Civil Service Exams

Every three years, many people slave away in hopes of memorizing the content the Civil Service Exams contains. The Civil Service Exams are atrocious. Watching the time tick past slowly, candidates spend their time held in their own compound for nearly a week to write. If these people wait a few months for the bigger exam, candidates are watched by a guard, and not allowed to erase anything written down. The preparation required for the exam to pass contains memorizing the material and by doing this it discourages creative thinking.  Out of the ten percent that pass the exam, most of the people take the exam in hopes of advancing their social status and if they do pass soon after that most retire wealthy.  By succeeding in the exam people were entitled more privileges. By allowing the Ming Dynasty people to take this exam we are only hurting ourselves in the end. Candidates are forced to sit in their compounds for nearly a week while taking their exams, if they pass they are awarded more privileges for passing, and the whole reason people enroll themselves in the exam is to improve their social status! Once the candidates complete their goals, they retire, which forces others to work harder. Although I understand everyone wants a high social status, social status should not be based on money or appearance but the person inside. Instead of Civil Service Exams we can have the less fortunate take a test and the first place winner will be awarded money to assist them. The Civil Service Exams are horrid and need to come to an end! Civil Service Exams will lead the dynasty to failure if we don’t take action.

Blue, and White, With Money Written All Over It!

The Ming Dynasty has found yet another brilliant invention! Believed by many that it will “Dominate the Silk Road!” We have found Porcelain, or additionally called “Fine China”. Porcelain has been discovered in China, and no one is to learn about, or the person who told him or her may be killed. Porcelain with its’ beautiful coloring, amazing sculptures, featuring its delicate texture is made by Kaolin (clay). Although people have claimed to make porcelain, Tao- Yue was the inventor. He found clay (Kaolin) and combined it with other materials (feldspar, glass, bone ash, quartz, steatite, and alabaster.) Already, there is a high demand for porcelain since it could be considered a “necessity in daily life”. Considering all porcelain provides for us- bowls, cups, vases, and jewelry boxes. Purely the chances of luck lead Tao-Yue to his discovery. It’s unbelievable that all necessity’s we in the past have needed are taken care of! Porcelain being considered very valuable should be very popular with traders and get valuable items in return for the Ming Dynasty. It is a win for everybody!

Ming Dynasty Map

This is a map of the Ming Dynasty. (1368-1644 BCE) The brown area on the map displays the Ming Dynasty's territory. Shown by dotted lines on the map shows the current borders of China. Nanjing is the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Shown in blue/green is the Great Wall of China which in length would exceed 50,000 kilometers or 31,000 miles. Expansion was a big part of many dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty they had a lot of land, but they wanted to expand and conquer the Middle East.  As said in China's Later Dynasties by M. Strauss, "Within four years he controlled all the territory once held by the Tang Dynasty at the height of its power (103)."

Ming Dynasty Topographical Map

Presented here is a topographical map of the Ming Dynasty. In the Northeastern part of the Ming Dynasty is its' capital Najing. Based on the map you can identify the Ming Dynasty is fairly mountainous. Located right next to the Pacific Ocean the Ming Dynasty has rivers flowing throughout which are displayed in blue.

Emperor Hongwu

Reporter: Hello, Zhu Yuangzhang, or do you prefer Hongwu? How has your day been?

Emperor Hongwu: Hello, and Hongwu is preferred. My day has been going great so far, although it typically is good when you're on top.

Reporter: How did you get to the place you are at now Hongwu?

Emperor Hongwu: I went through a lot of trouble, growing up with eight brothers, and me being the youngest. I often went through starvation, fighting, and death. Due to the poverty, some of my brothers were given up. Soon after, my family died due to the Yellow River flooding in 1344. I begged for food. I'm at the point i'm at now because of my rebel and conquering land. Soon after I became emperor, I took over Nanjing, which is now the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Reporter: Now that you have created the Ming Dynasty, what are things you are planning on changing from previous dynasties? 


Emporer Hongwu: I want the Ming Dynasty to be stronger, so although sometimes it does not work, one policy I have made is that eunuchs have no ruling power. I think that court eunuchs are too dangerous because eunuchs have involved themselves in internal politics in earlier dynasties. I also want agriculture to be the source of the the Ming Dynasties wealth instead of industrial and trading like there was in the Song Dynasty. As well as I want peasants to be live in a stable agricultural community. I've been trying to weaken the higher class and to have them to pay higher taxes than peasents, and I can't even relocate a large number of them. The higher class are where they are today because of industrial and trading methods. In the Ming dynasty we have some people that started to manufacture goods such as silk and porcelain. The farmers sold their produce to the urban population and so became dependent on this source of income.

Reporter: If you had the choice, would you keep your philosophy as Confucianism? Why?

Emporer Hongwu: I believe Confucianism is a great philosophy, but like every thing else, it also has its disadvantages. Confucianism is the belief that everyone will behave without rules to follow. Confucianism is an interesting thing, because i think a lot of people have a hard time following it. I have often thought about Taoism or Daoism, and i think it is a great philosophy to use. Taoism I feel gives everyone a chance. Taoism is a great way to not over react to a problem but not be almost perfect which Confucianism reminds me of. I would change my philosophy to Taoism.


Reporter: Will you tell us more about the Ming Dynasty?

Emporer Hongwu: The Ming Dynasty has been improving radically! I have been wanting to conquer the Middle-East for a while now, so the time might be soon. Within four years I have taken over the land the Tang Dynasty once controlled and made it my own. We have a standing arm of roughly one million troops. The Ming Dynasty has had a lot of inventions and innovations like the Yongle Encyclopedia, Great Compendia, blue and white porcelain (fine China), huochong gun, powerful artillery, and iron which they produce 100,00 ton per year! Our government has been run by the Chancellery, the Bureau of Military affairs, and the Censorate. We use a Confucianism philosophy, but as i said before i would like that to change. Most people have a feeling that the Ming Dynasty is very boring but something very interesting about us is we believe in is the dead are placed inside a hollowed nanmu tree, which after that is buried under grassland. As well as we believe in reincarnation, which is the believe that the dead live a life (similar to one living).

Reporter: Wow! That is very interesting. Thank you so much with meeting with me today. Have a nice day!

Emperor Hongwu: Your welcome, and have a very nice day as well.

Inventions

The huochong gun was invented in China during the Ming dynasty. It was also called the tongjiangjun, which meant bronze general. This was an important invention of the time period because the Ming Dynasty was creating weapons to defend their dynasty, and they came across the gun. The huochong gun was constructed with bamboo, but later in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it the bamboo was replaced with bronze. It was a 105mm gun; it is 35.3 centimeters long and weighs 6.94 kilograms.

The honchoing gun was created by Wan Hoo and first used as a weapon. According to a legend, Wan Hoo was a Chinese official who tried to become the worlds’ first astronaut. The huochong gun was first used as a gun. Before firing the huochong gun it was placed on a wooden prop stand and packed with projectile inserted in it. When the gun was lit, the force from the gunpowder would shoot out the projectile.

The huochong gun has really affected people’s lives in many ways. For example, it created a new weapon to use to defend the Ming Dynasty! The huochong gun provided protection for people and their Dynasty. As well as the huochong guns lead to the inventions of improved guns. The huochong gun gave the Ming dynasty an achievement and something to improve on.

Religion

     The Ming Dynasty believes in Christianity, the belief based on the teachings and miracles of Jesus. One of the practices in the Ming Dynasty of Christianity is when they created the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven.This belief was important to the Ming Dynasty because it gave people in the Ming Dynasty something to look forward to, and have to behave to get into Heaven when they are deceased. The Ming Dynasty also believes in Confucianism. Confucianism is the belief based on respect particularly people must respect their elders, or people above them.. Confucianism is demonstrated in the Ming Dynasty by the five basic relationships: ruler and subject, husband and wife, father and son, older sibling and younger sibling, and friend and friend. The Ming Dynasty believes in Christianity and Confucianism which has kept their people in line.