The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644, succeeding the MongolYuan Dynasty and falling amidst much peasant turmoil to the ManchuQing dynasty. A series of claimants to the Ming throne continued to claim the throne of what was known as the Southern Ming until the last was executed in 1662.
1 As posthumous and temple names were often shared by emperors of different dynasties, they are usually preceded by the dynastic name, in this case, Ming, to avoid confusion. For example, the Hongwu emperor is frequently referred to as Ming Taizu.
2 The Yongle emperor usurped the throne of his nephew the Jianwen emperor, who was officially said to have died in a palace fire but who was suspected of escaping to live as a recluse. The Yongle emperor wiped out the record of his nephew's reign and no temple name was given him.
3 After listening to the poor advice of his eunuch advisers, the Zhengtong emperor personally led a campaign in 1449 against the Mongols and was captured. His brother, the Jingtai emperor, assumed the throne and, a hostage no longer of any value, the Mongols released the Zhengtong emperor who returned to live in seclusion. However, the Zhengtong emperor was able to reclaim his position upon the death of his brother, choosing the reign name Tianshun.
The two characters are homonyms, both pronounced Lu; to distinguish them, one is usually kept as Lu and the other spelled differently. Luh is from Cambridge History of China; Lou is from A.C. Moule's Rulers of China (1957). When one irregular spelling is used, the other is kept as regular (Lu). The two systems are distinct and not used simultaneously.
The rebellion succeeded and the MingDynasty was established in Nanjing in 1368.
Ming Empire with neighboring states, 1433 A.D. This is the only surviving example in the world of a major piece of lacquer furniture from the "Orchard Factory" (the Imperial Laquer Workshop) set up in Beijing during the early MingDynasty.
The fall of the MingDynasty was a protracted affair, its roots beginning as early as 1600 with the emergence of the Manchu under Nurhaci.
His father and founder of the MingDynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, was buried in Nanjing, and his nephew, the second MingEmperor, from whom he usurped the throne, escaped and disappeared from official history.
It was in the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor (1436-1449) that the practice of entombing live imperial concubines was abolished.
The stone stele bears the inscriptions of the MingDynasty Renzong Emperor (Zhu Gaozhi) and Qing rulers, the Qianlong and the Jiaqing Emperors.
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