ming+dynasty+14th+century

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 Hongwu was succeeded by his eldest grandson, known as Emperor Jianwen However, Hongwu's fourth son, Zhu Di (Chu Ti), the prince of Yan (Yen), led a rebellion and removed Jianwen from power. He took the throne as Emperor Yongle and became one of the greatest Ming emperors. Yongle had been based at the former Yuan capital city of Dadu in northern China, only 40 miles south of the Great Wall that separated China from the Mongols and other nomadic tribes. He recognized the need to strengthen China's northern defenses, so he moved the capital there in 1421 after rebuilding it and renaming it Beijing, "Northern Capital." Nanjing ("Southern Capital") remained the Ming auxiliary capital. In Beijing Yongle constructed the Inner City, the Imperial City where court officials resided, and the Forbidden City or Imperial Palace, now known as the Palace Museum and one of the most popular tourist sites in China. The Forbidden City is the largest complex of ancient buildings, not only in China but also in the entire world. It served as the residence of Yongle and all subsequent Ming and Qing emperors, their families and concubines, and thousands of female servants and eunuchs who staffed the imperial palace. Emperors held ceremonial audiences and received foreign tributary missions in the large Outer Court. Yongle also chose a propitious site outside Beijing for his tomb and those of subsequent Ming emperors. The Ming Tombs were restored in the 1950s and have become another popular tourist site.

Yongle gave high positions in the imperial bureaucracy to Confucian-educated scholars from the prestigious Hanlin Academy, who came to be known as Grand Secretaries. He ordered the compilation of a comprehensive manuscript containing the essential subjects in Chinese scholarship, known as the which was completed in 11,095 volumes by more than 2,000 scholars. In 1404 Yongle commissioned the Muslim eunuch Zheng He (Cheng Ho) to construct and sail a large fleet of ships on seven naval expeditions, which brought many foreign states into the Ming tribute system that rewarded states submitting to Chinese suzerainty and gave them permission to trade with China. After Zheng He's expeditions, however, the Ming halted further maritime missions, perhaps due to opposition by Confucian scholars in the bureaucracy who resented the increasing power of the eunuchs. Inland sailing on China's canals and many large rivers took precedence as China turned inward, although some merchants defied government orders and continued to trade with countries in Southeast Asia.

In 1407–08 Ming forces annexed Tonkin which lies south of China, and in 1413 China created the southern province of Guizhou. The Mongols threatened China once more, although the powerful Mongol leader Tamerlane had died in 1405 before Chinese troops had to face him. In 1408 Yongle sent a military campaign against the Mongols, who crushed the Chinese forces. The next year, Yongle personally led a huge Ming army that defeated the combined Mongol forces in western China. In 1421 Yongle moved the Ming court to Beijing. Four years later he was succeeded by Emperor Hongxi who was soon replaced by Emperor Xuande.

During the Ming dynasty China enjoyed peace internally, the population grew to about 250 million people, many became wealthy from trade, and Chinese culture reached a high level of attainment, especially in literature, ceramics and painting. The most famous and beloved Chinese novels were published during the Ming. and was written in the 16th century and was based on stories about the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang), who made a famous pilgrimage to India in the seventh century.