Three Hundred Years of the Ming Dynasty’s Rise and Fall

Why did the Ming Taizu choose Nanjing as his capital? How did the Ming Jinyiwei and the Eastern and Western Depots come into being? Why did the first stirrings of capitalism appear during the Ming? Did the Ming fall because of the secret police and factional strife, or because of foreign invaders and rebel bands? The Ming was an age of absolute imperial power: the chancellor’s office was abolished, literary inquisitions flourished, and the Jinyiwei and Eastern and Western Depots were established, bringing centralization to its peak. Yet it was also a period of relatively developed commercial trade, with an economic boom that later generations would call the “sprouts of capitalism.” What made this dynasty such a unique presence in Chinese history? Open this book and join renowned historian Wu Han in discovering the true face of the Ming, and learning how it rose and why it fell.