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The military conquests of the Chinese Ming dynasty were the attempt of dynasty's hold on power during the early Ming.
Early in his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor), the founder of the Ming dynasty, laid down instructions to later generations that included advice to the Chief Military Commission on those countries that supposedly posed a threat to the Ming polity, and those that did not. He stated that those to the north were dangerous, while those to the south did not constitute a threat, and were not to be subjected to attack. Yet, the south suffered more from Ming expansion over the following century.
In 1369, not long after Zhu Yuanzhang founded his new dynasty, he sent proclamations for the instruction of the countries of Yunnan and Japan. [1] This early recognition of Yunnan (which lay beyond the Ming) as a "country" was to change. By 1380, Yunnan, which was still held by a Northern Yuan prince, was considered to belong to China since the Han dynasty, and 250,000 troops were deployed in an attack on the polity, taking Dali, Lijiang and Jinchi in 1382. As a result, the Ming founder took control of the major urban centers of the north-western part of what is today Yunnan, including several Tai areas.
In 1387, the Hongwu Emperor prepared for an attack on the Baiyi (Möng Mao) polity to the south. Under the command of Mu Ying, the Ming forces attacked the Baiyi with firearms, taking a claimed 30,000 heads. [2] Si Lunfa was subsequently dunned for all the costs of the military expedition against him, as a quid pro quo for recognizing him as ruler of the Baiyi.
The new polities "created" (or recognized) in Yunnan under the first Ming ruler were known to the Ming as "native offices" (tu si), since initially they were usually left under the control of the hereditary rulers, by which the Ming exerted control, and engaged in economic expropriation through tribute demands and other levies. Che-li (Jinghong), for example, was established as a "native office" in 1377.
The Tai-Mao polity of Lu-Chuan/Ping-Mian was demanded by Ming's court for 15,000 horses, 500 elephants and 30,000 cattle from the ruler Si Lunfa in 1397. Subsequently, large silver demands (silver, in lieu of labor) were levied on Lu-Chuan. The annual amount of 6,900 Liang of silver was initially set, and then it was almost tripled to 18,000 Liang. The levy was reduced to the original amount. Other levies were applied to the other polities, enforced through the use or threat of military force.
The region which became known as Manchuria (Northeast China and Outer Manchuria) was under Liaoyang province of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty launched a military campaign to fight against the Uriankhai horde of the Mongol chieftain Naghachu in Manchuria. It concluded with the surrender of the Uriankhai to the Ming which then controlled Manchuria.
The Hongwu reign was marked by frequent dispatches of envoys to foreign polities, and the court reception of foreign envoys from the maritime polities of Vietnam, Champa, Cambodia, Siam, Cochin, Sanfoqi, Java, Japan, Ryūkyū, Brunei, and Korea. They were drawn to China by the trade concessions available to tribute envoys, and the rewards given to the rulers who submitted the "tribute". However, the machinations of the Ming state meant that diplomatic links were also a major method by which court insiders, within the system, could gain influence and control. It was the failure to report the arrival of an envoy from Champa that led to Hu Weiyong (胡惟庸), the Ming prime minister from 1377 to 1380, being executed on charges of treason. Members of the Ming bureaucracy were likely already heavily involved in Southeast Asian maritime politics by the 1390s.
In the early 1370s, the coastal people in China were forbidden to cross the oceans, other than on official missions. Fujian military officials, who had privately sent people across the seas to engage in trade, were punished not long thereafter. The prohibition was reinstated in 1381 and 1384, and an imperial command "strictly prohibiting people from having contact with foreigners" was promulgated in 1390. The frequency of these prohibitions was deemed not very effective, and the reason given for the imperial command was that "at this time in Guangdong/Guangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian, there were foolish people who did not know of these prohibitions, and frequently engaged in private trade with foreigners". The prohibition on going abroad for trade privately was reiterated in 1397. Whether these prohibitions actually affected maritime trade between southern China and Southeast Asia is not immediately apparent from the Ming texts.
Knowledge of the reign of the Hongwu Emperor's successor, the Jianwen Emperor (1399–1402), has been almost entirely lost to us as a result of the civil war and coup d'état launched by his uncle, Zhu Di (Yongle Emperor). In the aftermath, Zhu Di tried to eliminate all evidence of his nephew's reign from the historical record.
The period of Yongle, as Zhu Di was to name his reign, is documented. After his father comes to power, Zhu Di orders the Ministry of Rites to send demands to foreign polities, requiring them to bring tribute to the court. In the same year, he also established the Maritime Trade Supervisorates in the provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong to control sea trade with all foreign polities. In 1405, hostels were established under each of the above-noted provinces to look after the foreign envoys who came from abroad.
The new emperor was anxious to advertise the culture of the Ming to the rest of the known world; he distributed 10,000 copies of the Biographies of Exemplary Women (烈女傳) to various non-Chinese polities for their moral instruction. Whether any motifs from this Chinese text have appeared in Southeast Asian literature has not yet, as it appears, been studied. Court calendars were also distributed to Southeast Asian polities by the Ministry of Rites.
A number of major military expeditions into Southeast Asia occurred during the Yongle reign. In 1406, in an effort to increase Ming influence and power in Đại Ngu (Vietnam), the country that was known to the Ming as Annam (the "Pacified South"), it had appeared that Hồ Quý Ly, a powerful noble of Vietnam had seized power in Vietnam and attempted to murder all members of the current Trần ruling family. The Yongle emperor attempted to solve the problem peacefully, dispatching envoys and the self-claimed surviving member of the House of Trần, Trần Thiên Bính (陳添平) to Vietnam. He was assassinated and in that same year, two huge Chinese armies were sent along two routes, via Yunnan and Guangxi, into Đại Ngu. Chinese forces claimed that seven million Vietnamese were killed in this initial campaign to take the polity. In 1407, Đại Ngu became Ming China's 14th province, and remained so until 1428, when the Ming were forced to withdraw by a Vietnamese revolt led by Lê Lợi. In contrast to the name Annam ("Pacified South"), this 21-year period was one of almost incessant fighting.
As soon as the Ming forces took control of the polity, changes were instituted. In the first year, 7,600 tradesmen and artisans (including gun founders) captured in Đại Ngu were sent to the Ming capital at today's Nanjing. This stripping of some of the most skilled members of society extensively affected Vietnamese society. Subsequently, more Chinese and non-Chinese troops were brought into the region to maintain some semblance of control, and a wide range of new organs of civil administration were re-established. By 1408, Annam had 41 subprefectures, and 208 counties, all administered in a Chinese mode but often staffed by Vietnamese. Regardless of the extent to which political hegemony was thrown off in the late 1420s, when the Ming were driven out, the administrative legacy of the Chinese occupation must have had a major and wide-ranging impact on the society of the country. In a claimed effort to further inculcate Chinese ways, Confucian schools, which existed already from several hundred years before, were re-established in Chinese style, and Chinese were appointed to teach in them. In an attempt to assimilate the country into the Chinese cultural sphere, this period saw an invaluable part of Vietnamese academic and historical works destroyed by the Ming authorities.
In 1407 a new Maritime Trade Supervisorate was established at Yuntun, while two new such offices were established at Xinping (新平) and Shunhua (順化) in 1408. Thus, within two years, three maritime trade supervisors had been created in this new province, the same number as existed in the rest of China. This was a clear indication of the desire of the Ming to control maritime trade to the south and exploit the economic advantage of such control.
Other economic exploitation involved grain taxes, annual levies of lacquer, sappanwood, kingfisher feathers, fans and aromatics, and the imposition of monopolies on gold, silver, salt, iron, and fish. In addition, eunuchs were sent to Jiaozhi with the task of collecting treasure for the Emperor, but an equal amount of treasure collection appears to have been done for themselves. The rapaciousness of the eunuchs, at least as depicted in Ming accounts, was such that even the emperors intervened in appointments. The Hongxi Emperor objected to the re-sending of the eunuch Ma Qi to Annam, when he attempted to have himself reappointed to control the gold, silver, aromatics and pearls of the region in 1424.
By 1414, the Ming was sufficiently well-entrenched in the northern Annam to allow it to push further, establishing four further subprefectures in a region south of Annam, which had formerly been administered by the Hồ dynasty and still free from Chinese influence, as well as some parts of the northern border of Champa. There are authors who believe that the Chinese occupation of Ðại Việt in this period played some role in the later southward expansion of the Vietnamese state. However, the Vietnamese southward expansion had begun in the Lý dynasty of Ðại Việt and the major advances were made by Nguyễn Lords at least two centuries later. The levies and demands made on the new province by the Ming meant that its capacity to feed itself suffered. On numerous occasions in the 1420s, it was necessary to arrange transport of grain from Guangdong and Guangxi into Jiaozhi. Such deficiencies would have had profound effects on the social structure and social stability of the region, compounded by warfare and the imposition of Chinese norms. The range of colonial policies the Ming pursued had wide-ranging effects, both on the society at the time, as well as on the future development of the Vietnamese state.
Prior to Yongle's invasion of Ðại Ngu in 1406, he engaged himself in further expansion into the polities of Yunnan. By 1403, he had created new military guards on the distant border, with two independent battalions, directly under the Regional Military Commission, being established at Tengchong and Yongchang in 1403. These were to be the bases from which the subsequent further occupation and control of the Tai regions were to be pursued. In the same year, new Chief's Offices were established in Yunnan, at Zhele Dian, Dahou, Ganyai, Wandian and Lujiang, and in 1406, a further four Chief's Offices were established under Ningyuan Guard, in what is today Sip Song Chau Tai in Vietnam. When the Tai polities did not submit to the requirements of the new Ming emperor, military actions were launched against them. In 1405, for example, the senior Chinese representative in Yunnan, Mu Sheng, launched an attack on Lanna (Babai).
After some sort of recognition or acceptance of the superior position of the Ming court, Chinese clerks or registry managers were appointed to the "native offices" to "assist" the traditional ruler, and ensure that Ming interests were served. Chinese clerks were appointed to carry out Chinese language duties in the native offices of Yunnan in 1404, while similar circulating-official clerk positions (to be filled by Chinese) were established in seven Chief's Offices in Yunnan in 1406. The "native office" polities were then subject to demands in terms of gold and silver in lieu of labor (差發銀/金), administered by the Ministry of Revenue, and were also required to provide troops to assist in further Ming campaigns. Mubang, for example, was required to send its troops against Lanna (Babai) in 1406.
The Ming–Turpan conflict were a series of conflicts between the Ming dynasty and the Central Asian-based Khanate of Moghulistan (later its division the Turpan Khanate) that erupted due to disputes over borders, trade and internal succession to the throne of Moghulistan (or Turpan). Starting with the Yongle reign, Ming China controlled portions of eastern Xinjiang including Hami (as the suzerain of the Kara Del kingdom) before retreating in the early 16th century.
Zheng He was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during the early Ming dynasty often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred by the Yongle Emperor. Commissioned by the Yongle Emperor and later the Xuande Emperor, Zheng commanded seven expeditionary treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. According to legend, his larger ships carried hundreds of sailors on four decks and were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded.
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
The Yongle Emperor, personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
The Hongwu Emperor, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming (明太祖), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
The Hongxi Emperor, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Renzong of Ming (明仁宗), personal name Zhu Gaochi (朱高熾), was the fourth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1424 to 1425. He was the eldest son of the Yongle Emperor and Empress Renxiaowen and the maternal grandson of Xu Da, Prince of Zhongshan. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, but his reign lasted less than a year. "Hongxi", the era name of his reign, means "vastly bright".
The Xuande Emperor, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xuanzong of Ming (明宣宗), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. He was the son and successor of the Hongxi Emperor. "Xuande", the era name of his reign, means "proclamation of virtue".
The Jianwen Emperor, personal name Zhu Yunwen (朱允炆), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Huizong of Ming (明惠宗) and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Hui of Ming (明惠帝), was the second emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1398 to 1402. Zhu Yunwen's father was Zhu Biao, the eldest son and crown prince of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. Zhu Biao died at the age of 37 in 1392, after which the Hongwu Emperor named Zhu Yunwen as his successor. He ascended the throne after the Hongwu Emperor's death in June 1398.
The Hồ dynasty, officially Great Peace, was a short-lived Vietnamese dynasty consisting of the reigns of two monarchs, Hồ Quý Ly and his second son, Hồ Hán Thương. The practice of bequeathing the throne to a designated son was similar to what had happened in the previous Trần dynasty and was meant to avoid sibling rivalry. Hồ Quý Ly's eldest son, Hồ Nguyên Trừng, played his part as the dynasty's military general. In 2011, UNESCO declared the Citadel of the Hồ Dynasty in Thanh Hóa Province a world heritage site. The Hồ dynasty was conquered by the Chinese Ming dynasty in 1407.
The Later Trần dynasty, officially Great Việt, was a Vietnamese dynasty. It was the continuous line of the Tran dynasty that led Vietnamese rebellions against the Chinese Ming dynasty from between 1407 and 1413. The regime was characterized by two revolts against the Ming China which had by then established its rule over Vietnam.
The Fourth Era of Northern Domination was a period of Vietnamese history, from 1407 to 1427, during which Ming-dynasty China ruled Vietnam as the province of Jiaozhi. The Ming established their rule in Vietnam following their conquest of the Hồ dynasty in 1406-1407. The fourth period of Chinese rule over Vietnam eventually ended with the establishment of the Lê dynasty in 1428.
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty, officially Great Việt, was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, having ruled from 1428 to 1789, with an interregnum between 1527 and 1533. The Lê dynasty is divided into two historical periods: the Initial Lê dynasty before the usurpation by the Mạc dynasty, in which emperors ruled in their own right, and the Revival Lê dynasty, in which emperors were figures reigned under the auspices of the powerful Trịnh family. The Revival Lê dynasty was marked by two lengthy civil wars: the Lê–Mạc War (1533–1592) in which two dynasties battled for legitimacy in northern Vietnam and the Trịnh–Nguyễn Wars between the Trịnh lords in North and the Nguyễn lords of the South.
Four major military campaigns were launched by the Mongol Empire, and later the Yuan dynasty, against the kingdom of Đại Việt ruled by the Trần dynasty and the smaller kingdom of Champa in 1258, 1282–1284, 1285, and 1287–88. The campaigns are treated by a number of scholars as a success due to the establishment of tributary relations with Đại Việt despite the Mongols suffering major military defeats. In contrast, modern Vietnamese historiography regards the war as a major victory against the foreign invaders.
Đại Việt, often known as Annam, was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day Hanoi, Northern Vietnam. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt, was established in 968 by Vietnamese ruler Đinh Bộ Lĩnh after he ended the Anarchy of the 12 Warlords, until the beginning of the reign of Lý Thánh Tông, the third emperor of the Lý dynasty. Đại Việt lasted until the reign of Gia Long, the first emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, when the name was changed to Việt Nam.
Hồ Quý Ly ruled Đại Ngu (Vietnam) from 1400 to 1401 as the founding emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty. Quý Ly rose from a post as an official served the court of the ruling Trần dynasty and a military general fought against the Cham forces during the Cham–Vietnamese War (1367–1390). After his military defeat in the Ming Conquest of Dai Ngu (1406–1407), he and his son were captured as prisoners and were exiled to China, while the Dai Viet Empire became the thirteenth province of Ming Empire.
The Ming invasion of Viet, known in Vietnam as the Ming–Đại Ngu War was a military campaign against the kingdom of Đại Ngu under the Hồ dynasty by the Ming dynasty of China. The campaign began with Ming intervention in support of a rival faction to the Hồ dynasty which ruled Đại Ngu, but ended with the incorporation of Đại Ngu into the Ming dynasty as the province of Jiaozhi. The invasion is acknowledged by recent historians as one of the most important wars of the late medieval period, whereas both sides, especially the Ming, used the most advanced weapons in the world at the time.
The Đại Việt–Lan Xang War of 1479–84, also known as the White Elephant War, was a military conflict precipitated by the invasion of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang by the Vietnamese Đại Việt Empire. The Vietnamese invasion was a continuation of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông's expansion, by which Đại Việt had conquered the kingdom of Champa in 1471. The conflict grew into a wider conflagration involving the Ai-Lao people from Sip Song Chau Tai along with the Mekong river valley Tai peoples from the Yuan kingdom of Lan Na, Lü kingdom Sip Song Pan Na, to Muang along the upper Irawaddy river. The conflict ultimately lasted approximately five years growing to threatened the southern border of Yunnan and raising the concerns of Ming China. Early gunpowder weapons played a major role in the conflict, enabling Đại Việt's aggression. Early success in the war allowed Đại Việt to capture the Lao capital of Luang Prabang and destroy the Muang Phuan city of Xiang Khouang. The war ended as a strategic victory for Lan Xang, as they were able to force the Vietnamese to withdraw with the assistance of Lan Na and Ming China. Ultimately the war contributed to closer political and economic ties between Lan Na, Lan Xang, and Ming China. In particular, Lan Na's political and economic expansion led to a "golden age" for that kingdom.
Trần Thiêm Bình was a pretender to the Vietnamese throne during Hồ dynasty. He was mentioned as Chen Tian-ping (陳天平) in Chinese records.
The Champa–Đại Việt War (1367–1390) was a costly military confrontation fought between the Đại Việt kingdom under the ruling Trần dynasty and the kingdom of Champa led by the King of Chế Bồng Nga in the late 14th century, from 1367 to 1390. By 1330s, Đại Việt and Khmer Empire both felt into swiftly declining due to climate changes, population expansion, widespread bubonic plague, famines and many other factions, which contributed to Champa's resurgence of the 14th century. In 1360, Chế Bồng Nga, son of king Chế A Nan was enthroned as king of Champa, reunited the Chams under his banner, and in 1367 he demanded Trần Dụ Tông the return of two former provinces Ô and Lý to Champa. Declined to this demand, Trần Dụ Tông sent an army to strike Champa but was repulsed.
The Ming-Đại Việt War of 1406–1428 was a conflict between the Ming dynasty of China and Vietnam. The Ming dynasty's objective was to annex Vietnam, and while they initially had some success, the Vietnamese ultimately defended their independence.
