Walty Toub Bonner History ‘16
The Fall of the Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties at the time and after a long battle politically, economically, and socially it falls. The Ming Dynasty also known as “the Great Ming” ruled over China for over 250 years. The Ming Dynasty faced many problems during their downfall including the reign of the wanli emperor, role of the eunuchs, economic breakdown and natural disaster, rise of the manchu, political decline at court, rebellion, emperor shezong and emperor weizong. The Ming Dynasty’s road to their downfall was paved with many potholes and road bumps and their response to all these problems along with other things is the reason behind their collapse. …show more content…
During the start of Wanli’s reign, he made sure he had competent advisors along with handling state affairs. Zhang Juzheng, Wanli’s grand secretary, constructed a network of alliances with many prominent senior officials. Unfortunately, once Zhang Juzheng retired from the position there was no one in line to mantain all these connections or alliances. Soon after, officials banded political fractions. As time went by, Wanli grew weary of being in the public eye, court affairs, and nonstop political squabble, and therefor decided to hide himself behind the thick walls of the Forbidden City. From a result of this, it made it hard for officials to voice their opinions about state matters with the emperor. The only way around this was to take it up to a powerful eunuch with a bribe and hopefully then will the message be passed along to the emperor. The broken connection with the emperor made it hard for any change to take place and the constantly evolving Ming Dynasty stopped dead in their
The Fall of the Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties at the time and after a long battle politically, economically, and socially it falls. The Ming Dynasty also known as “the Great Ming” ruled over China for over 250 years. The Ming Dynasty faced many problems during their downfall including the reign of the wanli emperor, role of the eunuchs, economic breakdown and natural disaster, rise of the manchu, political decline at court, rebellion, emperor shezong and emperor weizong. The Ming Dynasty’s road to their downfall was paved with many potholes and road bumps and their response to all these problems along with other things is the reason behind their collapse. …show more content…
During the start of Wanli’s reign, he made sure he had competent advisors along with handling state affairs. Zhang Juzheng, Wanli’s grand secretary, constructed a network of alliances with many prominent senior officials. Unfortunately, once Zhang Juzheng retired from the position there was no one in line to mantain all these connections or alliances. Soon after, officials banded political fractions. As time went by, Wanli grew weary of being in the public eye, court affairs, and nonstop political squabble, and therefor decided to hide himself behind the thick walls of the Forbidden City. From a result of this, it made it hard for officials to voice their opinions about state matters with the emperor. The only way around this was to take it up to a powerful eunuch with a bribe and hopefully then will the message be passed along to the emperor. The broken connection with the emperor made it hard for any change to take place and the constantly evolving Ming Dynasty stopped dead in their