State · 1368 – 1644
Ming dynasty
A state of 1368 – 1644 — 276 years in East and Southeast Asia. It replaced Mongol Empire, Yuan dynasty and Song and followed Chinese Middle Ages. It was replaced by Qing dynasty, Southern Ming and Shun dynasty. The atlas records 36 things within it — wars and battles 4 · regime change 1 · unrest and atrocity 1 · natural disasters 1 · people 24 · works and ideas 3 · trade and piracy 2. Its line of rulers holds 16 people.
For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.
- Stood
- 276 years
- 1368 – 1644
- Rulers
- 16
- the Emperor of China
- Most ground
- 6.27 million km²
- in 1422
- Within it
- 36
- recorded rows
- Symbol
- 1
- on record, with years
1375 · first mapped · 4.55 million km²
1422 · at its largest · 6.27 million km²
1642 · last mapped · 3.36 million km²
Where it sits in time
Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.
Before and after
The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.
Before it
- Mongol Empire · replaces · 1206 – 1368
- Yuan dynasty · replaces · 1271 – 1368
- Song · replaces
- Chinese Middle Ages · follows
After it
- Southern Ming · replaced by · 1644 – 1661
- Shun dynasty · replaced by · 1644
- Qing dynasty · replaced by · 1616 – 1912
Rulers
The line of Emperor of China.
| Ruler | Reign | Length | How it ended · source | To the ruler before |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hongwu Emperor | 1368 – 1398 | 30 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | |
| Jianwen Emperor | 1398 – 1402 | 4 years | ended by a named eventWikidata's end cause on the term | grandchild |
| Yongle Emperor | 1402 – 1424 | 22 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Hongxi Emperor | 1424 – 1425 | 1 year | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | child |
| Xuande Emperor | 1425 – 1435 | 10 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Emperor Yingzong of Ming | 1435 – 1449 | 14 years | deposed or removedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Jingtai Emperor | 1449 – 1457 | 8 years | deposed or removedWikidata's end cause on the term | sibling |
| Emperor Yingzong of Ming | 1457 – 1464 | 7 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | sibling |
| Chenghua Emperor | 1464 – 1487 | 23 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Hongzhi Emperor | 1487 – 1505 | 18 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Zhengde Emperor | 1505 – 1521 | 16 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Jiajing Emperor | 1521 – 1567 | 46 years | killedWikidata's manner of death | |
| Longqing Emperor | 1567 – 1572 | 5 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Wanli Emperor | 1572 – 1620 | 48 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Taichang Emperor | 1620 – 1620 | under a year | killedWikidata's manner of death | child |
| Tianqi Emperor | 1620 – 1627 | 7 years | died in office, manner not recordedWikidata's end cause on the term | child |
| Chongzhen Emperor | 1627 – 1644 | 17 years | died by suicideWikidata's manner of death | sibling |
16 rulers, 16 with terms dated as terms, covering 1368 – 1644. Median reign 14 years. 5 of 16 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.
Ground held, by year
km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.
4.55 million km² in 1378, 3.36 million km² in 1644; at its largest 6.27 million km² in 1428. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.
Flag or arms
Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

seal, undatedSeal of Ming dynasty · Public domain
What happened within it, by century
Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.
1300 – 13999 rows · 1 wars and battles
- Zheng He · explorer · 1371 – 1435
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms · literature · 1350
- Hongwu Emperor · ruler · 1328 – 1398
- Yongle Emperor · ruler · 1360 – 1424
- Jianwen Emperor · ruler · 1377 – 1402
- Xuande Emperor · ruler · 1399 – 1435
- Hongxi Emperor · ruler · 1378 – 1425
- Ma Huan · explorer · 1380 – 1460
and 1 more in the atlas.
1400 – 149910 rows · 1 wars and battles · 2 risings, regime changes and massacres
- Water Margin · literature · 1400
- Zhengde Emperor · ruler · 1491 – 1521
- Jingtai Emperor · ruler · 1428 – 1457
- Emperor Yingzong of Ming · ruler · 1427 – 1464
- Chenghua Emperor · ruler · 1447 – 1487
- Hongzhi Emperor · ruler · 1470 – 1505
- Tumu Crisis · battle · 1449
- Limahong · commander · 1400 – 1575
and 2 more in the atlas.
1500 – 15997 rows
- Journey to the West · literature · 1592
- 1556 Shaanxi earthquake · disaster · 1556
- Jiajing Emperor · ruler · 1507 – 1567
- Wanli Emperor · ruler · 1563 – 1620
- Taichang Emperor · ruler · 1582 – 1620
- Longqing Emperor · ruler · 1537 – 1572
- Ma Gui · commander · 1543 – 1607
1600 – 169910 rows · 2 wars and battles
- Chongzhen Emperor · ruler · 1611 – 1644
- Tianqi Emperor · ruler · 1605 – 1627
- Dorgon · politician · 1612 – 1650
- Wu Sangui · ruler · 1612 – 1678
- Transition from Ming to Qing · war · 1616 – 1683
- Shi Lang · politician · 1621 – 1696
- Zheng Zhilong · pirate · 1604 – 1661
- Zheng Jing · pirate · 1642 – 1681
and 2 more in the atlas.
Among all states
Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.
- How long it stood276 years
stood longer than 71% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
- The most ground it held6,273,200 km²
held more ground at its peak than 98% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
- Wars recorded per century0.7
had more wars on record per century than 92% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
- How long a reign lasted, at the median14 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 46% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
- Rulers on record16
has more rulers on record than 89% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.
What led to it, and what came of it
The investigation's own picture: 12 causes the record names and 3 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.
Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.
Open in the atlas
- On the timeline, 1340 – 1672, with everything that stood beside it.
- On the map in 1422, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
- Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.
Wikidata Q9903 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.