverins aboard, which the Chinese call a fo–lang–ji (Frankish culverin). According to the Ming Shi, these cannons are soon presented to the Jiajing Emperor by Wang Hong, and their design is copied in 1529.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369561167#Date_unknown", "title": "1523", "revid": 1369561167, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1523, "year_label": "1523 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 31", "text": "May 31 – Following the Battle of Sincouwaan at sea between the ships of the Chinese Empire and the Kingdom of Portugal, the Malay ambassador to China reluctantly departs from Guangzhou to present letters to the Portuguese governors of the occupied Malacca Sultanate, demanding the restoration of the deposed Sultan. Though fearing execution by the Portuguese, the messengers are allowed to leave. They return in September with a plea for help from the Malay Sultan, whose territory is under attack from the Europeans.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369561167#April–June", "title": "1523", "revid": 1369561167, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1525, "year_label": "1525 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "The Chinese Ministry of War under the Ming dynasty orders ships having more than one mast sailing along the southeast coast to be seized, investigated, and destroyed; this in an effort to curb piracy and limit private commercial trade abroad.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368819017#Date_unknown", "title": "1525", "revid": 1368819017, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1527, "year_label": "1527 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "The Ming dynasty government of China greatly reduces the quotas for taking grain, severely diminishing the state's capacity to relieve famines through a previously successful granary system.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366980186#Date_unknown", "title": "1527", "revid": 1366980186, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1528, "year_label": "1528 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "In Henan province, China, during the mid Ming dynasty, a vast drought deprives the region of harvests for the next two years, killing off half the people in some communities, due to starvation and cannibalism.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369577446#Date_unknown", "title": "1528", "revid": 1369577446, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1529, "year_label": "1529 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "January 8", "text": "January 8 – Zhang Qijie becomes the most powerful woman in Ming dynasty China as the primary wife of the Jiajing Emperor, shortly after the death of the Empress Xiaojiesu.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362793946#January–March", "title": "1529", "revid": 1362793946, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1538, "year_label": "1538 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "The first in a decade-long series of severe famines and epidemics sweep central and southeastern China during the Ming dynasty, made worse by a decision of 1527 to cut back on the intake of grain quotas for granaries.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369561127#Date_unknown", "title": "1538", "revid": 1369561127, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1542, "year_label": "1542 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "November 27", "text": "November 27 – Palace plot of Renyin year: A group of Ming dynasty palace women fail to murder the Jiajing Emperor, and are executed by slow-slicing.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359947406#October–December", "title": "1542", "revid": 1359947406, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1544, "year_label": "1544 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": null, "text": "Mongols, led by Anda, burn the suburbs of Beijing in China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359947848#Date_unknown", "title": "1544", "revid": 1359947848, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1545, "year_label": "1545 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "In China, a large failure of the harvest in Henan province occurs due to excessive rainfall, which drives up the price of wheat, and forces many to flee their rural counties; those who stay behind are forced to survive by eating leaves, bark, and human flesh.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366653612#Undated", "title": "1545", "revid": 1366653612, "section": "Events › Undated"}}, {"year": 1548, "year_label": "1548 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "April 15", "text": "April 15 – General Zhu Wan of Ming dynasty China dispatches a fleet of ships, commanded by Lu Tang, to destroy smugglers and pirates at Shangyu, a port on Liuheng Island. The fleet sets off from Wenzhou and makes its attack in June.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366656469#April–June", "title": "1548", "revid": 1366656469, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1549, "year_label": "1549 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Although trade existed between the two beforehand, in this year the Portuguese begin to send regular seasonal maritime trade missions to Ming dynasty China, at Sao João Island (also known as Shangchuan Island) near Macau.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362482759#Date_unknown", "title": "1549", "revid": 1362482759, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1551, "year_label": "1551 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "In Henan province, China, during the Ming dynasty, a severe frost in the spring destroys the winter wheat crop. Torrential rains in mid summer cause massive flooding of farmland and villages (by some accounts submerged in a metre of water). In the fall, a large tornado demolishes houses and flattens much of the buckwheat in the fields. Famine victims either flee, starve, or resort to cannibalism. This follows a series of natural disasters in Henan in the years 1528, 1531, 1539, and 1545.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1352783865#Date_unknown", "title": "1551", "revid": 1352783865, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1554, "year_label": "1554 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Luso-Chinese agreement: Portugal reaches an agreement with the Ming Dynasty of China, to be allowed to legally trade in the province of Guangdong. This agreement is often seen as a starting point of the Portuguese colony of Macau.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366649182#Date_unknown", "title": "1554", "revid": 1366649182, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1557, "year_label": "1557 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "With the permission of the Ming dynasty government of China, and for the benefit of both Western and Eastern merchants, the Portuguese settle in Macau (retroceded in 1999). Direct Sino-Portuguese trade has existed since 1513, but this is the first official legal treaty port on traditional Chinese soil, that will form a long-term Western settlement.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365955110#Date_unknown", "title": "1557", "revid": 1365955110, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1562, "year_label": "1562 CE", "section": "Births", "date": "April 24", "text": "April 24 – Xu Guangqi, Ming Dynasty Chinese politician, agronomist, astronomer, mathematician and lay Catholic leader (d. 1633)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362000458#Births", "title": "1562", "revid": 1362000458, "section": "Births"}}, {"year": 1567, "year_label": "1567 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Although sparse maritime trade existed since its founding, the Ming dynasty government of China officially revokes the haijin maritime trade ban, reinstating foreign trade with all countries except Japan.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362147494#Date_unknown", "title": "1567", "revid": 1362147494, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1567, "year_label": "1567 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "February 4", "text": "February 4 – Prince Zhu Zaiji, son of the Jiajing Emperor, ascends the throne of Ming dynasty China as the Longqing Emperor.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362147494#January–March", "title": "1567", "revid": 1362147494, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1571, "year_label": "1571 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 21", "text": "April 21 – In China, General Altan Khan is granted authority to rule the western provinces by the Ming dynasty Emperor Longqing in return for his payment of a tribute.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369367955#April–June", "title": "1571", "revid": 1369367955, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1573, "year_label": "1573 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "The first Spanish galleon, laden with silver for the porcelain and silk trade with the Ming Dynasty of China, lands at Manila in the Philippines. This occasion marks the beginning of the Spanish silver trade to China, that will trump that of the Portuguese, the latter of whom acted as an intermediary between the silver mines of Japan, and the luxury items in China to be purchased with that silver. Most of the silver entering China comes from what is now Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru in the New World.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366656331#Date_unknown", "title": "1573", "revid": 1366656331, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1573, "year_label": "1573 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "February 2", "text": "February 2 – The Wanli Era begins in Ming dynasty China on the first New Year after 9-year-old Zhu Yijun ascends the throne.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366656331#January–March", "title": "1573", "revid": 1366656331, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1581, "year_label": "1581 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": null, "text": "The Ming Dynasty Chancellor of China, Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, imposes the Single Whip Reform, by which taxes are assessed on properties recorded in the land census, and paid in silver, as the accepted medium of exchange.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362478489#Date_unknown", "title": "1581", "revid": 1362478489, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1584, "year_label": "1584 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Belgian cartographer and geographer Abraham Ortelius features Ming dynasty-era Chinese carriages with masts and sails, in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; concurrent and later Western writers also take note of this peculiar Chinese invention.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369561067#Date_is_unknown", "title": "1584", "revid": 1369561067, "section": "Events › Date is unknown"}}, {"year": 1587, "year_label": "1587 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "A severe famine breaks out in Ming dynasty China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362478812#Date_unknown", "title": "1587", "revid": 1362478812, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1592, "year_label": "1592 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 20", "text": "July 20 – The Japanese capture the Korean capital Hanyang, causing Seonjo to request the assistance of Ming dynasty Chinese forces, who recapture the city a year later.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362477183#July–September", "title": "1592", "revid": 1362477183, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1597, "year_label": "1597 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "12 million pesos of silver cross the Pacific. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Spanish base of Manila in the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty of China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade—Acapulco—shipped out 150,000 to 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from this year to 1602.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362801855#Date_unknown", "title": "1597", "revid": 1362801855, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1598, "year_label": "1598 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": null, "text": "Illustrations of Ottoman Turkish and European riflemen, with detailed illustrations of their firearms, appear in Zhao Shizhen's book Shenqipu in this year, during the Ming Dynasty of China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372769896#Date_unknown", "title": "1598", "revid": 1372769896, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1601, "year_label": "1601 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Jesuit Matteo Ricci becomes the first European to enter the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, being invited by the Ming Dynasty Emperor.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369165918#Date_unknown", "title": "1601", "revid": 1369165918, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1601, "year_label": "1601 CE", "section": "Births", "date": "February 4", "text": "February 4 – Shi Kefa, Chinese Ming Dynasty official (d. 1645)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369165918#January–March", "title": "1601", "revid": 1369165918, "section": "Births › January–March"}}, {"year": 1602, "year_label": "1602 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": null, "text": "Copies are printed of the geographical map of East Asia created by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit stationed in Ming dynasty Beijing, China, with Chinese-written labeling and map symbols.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351972919#Date_unknown", "title": "1602", "revid": 1351972919, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1602, "year_label": "1602 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": null, "text": "The iconoclast and Confucian scholar Li Zhi commits suicide while in a Chinese prison, during the late Ming dynasty; he had taught that women were the intellectual equals of men and should be given equal opportunity in education; he was charged with spreading \"dangerous ideas\".", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351972919#Date_unknown", "title": "1602", "revid": 1351972919, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1609, "year_label": "1609 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 5", "text": "April 5 – Invasion of Ryukyu in Japan: Soldiers of the Shimazu clan capture the castle on Ryukyu Island, beginning to make the Ryukyu Kingdom a vassal of Satsuma Han, but Ryukyu is still allowed to keep itself a tribute state of the Ming and Qing dynasties.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365588617#April–June", "title": "1609", "revid": 1365588617, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1610, "year_label": "1610 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "The Manchu tribal leader Nurhaci breaks his relations with the Ming dynasty of China, at this time under the aloof and growingly negligent Wanli Emperor; Nurhaci's line later becomes the emperors of the Qing dynasty, which overthrows the short-lived Shun dynasty in 1644, and the remnants of the Ming throne in 1662.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361322431#Date_unknown", "title": "1610", "revid": 1361322431, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1618, "year_label": "1618 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "The Ming Chinese embassy of the Wanli Emperor presents tea to the Russian tsar.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365216026#Date_unknown", "title": "1618", "revid": 1365216026, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1619, "year_label": "1619 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 18", "text": "April 18 – Battle of Sarhu: Manchu leader Nurhaci is victorious over the Ming forces.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369562130#April–June", "title": "1619", "revid": 1369562130, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1626, "year_label": "1626 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "February 10", "text": "February 10 – Battle of Ningyuan: In Xingcheng in China, after an 8-day battle, Ming dynasty commander Yuan Chonghuan defeats the much larger force of Manchu leader Nurhaci, who dies soon after and is succeeded by Huang Taiji.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367580131#January–March", "title": "1626", "revid": 1367580131, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1627, "year_label": "1627 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March 3", "text": "March 3 – After the First Manchu invasion of Korea, the Joseon dynasty of Korea becomes a tributary state of the Manchus, but still pays respects to the Ming dynasty of China. After rejecting a Manchu alteration to the original diplomatic terms in 1636, the Manchus invade again in 1637.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371072250#January–March", "title": "1627", "revid": 1371072250, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1628, "year_label": "1628 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "February 5", "text": "February 5 – The Chongzhen Era begins in Ming dynasty China after the October 2 ascension of Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and the Tianqi era formally ends.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1352890088#January–March", "title": "1628", "revid": 1352890088, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1629, "year_label": "1629 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": null, "text": "Chongzhen, the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty, reiterates the state prohibition against female infanticide, while the empire and the Chinese economy begins to crumble. In the same year, a third of the courier stations are closed down due to lack of government funds to sustain them.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365103352#Undated", "title": "1629", "revid": 1365103352, "section": "Events › Undated"}}, {"year": 1633, "year_label": "1633 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "October 22", "text": "October 22 – Battle of Liaoluo Bay: A large Ming dynasty fleet under Zheng Zhilong defeats a Dutch East India Company fleet at the island of Quemoy.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369169348#October–December", "title": "1633", "revid": 1369169348, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1637, "year_label": "1637 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "June 27", "text": "June 27 – The first English venture to China is attempted by Captain John Weddell, who sails into port in Macau and Canton during the late Ming dynasty with six ships. The voyages are for trade, which is dominated here by the Portuguese (at this time combined with the power of Spain). He brings 38,421 pairs of eyeglasses, perhaps the first recorded European-made eyeglasses to enter China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1339166592#April–June", "title": "1637", "revid": 1339166592, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1638, "year_label": "1638 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "The Peking Gazette makes an official switch in its production process of newspapers, from woodblock printing to movable type printing (private newspapers in Ming dynasty China were first mentioned in 1582).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1352457236#Date_unknown", "title": "1638", "revid": 1352457236, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1641, "year_label": "1641 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": null, "text": "A massive epidemic breaks out in northern and central China, just three years before the fall of the Ming dynasty. It races south down along the Grand Canal of China and the densely populated settlements there, from the northern terminus at Beijing, to the fertile Jiangnan region. In some local areas and towns it wipes out 90% of the local populace.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1343658448#Date_unknown", "title": "1641", "revid": 1343658448, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1641, "year_label": "1641 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 25", "text": "April 25 – The Battle of Songjin begins in the modern-day North Korean city of Kimch'aek, at the time part of the Chinese Empire controlled by the Ming dynasty. The Ming, led by General Wu Sangui, defeat the Qing rebels.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1343658448#April–June", "title": "1641", "revid": 1343658448, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1642, "year_label": "1642 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "November 27", "text": "November 27 – Hong Taiji (known in the West as Abatai) begins a 60-day march of Manchu warriors southwards from the Great Wall through Ming Chinese provinces of Zhili and Shandong, before returning northward on January 27. (Two years later Beijing falls to rebels, the Chongzhen Emperor commits suicide, and the Shunzhi Emperor becomes the first Qing Emperor to rule over China proper.)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1350256188#October–December", "title": "1642", "revid": 1350256188, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 25", "text": "April 25 – A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, to commit suicide.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369560996#April–June", "title": "1644", "revid": 1369560996, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "June 6", "text": "June 6 – The invading Qing army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing in China, marking the beginning of Manchu rule over China proper, which will last until 1912.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369560996#April–June", "title": "1644", "revid": 1369560996, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 25", "text": "May 25 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan Pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369560996#April–June", "title": "1644", "revid": 1369560996, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "November 8", "text": "November 8 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369560996#October–December", "title": "1644", "revid": 1369560996, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1661, "year_label": "1661 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 21", "text": "December 21 – General Wu Sangui of China arrives in Burma with 20,000 troops and demands that the Burmese surrender Yongli, the last of the Ming dynasty rulers of Southern China before the Qing dynasty consolidated its rule. Burma's King Pye Min hands Yongli over to General Wu on January 15, and Yongli is subsequently executed.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365986603#October–December", "title": "1661", "revid": 1365986603, "section": "Events › October–December"}}]}