The Rise of a Powerful Minister In the early decades of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Hu Weiyong emerged as one […]
The Ming Court’s Delicate Balance of Power In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) established […]
The Rise of a Powerful Chancellor In the bustling capital of Nanjing during the early Ming Dynasty, Chancellor Hu Weiyong […]
The Ghost of Feudalism Returns In 1370, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, issued an imperial edict […]
The Origins of the “Blank Seal” Practice The term “blank seal” (空印) refers not to a monk, as some might […]
The Fall of Two Ming Dynasty Titans In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, two pivotal figures—Liu Bowen and […]
The Fractured Court of Emperor Hongwu In the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Zhu Yuanzhang—the peasant-turned-emperor known as […]
The Rise and Fall of Yang Xian In the seventh lunar month of 1370, Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) ordered the […]
The Political Chessboard of Early Ming In the formative years of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) faced […]
The Rise of the Ming Dynasty and Its Political Landscape When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368, he […]
The Collapse of Yuan Power and the Rise of Regional Warlords By the late 1360s, the Yuan Dynasty, established by […]
The Fractured Landscape of 14th-Century China As the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty’s grip on China weakened in the mid-14th century, the […]
The Prelude to a Clash of Titans The year 1367 marked a pivotal moment in Chinese history, as the crumbling […]
The Precarious Reign of a Puppet Emperor In the turbulent mid-14th century, as the Yuan Dynasty crumbled under peasant revolts, […]
The Rise of Rival Warlords in Yuan China The mid-14th century was a time of chaos and opportunity in China. […]
The Turbulent Landscape of Late Yuan China The mid-14th century witnessed the disintegration of Mongol Yuan rule, as famine, corruption, […]
A Strategic Waterway Becomes a Battleground Lake Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake, presented an ideal battleground in 1363 with its […]
The Rise of Rival Warlords in a Fractured Empire The mid-14th century was a time of upheaval in China, as […]
The Fractured Landscape of Late Yuan China The mid-14th century witnessed the crumbling authority of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, as […]
From Humble Fisherman to Ambitious Warlord Chen Youliang’s story begins in the lakeside town of Xiantao, Hubei, where he spent […]
The Salt Merchant Turned Warlord In the chaotic final decades of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), ambitious men rose from obscurity […]
The Precarious Path to Rebellion In the turbulent mid-14th century, China’s Yuan Dynasty was crumbling under the weight of corruption, […]
