for the next six centuries; the Imperial Palace and the Great Wall as they stand today are renovations of Ming structures.
Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398) had the humblest of origins among all major Chinese emperors. He was orphaned in his mid‐teens when his home province was devastated by flood, and his family was wiped out by the plague. Homeless and starving, he took refuge in a small Buddhist monastery. But he soon went drifting again, for the temple had no way of feeding its monks, since it could not collect land rent when there was no harvest. At 25, he joined a major peasant rebel force, the Red Turban Army; married the daughter of his commander; and rose through the ranks to the very top. His wife, who would be the future Empress Ma, was of great help to him on his road to taking the throne. But while he was extremely brutal and paranoid, she was magnanimous. When she became terminally ill, she refused treatment by the physicians her husband had summoned to the palace, for she knew that, if she died after taking their medicine, he would execute them on suspicion of having poisoned her.
Zhu Yuanzhang faced the formidable task of reestablishing Chinese values and institutions after a century of nomadic Mongol rule. Following the ancient maxim that “chaotic times call for harsh measures,” he was personally more despotic than his predecessors, and built a government more centralized than those in earlier dynasties. He promulgated a four‐volume criminal code that provided punishment of extraordinary harshness, showing no mercy to either government officials or the common people. With such brutal means, he strengthened China’s traditional system of monarchism, set standards for government operations, and defined criteria for an individual’s behavior in society.
He stripped his ministers of their independent powers, successfully removing the checks and balances that were put in place during the Tang Dynasty to restrain the powers of the emperor. His control of the government was direct and tight: He could personally make all important decisions, totally free of outside restraints. He employed caning in the royal court as an open punishment for high officials. Other forms of harsh punishment included cutting off fingers, hands, tendons, or kneecaps; castration; public execution by a thousand cuts; skinning alive; and so on. He personally controlled secret agencies that had their own spies and informants who kept close watch on government officials, scholars, celebrities, and the ordinary people. They had the power to make secret arrests, confine suspects in their own jails, use torture in interrogation, and carry out executions.
Timeline: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, 1368–1842
| 1368–1644 | Ming Dynasty returns China to Han Chinese rule, builds the Forbidden City, and rebuilds the Great Wall |
| 1328–1398 | Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty, notorious for being brutal and paranoid; restructures Ming government on Mongol model |
| 1370–1373 | Policy of “seclusion”; so‐called “Japanese pirate problem” |
| Early Ming | Commercial revolution follows cotton revolution to create commercialized, market‐oriented, and currency‐based economy. Much of China is now a money society |
| 1380 | Prime Minister Hu Weiyong (?–1380) is framed and executed; over 30,000 people are put to death for guilt by association; new waves of “literary inquisitions” |
| 1405–1433 | Admiral Zheng He (1371–1433) makes seven voyages in 28 years, reaching the eastern coast of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula |
| 1472–1529 | Wang Shouren’s philosophy of the “Doctrine of the Heart” emphasizes the autonomy of the individual, challenging Confucianism |
| 1644 | Fall of the Ming Dynasty: peasant rebel leader Li Zicheng (1606–1645) enters Beijing with his troops; Ming emperor hangs himself; the Manchu army routs the rebel forces, enters Beijing, and founds the Manchu Qing Dynasty |
| 1644–1911 | Manchu Qing Dynasty rules China |
| 1661 | National hero Zheng Chenggong (1624–1662) takes Taiwan from the Dutch and fights a doomed battle with Qing forces to save the Ming Dynasty |
| 1681–1796 | Qing Golden Age under three competent emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong |
| 17th century | Corn, potato, sweet potato, and peanuts are introduced into China by Westerners, providing abundant nutrition and allowing for great population increase |
| 1724 | Emperor Yongzheng’s crackdown on the Catholic Church |
| 1772–1781 | Compilation of the Complete Collection of the Chinese Classics |
| 1760–1842 | Qing government creates the Guangzhou System to channel all foreign trade through the southern port of Guangzhou |
| 18th century | Cao Xueqin (1715–1764) writes Dream of the Red Chamber, the pinnacle of Chinese fiction |
| 1793 | Macartney Mission to discuss Sino‐British trade |
| 1795–1804 | White Lotus Rebellion |
| 1820– | Opium problem creates diplomatic and currency problems |
| 1839–1842 | Opium or First Anglo‐Chinese War |
His paranoia and massive executions were notorious. Even those who had fought with him to put him on the throne could not escape his suspicion and persecution. In order to remove anyone who might challenge him or his descendants, he would frame high civil officials and military commanders and put them to death. The fate of his earlier Prime Minister Hu Weiyong (?–1380) is a vivid illustration of his paranoia and brutality. When he became suspicious that Hu was gathering too much power in his hands, he charged him with plotting treason, promptly executed him, and abolished the position of prime minister. He went on to order the execution of Hu’s relatives, students, and subordinates, as well as many ministers and generals. This case lasted 12 years, and it compromised over 30,000 people who were put to death. It is a typical example of China’s age‐old practice of “guilt by association.” There has been no official position of prime minister in China’s dynasties since. The degree of brutality that Zhu employed to strengthen his absolute power was unknown in earlier Han Chinese history, and was likely influenced by the century‐long Mongol rule.
People from high‐ranking officials down to the grassroots lived in constant fear of their lives. His ruthless measures, however, did result in a solid monarchy and a highly centralized and powerful government that would withstand the test of time. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the regime was never seriously challenged by power centers beyond the throne, such as the families of the queen or empress dowager, cliques among the court officials or eunuchs, or insubordinate frontier generals.
Zhu Yuanzhang personifies a paranoid and brutal despot in the Chinese consciousness. But he was also unsurpassed in his unrelenting diligence, great talent, and bold vision in matters of government and warfare. He vigorously built schools and promoted education, and revived a robust imperial examination system. Candidates were tested not only on their knowledge of the Confucian classics, but also on their ability to apply those principles to resolve contemporary issues. Those who passed written examinations would