Overview

Overview

The Ming dynasty, which lasted almost 300 years, was a period of stability, prosperity, and revived Chinese influence in eastern Asia. Literature and art flourished again. In reaction to Mongol acceptance of outside influences, the Ming emperors looked down on all things foreign. When European traders visited China during the 1500's and 1600's, the Ming rulers treated them as inferiors. The Ming dynasty ended in 1644, when the Manchu people of Manchuria invaded China and established the Qing dynasty. The Manchus ruled China until 1912.

Excerpt adapted from the "China" article, The World Book Encyclopedia, © 1999