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The Ming Dynasty There are seven wonders in the world today. One of the wonders is in China. ‘The Great Wall of China’ is one of the biggest projects undertaken by any civilization. The Ming emperors began a 80 year refurbishing of the wall, rebuilding it out of local granite, limestone and fired bricks of clay. Ming dynasty lasted from1368 to 1644, and shows how important it was to China. Zhu Yuanzhang established Ming dynasty in 1368, he was a peasant who joined the army in 1352. He served as a great warrior in many battles. He was the chosen general by a rebelling warlord named Guo Ziyi. After the death of the warlord, he took over and planned to rule all over China. He founded the dynasty in 1368 after his army was able to eliminate the separatist military force. After finding the new dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang became one of the most autocratic emperor in the history of China. Ming dynasty was a period of cultural restoration and expansion. Zhu Yuanzhang made number of policies to reduce the amount of stress put on the peasants. He focused more on the implementation of laws and punishments among the court officials to avoid corruption. Zhu also had his sons supervise the local administration so that he could hold the strength and the imperial power over the administration. After Zhu died his grandson Zhu Yunwen took over the throne, which lasted only for four years. The fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di took over the empire, and that reign was considered to be the most prosperous period of the Ming dynasty. During his rule over China, an encyclopedia called Yongle Dadian was the biggest and the earliest encyclopedia in the world. He also sent his fleets over the Indian Ocean and visited many countries in Asia. Thus expanding his kingdom in other parts of Asia. The turning point from the prosperity to decline happened in the reign of Emperor Shenzong. During the early rule and wise assistance of a skillful chancellor, Zhang Juzheng, the Emperor made improvements in the national economy, agriculture, water supply and military affairs. After the death of the Zhang Juzheng, other emperors started neglecting the state affairs. In the late reign, the Ming army was defeated in the Battle of Sarhu. After that the Ming court fell into a passive state set by the Nuzhen ethnic minority. The dynasty of Ming started to collapse under the reign of the Emperor Weizong. Corruption started taking place in the court officials and administration and domination of the eunuchs. Discrimination and exploitation from the ruling class and natural disaster followed by the years caused people to live in hardship. In 1628 number of military forces rebelled and attack the northern area of Shaaxi Province. In 1644 the Emperor Weizong hanged himself in Jingshan Hill of Beijing, which signified the end of the Ming dynasty. Throughout the period of the Ming dynasty the feudal society began to decline and capitalism started to originate. In agriculture the food output and the production of the food surpassed than the Song and Yuan dynasties. Handicraft industries in the southern areas developed rapidly. The development of the handicraft industry promoted market and economy. Under the rule of Emperor Shizong and Shenzong the commodities sold in the market had diversified. Silk, alcohol, protein, tobacco, crops, vegetable and fruit were available for the people. Many major cities currently developed in the China today are due to the development during that period. Cities like Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Xian and Chengdu were successively formed and developed. During the Ming dynasty the culture also developed rapidly especially in literature. Three of the four master greatest classical masterpieces of Chinese literature where written during the Ming dynasty. During the early and middle ages of Ming dynasty there were many books written in the medical field. All of the medical documents/books written in those are precious, in today’s technological development in the medical field. Additionally, the military technology has also been advanced, a kind of gun called ‘huochong gun’ was developed under the Ming’s dynasties reign. A person named Wan Hoo even tried to fly the sky by sitting on a chair propelled by gunpowder sticks. Unfortunately, he failed and became the first sacrifice in search of conquest of the sky. Government The government structure of China during the Ming dynasty was different from that of previous Chinese dynasties. The main aspect that set the Might dynasty apart from its predecessors was that it only featured one branch of government – the Secretariat. The Secretariat controlled six ministries each with its own Minister. The day to day responsibilities of the ministries were handled by Directors, who reported to the ministers. From there the ministers would report directly to the emperor. For over 2000 years the government of the Ming dynasty generally stayed the same. The job of the Secretariat was to control the six ministries and the government appointed Grand Secretaries that would assist the Emperor with paper work associated with those six ministries. Each ministry had a different responsibility within the Chinese government. The six ministries that operated within the Ming Dynasty’s government were the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Public Works. The Ministry of Personnel was responsible for all matters that related to the employees that worked for the government. This included appointment, assessment of their work, promotions, and any other issues or concerns that would arise regarding employees. Today you could equate it to a large company’s HR department. The Ministry of Revenue was responsible anything money related within the empire. This mostly included the collection of taxes, state revenues, and the management of the empire’s currency. The Ministry of Rites was in charge of all religious matters within the empire. This would range for ceremonies to burials to priesthood. The Ministry of Justice was responsible for the justice system of the government. This ministry was essentially the judicial branch of government within the Ming Dynasty, and dealt with the laws of the empire and was responsible for enforcing those laws. They also were in charge of the penal process. Although the Ministry of Justice had a large amount of power within the dynasty, they had no authority over the Censorate. The Ministry of Works’ purpose was to be in charge of all of the government construction projects and road maintenance within the kingdom. This ministry was also responsible for standardizing weights and measurements within the country, similar to the US customary units and the metric system. As was mentioned in when talking about the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate was a body of the government that had specials privileges that the ministries did not have. Their job was to watch over the bureaucratic agencies of the empire and report back and corruption to the emperor. The first Ming emperor, Hung Wu restored the Censorate of the T’ang government during his reign from 1368-1398. It was then re-established and institutionalized in 1430. The Censorate consisted of powerful bureaucrats who had direct access to the emperor. They were originally called Censors but eventually went by the titles of Censors-in-Chief. They had the power to impeach officials for derelict of duty, and would send inspectors to follow provincial administrators. Run by the Ministry of Personnel, China’s vast bureaucracy was populated by having citizens take a Civil Service Examination. The scores that the citizens received on the examination would determine where they would be placed within the hierarchy. The exam’s questions were taken from the Confucian Five Classics and Chu His’s Four Books. The vast majority of citizens who took the exam were unable so score high enough to join the hierarchy, making it one of the most prestigious positions for a common civilian to have. The Civil Administration of the Ming Dynasty was organized in a hierarchical structure and administered the 13 provinces of China. When the Ming Dynasty was fully developed, the empire had 1144 local counties. These counties were subordinate to 159 prefectures. The prefectures were accountable themselves to the provincial administration office in their province. There were 13 of these administration offices in total, and they had to share control of their provinces with the other agencies that were located there. These agencies included the provincial surveillance office and the regional military commission. Together, the civil administration offices, the surveillance offices, and the regional military commission were known as “the three provincial offices.” The provincial offices used to report about their provinces to the six ministries. This was usually done through intermediaries called grand coordinators or supreme commanders. Headed by the Direct of Palace Attendants, the vast imperial household was filled with thousands of eunuchs. The household was further divided into different directories and services. These directories and services included groups that had to administer the staff, groups that were responsible for the food, groups that were responsible for the royal documents, groups that were responsible for the stables, groups that were responsible for the seals, groups that were responsible for the gardens, and groups that were responsible for the state owned manufacturies. Essentially, there was a directory or service for every need of the imperial household. One service within the imperial household was the Western Depot. This group was famous for its intrigues and consisted of eunuchs who acted as a secret service for the emperor, similar to house the United States’ Secret Service protects the President. Another group of interest that was a part of the imperial household was the relatives of the emperor. Princes and descendants of the emperor were often given high military positions and large amounts of land, but were not given official title like the rest of the hierarchy. During the Ming dynasty, China had a governmental system that was nothing like the ones you see in the world today. In large part, the entire empire was run by the emperor, who had people below him do all of the small and menial tasks that he did not want to be bothered with. The emperor ran the empire out of the Secretariat, and controlled other divisions of the empire known as Ministries. Each Ministry had its own special responsibilities, and would report to the emperor on what was going on with those responsibilities. They would do this particularly if there was some sort of problem that they needed the emperor’s advice or guidance on. One group that was separate from the Ministries was the Censorate, which had special authority and was not completely bound by the laws that the Ministries were bound to. Members of the ministries and other political and governmental positions could only be appointed to these positions if they were of a specific bloodline or if they passed a special examination based on the empire’s core values. The size and efficiency of the Ming Dynasty’s government and empire was something that the ancient world had never seen before, and never saw again. It was the most powerful superpower in Asia at the time. Food of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established his capital in Nanjing (Chinese for southern capital). He ate mostly food cooked with the flavors of South China during his ruling years. His fourth son, Zhu Di, declared himself the emperor in 1403 and gave his reign the title of Yongle. In September 1420, the 18th year of his reign, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing (Chinese for northern capital), so the palace cooks moved with him. Most of the raw materials they used in Beijing were grown locally, so the imperial food in Beijing had both southern and northern flavors. Because tributes were sent to the palace from all parts of the country, delicacies of all kinds were available in the Forbidden City. Beijing had been the capital of the preceding Yuan Dynasty. The food in the Yuan palace had been influenced by the Mongolian flavorings. The food in the Ming palace, however, was mainly that of the southern Han people, so it totally changed the Mongolian style of food served in the palace. The Mongolian food served in the Yuan palace was mainly meat from animals and fowl, especially mutton, but little seafood was served. The Yuan imperial food considered of meats and vegetables with mixed flavors from the Muslims, Hans, and other ethnic groups. This was because Beijing, having been the capital city of the Yuan Dynasty, was an important communication center and was inhabited mainly by Han people. Therefore, the food of the Mongolian rulers had been influenced by the Hans and other ethnic groups. The imperial food of the Ming and Qing Dynasties had one common attribute: Diet was used to protect health. Kublai (1215 - 1294), the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, paid great attention to protecting his health through diet. The imperial food of the Ming and Qing Dynasties had one common attribute: Diet was used to protect health. Kublai (1215 - 1294), the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, paid great attention to protecting his health through diet. During the Reign of Tianli in the Yuan Dynasty (1328 - 1330), Hu Sihui, the imperial physician at the imperial hospital in charge of the emperor’s food, wrote a book entitledPrinciples of Correct Diet, which he gave to the emperor. The book dealt with questions about nutrition and hygiene. It also told how to make soup, thick soup, syrup, paste, oils, tea, sesame cakes, stuffed buns, steamed buns, porridge, and noodles, and described their nutritious effects. The book had a great influence on the food and drinks served in the Yuan palace. It encouraged health protection and parental education, listed taboo foods during pregnancy, and banned alcoholic drinks. It described foods for use in all seasons, prevented the wrong use of flavors, and stressed dietotherapy and regimen. Shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 – 1398) ascended to the throne, he summoned Jia Ming, a 100 – year – old man from Haining to ask him the secret of his long life. Jia Ming gave The Instructions on Foods and Drinks to the emperor. Hu Sihui’s Proper and Essential Ways of Drinking and Eating also received great attention from the Ming emperors. Zhu Qiyu, Emperor Daizong of the Ming Dynasty, even wrote a preface for the book before it was reprinted. As in previous dynasties, food and drinks in the Ming Palace were supplied in season. Fresh fruits, vegetables and meats were supplied in their times. In the Ming Palace, more vegetables and fruits were eaten than meat and fish. Among the meat and fish eaten were chicken, pheasant, goose, duck, carp, golden carp, Mandarin fish, bream, rabbit, and deer. The menu in the Ming Palace changed daily and dishes were not repeated. Light refreshments also changed daily. This variation in the daily diets continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty there were great varieties of food and drinks, their quality was improved, and new cooking methods were used. During festivals, sacrificial rites, and celebrations, the court ministers and officials were given food. On the Dragon Boat Festival, court officials were presented outside the Meridian Gate with a pyramid – shaped dumpling of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. When there was a ceremony, those called by the emperor were given a cake wrapped in red silk. When Imperial College students paid tribute to Confucius, they received food from the emperor, but the variety of the food given to them was not great. In autumn, residents of the Ming Palace liked to eat fat ground squirrels, which were an annual tribute from Shanxi. The eating of ground squirrels was a Mongolian custom handed down from the Yuan Dynasty. But as a whole, the customs of the Han ethnic group most influenced the food and drinks served in the palace. The Chronicle of Ceremonies and Rites, by Sun Chengze, listed the appropriate food and drinks by lunar month: One: Chives, romaine lettuce, chicken, and duck Two: Celery, liver mosses, artemisia vulgaris, and goose Three: Tea, bamboo shoots, and carp Four: Cherry, apricot, green plum, cucumber, and pheasant Five: Peach, plum, Chinese pear – leaved crabapple, eggplant, barley, wheat flour, and chicken Six: Lotus seedpod, sweet melon, watermelon, and wax gourd (winter melon) Seven: Date, grape, fresh water chestnut, amaranth, and pear Eight: Lotus roots, young taro plant, wild rice stem, tender ginger, semi – glutimous rice, millet, broomcorn, and Mandarin fish Nine: Orange, chestnut, small red beans, granulated sugar, and bream Ten: Mandarin orange, tangerine, Chinese yam, rabbit and honey Eleven: Sugar cane, buckwheat flour, red bean, deer, and rabbit Twelve: Spinach, leaf mustard, golden carp, and whitefish In the Ming Palace, most foods had southern flavors, with the foods of the Han ethnic group being dominant. The Ming Palace was characterized by opulent banquets, sumptuous feasts, and voracious eaters. According to Liu Ruoyu: The food and drinks for the royal family were bought by their own grants, and poor officials were hired to do the cooking. Those who were highly skilled could earn several taels (one tael is approximately 30 grams) of silver every month, but received no add bonuses. Clean baskets had to be used to cleanse the rice before cooking. Sesame seed oil, sweet sauce made of fermented flour, fermented soybeans, soybean sauce, vinegar, and other sundries were bought from outside at any price. All foods taken by the Royal Family and court officials were roasted or fried. Economy In Chinese, China knows itself as Zhong Guoor the "Center Kingdom." It considered itself not just the biggest and most seasoned force on the planet, additionally as the wellspring of all development. Composed Chinese, the Confucian set of accepted rules, and authority in light of good goodness were all indications of China's social and in addition material prevalence. For a considerable length of time China had a since a long time ago settled tribute association with encompassing regions. Leaders of neighboring states, in the wake of recognizing their "modest accommodation" and performing ritualized activities, for example, the ketou (or "kowtow," bowing so that the head touches the floor), trade of emissaries, and exchange regulations, picked up acknowledgment and were given authenticity by the Chinese court which may even send help to them ought to the need emerge. Subsequent to crushing the Mongol Empire in 1368 and building up the Ming tradition, the Chinese sovereign endeavored to restore the tribute association with neighboring states. In 1402, amid a staggering common war, Zhu Di grabbed the throne from his nephew. Since he had grabbed the throne by power, Emperor Zhu Di was particularly on edge to exhibit and demonstrate his authenticity. In 1403 Emperor Zhu Di requested development of a royal armada that was to incorporate exchanging ships, warships, the alleged "fortune ships," and bolster vessels and requested the armada, under the order of Admiral Zheng He, to set out on a noteworthy voyage that same year. The sovereign and Admiral Zheng He had been companions subsequent to the naval commander was in his teenagers, and they believed each other. The voyage had different targets. It would allow the Chinese to investigate new regions and grow business and discretionary relations. The glory of the armada would perform the predominant magnificence and force of the Ming domain to people groups of inaccessible grounds, creating conditions of South and Southeast Asia to be consolidated into the tribute framework. The armada anticipated that would get exhibit of accommodation from leaders of regions it went to, and numerous outside nations without a doubt would recognize China's prevalence all together over expansion their exchange. On the off chance that individuals did not perceive Chinese significance, the chief of naval operations may need to utilize power, however the Chinese expected that the experiences would be serene since it was just fitting that whatever number individuals as could be allowed ought to go under the influence of the Chinese head, otherwise called the "Child of Heaven." Opening exchange courses and building up exchange through the trading of tribute and endowments was a noteworthy objective of the voyage. Since Zheng He was a Muslim, he would have the capacity to build up great relations with Muslim exchanging groups and also with Chinese dealers in the ports the boats went to. Therapeutic examination seems to have been another inspiration for the voyages. A few annihilating pestilences had cleared through the Middle Kingdom, and numerous specialists and drug specialists went on the voyage, taught to search for herbs and different meds. At last, Zheng He was to search for any indications of the removed Emperor, whom a few individuals accepted was still alive and endeavoring to develop a force base some place in Southeast Asia. The armadas were great, and numerous diplomats and rulers from territories the armada went to went to the Ming court with tribute, recognizing Chinese prevalence. Be that as it may, a few elements added to making numerous in the court, especially the Confucian researchers around the Emperor, restrict the voyages. Once the tribute relationship had been restored, and the investigations finished, some doubted the need to send rehashed voyages. Keeping up and keeping an eye on the armada was costly. After the Grand Canal had been repaired, assets were exhausted to make it simple for grain to venture out from the south to northern China on the waterway, wiping out the requirement for war sends that would shield grain shipments from privateer attacks. Is it true that it was truly worth proceeding with these voyages? Daily Life The Ming Dynasty was a crucial time for societal and cultural evolution. “The Ming armies that conquered the southwest were followed by civilian settlers and merchants” (Yates). Most civilians were peasants, but there was a select amount of nobles and kings. The was a significant difference of wealth between the peasants and the nobles and kings. Often, the peasants would live in huts or tiny houses that were made out of mud or bamboo and had no floor, other than the ground. The nobles and kings had the ability to build luxurious palaces and summer homes that were also made out of mud and wood but much more lavish. They were decorated with intricate pieces, such as: candles held by bronze candlesticks. But, since most people were peasants, the Ming civilians usually did nothing else for work other than farm, unless they were a merchant. Farming was in fact one of the poorest occupations during this time. Merchants did insignificantly better, so the farmers had a much more difficult time simply living. The Ming peasants worked from day to night, and according to the article “China” most farmers did not even own the land that they worked on. Most properties were usually owned by a noble or a king. On top of working on some elite person’s land, the farmers were expected to give gifts to the noble in charge. Peasant-farmers who had owned anything extra or nice, were not allowed to keep their belongings and were forced to give it up to the noble or king in order to reside in the place they called home. With this, classes were technically permanently marginalized and significantly reduced anyone from becoming “proud as the nobles”(Yates). Peasants also celebrated something called the Spring Festival. Usually this was an event that young people would socialize and typically paired into couples; some of them were even married during this celebration. The celebration was held every year in order to assure a good harvest and a good year and according to the peasants it is the equivalent to the national Chinese New Year. Despite the class differences, according to literature of the Ming period the lifestyle was known for its leisurely manner and was referred to as “'shanshui' [mountains and rivers]” (Chih-ho). Which means, “hill-dwelling, sightseeing, boating, and 'tianshi' (quietude and comfort), each of which possesses its own derivative items,” (Chih-ho). This specific period marks the history of China’s gradual development of its social life. According to, "Leisurely Shanshui Lifestyle Of The Ming Dynasty”, the lifestyle of this period incorporated a large variety of activities. For example, writers of the Ming period were fond of finding and collecting rare items, establishing a meaningful life for themselves, and most importantly, recording in journals their daily life with what they experienced, especially through sight and sound. For the women of the Ming period, daily life was occupied by caring for their homes and their children. “The structure and difference between genders was greatly emphasized”(Yates). The women were expected to respect and obey their husbands at all times, regardless of any circumstance. Women were rarely married to the men of their choice. If a woman disobeyed her family, often a family would then be in disgrace. Males had a substantial amount of more power over the household than the females. Especially the eldest male of the household was in charge and dominated all the affairs of every family member. In fact, he dictated each individual family member’s daily way of living life. Women were less often than not visible in the Ming public. Overall, the values of women were extremely dominated by those in charge that believed traditional Confucian morality. Activities such as: spinning and weaving were the women’s most important contributions to the household, during this time. However, these activities became professionalized industries that were dominated by males producing for the market. Binding women’s feet and female infanticide were also traditions of the Ming society. When education did become more widely available for women, a small but influential percentage of elite women became “ literate, managed complex household economies, which involved not only textile production and servants, but considerable interaction with the outside world”(Yates). Only elite women had the privilege to read, write, edit, and publish literature. These women actually exchanged letters discussing literary criticism; they created social groups that were devoted to mutual assistance, and even took part in painting and engaged in their own poetic circles. In order to take part in these activities the elite women traveled often. In doing so, their networks would extend well outside of their immediate family and the limits of their inner family circles. Some women even were able to work as educators. Both skilled and unskilled work women contributed greatly to family enterprises in order to meet the requests of the tax collectors; especially in the urban areas. However, in order to maintain class margins and in order to retain the ability of women to become equal to men, Chinese families carefully regulated reproduction. With population increasing during this time and demands for trade increasing population regulation contributed to the image that a “large, rapidly growing, poor population on the brink of starvation must be replaced with one of a large, fairly well-fed, slowly growing society, constantly pushing agricultural techniques and commercial exchange to exhaust the resources of the land”(Chih-ho). Even within the harsh constraints set by both nature and the Ming Dynasty, Chinese families still adjusted their gender and economic roles in order to improve their circumstances. During the Ming period, the government institutionalized Neo-Confucian philosophy as the main ideology. A reoccurred interest in Buddhism grew increasingly stronger and encouraged new philosophical ideas to challenge the intellect of academics and religion. “One of the new trends claimed that action and knowledge were inseparable”(Colorful Lanterns at Shangyuan). Students of these schools were strongly educated to strive for gaining insights about the intrinsic principle that ordered nature with culture, and society with the universe, and to then practice that knowledge in their everyday lives. During the Ming period intellectual independence in philosophical thinking was becoming more accepted and more often than not, actually promoted within private academies. These academies were located in the mountainous areas, remote from government control and became popular places for study. The location encouraged the shanshui' lifestyle of the Ming Dynasty. Academies were centers where students gathered to participate in philosophical discussions, take part in safe venues where scholars could express political dissent among their like-minded peers. However, the shanshui’ academic lifestyle took a quick change with technological advances in printing. “There became a steady demand for books from the candidates who needed to prepare for the examinations which became the most desired career for a man with aspirations”(Colorful Lanterns at Shangyuan). Literary publications increased exponentially. And, literacy rose fast. Therefore, as books became more readily available, reading became less exclusively associated with studying, and career or administrative oriented. It soon became a source of entertainment. Novels and short stories were written in conversational language and included illustrations, basically the fiction genre became a high demand. “To this day the humorous fantasy novel Journey to the West (published ca. 1570) and the portrait of a merchant from Shandong titled Golden Lotus (published 1619) are famous even among readers in the West”(Colorful Lanterns at Shangyuan). There are many Ming publications that reflect an extensive interest for practical knowledge and a wide variety of applications expanded beyond the traditional practices of philosophy and philology. These publications include: technological topics such as: hydraulics, irrigation, pest control, geography, geology, as well as medical and pharmaceutical articles focused on the topics of acupuncture and moxibustion, hygiene, gynaecology, and dietetics that were shared among the learned. Artwork Chinese have always had very distinct artwork compared to the rest of the world. Chinese art style has been very dynamic as in it is different from one dynasty to another. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Chinese art declined greatly because of the Mongol invaders. Once the Mongol invaders were driven out of China, the Ming Dynasty was established. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) introduced a period of cultural restoration and expansion which led to a widespread renewal of traditional types of art, such as Chinese pottery, which exceeded even the standards set by Song Dynasty art (960-1279). Ming decorative art was built upon the richly varied legacy of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, which embraced both traditional Chinese art and foreign styles. Rules were put in place to ensure that a uniform standard of craftsmanship was followed to maintain quality and to keep exports going. The new Ming Dynasty was led by the militaristic Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The Emperor introduced a system of cultural control by imposing certain styles in the arts. For example, Ming painters who work for the imperial court were ordered to return to realistic modes of representational art similar to what was promoted by the previous Southern Song Dynasty painting academy. During the Ming Dynasty period there were many different schools of art that developed. Academic painting of the Song dynasty was often taken as a model. In the area of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, a group of professional landscape painters working in a free manner emerged to become the Zhe School of painting. This group was heavily influenced by the court artist Dai Jin after he was dismissed and returned to Hangzhou. Bird-and-flower paintings were very prominent during this period. There were two accepted ways of painting the Bird-and-flower paintings. One way was the vigorous ink wash manner of Lin Liang, which is also associated with Xu Xi's use of "boneless" ink wash without outlines. The ink wash method was pitted against the descriptive-realism method of Lü Ji which is associated with the meticulous outline and color technique linked with Huang Quan. These two schools of art were the main schools of art until soon they became overshadowed by scholar-amateur painters from the Wu region around Suzhou, a city now famed for its reconstructed gardens. The formation of the Wu School painting tradition is credited to Shen Zhou, who refined the expressionistic brush-oriented manner of the Yuan dynasty masters. Transmitted from master to pupil, first to Wen Zhengming then to Chen Chun, this style developed alongside the growing influence of literati garden culture in Ming society. The garden, had become an expression of personal virtues and political aspirations just like painting, calligraphy, and poetry. Traditionally, Ming painting is categorized into just different schools of art but this categorization is inadequate to explain the complexity of the era. Paintings by artists such as Tang Yin’s “Seeing off a Guest on a Mountain Path” exemplifies that any piece of art cannot be simply classified as belonging to one school of art. Another piece of evidence is the many individual and regional styles that developed. There were so many different schools in fact that people have comment that “there were as many schools of painting as there were painters in the Ming Dynasty”. During the times that all these new painting styles were emerging, we see the emergence of the scholar-artist Dong Qichang, who served as an official around the Wanli reign. Dong implemented the reading of painted brushstrokes as calligraphic expression, and promoted the enlightened creation or "grand synthesis" of artistic style through the study of past masters. In order legitimate his own artistic achievements, Dong incorrectly theorized that past painters only belonged to one of two stylistic lineages: the expressive, understated brush styles of literati painters in the Southern School, and the descriptive, decorative tradition of professional artisans in the Northern School. More than a variation of the commonly held rivalry between the Zhe and Wu Schools, Dong positioned himself at the end of the Southern School as the true inheritor of a tradition of literati painters that included Dong Yuan, Fan Kuan, Mi Fu, the Four Great Masters of the Yuan, and the Wu schools of art in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was known for its painting but it is even more prominent for its ceramic art. The Ming Dynasty period was an extraordinary period of innovation in ceramic art. New techniques showed improvement in design and shapes, showing a preference for color and painted design and also a certain openness to foreign forms of art. The Yongle Emperor was exceedingly curious about other countries and enjoyed unusual shapes many of which were inspired by Islamic metalwork. Today, Xuande porcelain is considered among the finest of all Ming art. During the Xuande period, a technical refinement was introduced in preparation of the cobalt used for decoration of the blue underglaze. This in fact led to the creation of the world famous cobalt blue and white porcelain, its sea-green celadon glazed stoneware, and its white porcelain sculpture by artists such as He Chaozong. All of these ceramic arts were exported around the world mostly to South East Asia, the Middle East, Japan and even Europe. The above image shows the Ming technique of adding manganese to cobalt blue to produce a sharper line. Prior to this technique, cobalt was brilliant in color but it had a tendency to bleed in firing but by adding manganese, the color was duller but the line was crisper. Some of the designs included on the ceramic art include the gold-colored carp and aquatic vegetation. The main Ming manufacturing centers for porcelain were the imperial kilns in southern China, notably at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province which was a perfect site due to the abundance of minerals, such as petuntse which is china stone and kaolin which is china clay as well as more than enough wood to fuel the kilns. Shufu items have a thick, slightly opaque, glaze, white in colour, with a faint blue-green tint. In addition to the drastic improvements in ceramic art and painting the Ming Dynasty in its later years made a dramatic shift towards a market economy. The Ming Dynasty started exporting porcelain around the world on a groundbreaking scale. Other than supplying porcelain for domestic use, the kilns at Jingdezhen became a large scale porcelain manufacturer for exporting to Europe. By this time, there were two major types of materials to make ceramic items and those were kaolin and pottery stone. Kaolin and pottery stone both have pros and cons. When Kaolin stone was added to the items, the product became sturdier than before and the color was also more white in appearance which was a property much sought after. Pottery stone required lower temperatures like 2,280 °F rather than kaolin which required 2,460 °F to fire. Music “The Ming dynasty arose following a series of natural disasters that had hit China during the early and middle 1300s, adding to the misery of a people under the harsh rule of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). In 1368 rebel armies—led by Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398)—overthrew the Yuan, and Zhu established a dynasty he named Da Ming (“Great Brightness”). The only emperor in China’s long history to have been born to a peasant family, Zhu had been orphaned early in life. From these humble beginnings rose a dynasty that was to be ruled by seventeen emperors over a period of 276 years (more than half a century longer than the United States has been an independent nation). From Nanjing, the first Ming capital (see map above), Zhu Yuanzhang reigned as the Hongwu emperor for thirty years (1368–1398). His priorities — consolidating his power, building an imperial capital, and setting up a system of government — were shared by his fourth son, Zhu Di, who, following a power struggle of nearly four years, usurped the throne from his nephew and ruled as the Yongle emperor from 1403 to 1424. During the Yongle reign, the seat of the Ming dynasty was moved to Beijing (see map). This was a time of exploration, with imperial expeditions sent as far away as the east coast of Africa. Court arts of these early reigns reflect the emperors’ desires to display the power and glory of their dynasty. Subsequent Ming emperors were not as strong, and by the end of the dynasty much of the power and glory of the imperial family had faded.” (Asian Art Museum 2016) Art and Music “Ling Lun (Chinese: 伶倫 or 泠倫) is the legendary founder of music in ancient China. In Chinese mythology, as described in the Lüshi Chunqiu (in Chinese: 吕氏春秋), he was said to have created bamboo flutes which made the sounds of many birds, including the mythical phoenix. "In this way, he invented the five notes of the ancient Chinese five-tone scale (gong, shang, jiao, ahi', and yu) which is equivalent to 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in numbered musical notation (do, re, mi, so, and la in western solfeggio) and the eight sounds made by eight musical instruments. The "Yellow Emperor" (Huangdi) is said to have ordered the casting of bells in tune with those flutes.” ”The Ming-Qing period was highly productive musically, resulting in developments that are important not only in this period but as high-lights in the whole continuum of Chinese music. Kun and Peking operas, the art of qin, and regional instrumental music are some of the substantial areas that warrant more detailed coverage and thus are included as special topics in the second part of this book. Other prominent developments of the period include the areas of theory and musical literature, which will be introduced below. The Ming-Qing period represents a highly cultivated time and a growing literate society. Among the class of literati officials, the arts of prose-poetry writing, qin zither playing, calligraphy, and chess playing became the highest goals. Regrettably, by the 19th century, creativity was replaced by cliché, imitation and conservatism; the arts of this time are generally criticized as becoming lifeless and stagnant. However, a great scholarly contribution of this period was the printing of large collections, anthologies and encyclopedic works, many of which have been preserved until our time. An example of a comprehensive publication for the qin zither is the Yongle qinshu jicheng (" A Collection of Qin Essays") printed in twenty volumes. Its contents embody the history, music, theory, tuing methods and poetry on the qin. One of the most significant qin manuscript-notation collections in existence is the Shenqi mipu ("Mysterious and Secret Notations") published in 1425 by Zhu Quan (the sixteenth son of the first Ming emperor). Subsequently, there were over a hundred more qin manuscript-notational handbooks printed in the Ming-Qing period. Another substantial notational collection is the 1746 publication of 81 volumes, the Jiugong dacheng nanbeici gongpu ("Nations of Northern and Southern Songs in Nine musical Keys") that was compiled by Zhou Xiangyu under imperial auspices.” (Ciarlillo, Marjorie Ann, and Jeffrey Jacob 1987.) Piano music of the Ming dynasty. w Ming dynasty, was known to be instrumental in the development of piano music. Periods of the piano development. The origins of Chinese piano music (before 1919) The initial development of Chinese piano music (1919-1949) Development in New China and during the Culture Revolution (1949-1976) New developments after “Reform and Opening”1 (after 1976) “During the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty (around A.D.1600), greater communication and cultural exchange between East and West paved the way for the introduction of Western keyboard instruments (such as the harpsichord) in China. However, the piano was not introduced in China until the 19th century, and the first Chinese piano pieces appeared only in the early twentieth century. Since that time, many pieces have been composed especially for it. In this chapter, a brief history of Chinese piano music will be provided, primarily discussing its development, as well as various influences from Western musical genres.” Works Cited "The Chinese Ming Dynasty Government System & Laws." Totally History Ming Dynasty Government Comments. N.p., n.d. 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