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Questions tagged [ming-dynasty]

The Ming Dynasty was founded in 1368 after its first Emperor, Hongwu, drove the Mongolians from China. It fell to a combination of Manchurian invasion and peasant insurrection in 1644.

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Why did the Ming treasure fleet voyages end?

Have we come to know more reasons, on why the Treasure Fleet Voyages of the Ming Dynasty ceased, other than eunuch-to-civil power shift? Wikipedia says However, in 1433, the voyages ceased and ...
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12 votes
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Did Hongwu Emperor flay 5000 women, and why?

On Wikipedia, there is a snippet that reads: The Hongwu Emperor flayed many servants, officials and rebels.[5][6] In 1396 he ordered the flaying of 5000 women.[7] The problem is that the second ...
congusbongus's user avatar
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Was silent reading or reading aloud the norm in pre-modern (esp. Tang through Ming eras) China?

Many scholars argue that in ancient Greco-Roman culture, reading aloud was the norm, as seen in examples like Augustine's Confessions, where Augustine sees someone reading silently and sees this as ...
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During the Míng Dynasty could local authorities make laws?

I have been unable to find how much, if any, authority was had for the creation of local laws in Míng China. Was it allowed to create local laws at the town, city, or provincial level in Míng China? ...
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3 votes
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After the Mongol Empire fell, did China really turn away from math and physics?

I came across this from the Wiki article on Chinese Mathematics: After the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty, China became suspicious of knowledge it used. The Ming Dynasty turned away from math and ...
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3 votes
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262 views

Which ranks of concubine resided in the gong and yuan respectively?

Background/ TLDR Having at long last gained access to this source by a certain Mr. Woo and with the support of the answers to my previous question I can finally gather some statistics on successions ...
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2 votes
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How did Zheng He's treasure ships solve the problem of vitamin C supply? [closed]

Scurvy was the number one disease that plagued sailors. How did the Zheng He treasure ships prevent scurvy in their sailors?
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How should a Westerner visualise Chinese civilisation under the various dynasties? [closed]

I have a decent knowledge of European history (if I say so myself!) but, like many Englishmen, my grasp of Chinese history is very poor, and, over the past few months, I've taken some modest steps ...
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