Middle Ages
Ming Dynasty
- Period
- AD 1375 – AD 1644
- Duration
- approx. 269 years
- Greatest extent
- around AD 1422
- Area (max.)
- approx. 6.3 million km²
Profile
Strength
Large standing army and gunpowder weapons; Zheng He's treasure fleets (1405–33), with hundreds of ships, were the largest of their time.
Famous figures
- Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang)
- Yongle Emperor
- Zheng He
- Qi Jiguang
- Wang Yangming
Wars & battles won
- Expulsion of the Mongols (1368)
- Imjin War: defence of Korea (1592–98)
Wars & battles lost
- Tumu Crisis (1449)
- Battle of Sarhu (1619)
- Conquest by the Qing (1644)
Languages
- Chinese
Period and duration
Ming Dynasty — according to the map data from AD 1375 to AD 1644, roughly 269 years. The dates refer to the time the empire is drawn as its own territory on the world map; historians sometimes date its founding and end differently.
Greatest extent
Ming Dynasty — greatest extent around AD 1422: the mapped borders then cover about 6.3 million km², roughly 4.2% of Earth's land area. The area is calculated from the border lines of the map and is therefore an approximation.
Predecessors and successors
States that ruled the same territory directly before and after:
Before (AD 1374)
After
Neighbours around AD 1422
The largest states in the region at the same time:
Learn more
- Open the world map in AD 1422 — tap the empire for a detailed description
- Ming Dynasty on Wikipedia
- All 371 empires at a glance
Borders and dates: Cliopatria / Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0). Coastlines: Natural Earth. Text: Centaurian.