The Empire Of The Great Ming Dynasty: Ancient Chinese Civilization
The Ming Dynasty
Angelica Roberts
HIST111
American Public University
Joseph Esposito
The Ming Dynasty
Every civilization has periods of time that they are well-known for, times of greatness. In Chinese history, one of these times was the Ming Dynasty. While there are unarguably many great moments associated with this empire, there are also weaknesses that cannot be ignored. The Ming Dynasty made great contributions to economics and engineering. However, their trade operations struggled quite a bit and their military lacked the might necessary to protect such a great empire.
The Empire of the Great Ming, or the Ming Dynasty, has been called one of the greatest times in human history for government order and social stability. …show more content…
This change helped maintain peace and stability among states using the idea of being able to trade with China and a code of ethics used to settle disputes. Zheng He was a maritime merchant whose expeditions helped spread the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor decided to use these trips to trade partners as a chance to invite states to join tributary trade and prohibited citizens from engaging in maritime trade. This decreased the efficiency of trade, and by 1567 the empire was forced to lift the ban on maritime trade. The increased opportunity to trade with foreign nations led to a large influx of silver to China and a great demand for Chinese goods by multiple nations. (Chan, 2008, …show more content…
Military personnel was recruited by the “Family Army System” founded by Emperor Hongwu. This system designated the families of the existing soldiers at the beginning of his reign as “Army Families.” These two million army families were expected to provide one male soldier per generation. The emperor expected this system to ensure a high quality of soldier as well as freeing most citizens from having to serve. The reality of this is that most of the army families were forced into this system and many fled to avoid service. By 1569, two centuries after the Family Army System was introduced, the military was reduced from the required 3,138,300 to 845,000 to due people fleeing the area to avoid military service. The army family soldiers that had been recruited were poorly trained. The military was funded by local rather than state government, therefore many of the soldiers were poorly supplied due to lack of tax revenue. All of these factors led to a relatively weak army that was easily defeated. (Feng, 2009, p.
Angelica Roberts
HIST111
American Public University
Joseph Esposito
The Ming Dynasty
Every civilization has periods of time that they are well-known for, times of greatness. In Chinese history, one of these times was the Ming Dynasty. While there are unarguably many great moments associated with this empire, there are also weaknesses that cannot be ignored. The Ming Dynasty made great contributions to economics and engineering. However, their trade operations struggled quite a bit and their military lacked the might necessary to protect such a great empire.
The Empire of the Great Ming, or the Ming Dynasty, has been called one of the greatest times in human history for government order and social stability. …show more content…
This change helped maintain peace and stability among states using the idea of being able to trade with China and a code of ethics used to settle disputes. Zheng He was a maritime merchant whose expeditions helped spread the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor decided to use these trips to trade partners as a chance to invite states to join tributary trade and prohibited citizens from engaging in maritime trade. This decreased the efficiency of trade, and by 1567 the empire was forced to lift the ban on maritime trade. The increased opportunity to trade with foreign nations led to a large influx of silver to China and a great demand for Chinese goods by multiple nations. (Chan, 2008, …show more content…
Military personnel was recruited by the “Family Army System” founded by Emperor Hongwu. This system designated the families of the existing soldiers at the beginning of his reign as “Army Families.” These two million army families were expected to provide one male soldier per generation. The emperor expected this system to ensure a high quality of soldier as well as freeing most citizens from having to serve. The reality of this is that most of the army families were forced into this system and many fled to avoid service. By 1569, two centuries after the Family Army System was introduced, the military was reduced from the required 3,138,300 to 845,000 to due people fleeing the area to avoid military service. The army family soldiers that had been recruited were poorly trained. The military was funded by local rather than state government, therefore many of the soldiers were poorly supplied due to lack of tax revenue. All of these factors led to a relatively weak army that was easily defeated. (Feng, 2009, p.