This article is about the specific polity Ming Dynasty and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. After being overthrown by the Qing Dynasty, the Ming still controlled large portions of southern China. They were completely defeated by the Qing only in 1663.
Establishment
January 1369: In 1351, the Red Turban Rebellion erupted in the Huai River valley, which saw the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang, a Han Chinese peasant, who established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Toghon Temür (r. 1333-1370), the last ruler of the Yuan, fled north to Shangdu.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was the final phase in the Ming dynasty expulsion of Mongol-led Yuan dynasty rule from China proper in the 1380s.
January 1383: The Dali kings continued to administer their kingdom as Mongol vassals until the Ming conquest of Yunnan.
A military conflict waged between the Ming dynasty and the previously subordinate Shan state of Mong Mao.
January 1389: After a military conflict waged between the Ming dynasty and Mong Mao, the latter was forced to accept Ming suzerainty.
Was a civil war in Ming China. The Prince of Yan, an uncle of the Ming emperor, rebelled and was finally able to overthrow his nephew.
3.1.Initial Rebel Offensive (Jingnan rebellion)
The Jingnan rebellion against the Ming emperor started with a revolt of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan. Zhu Di was a pretender to the throne as well as the uncle of the emperor.
July 1399: Zhu Di was now in full control of the city.
July 1399: Yan forces captured Tongzhou, Jizhou, Dunhua and Miyun districts.
July 1399: By the end of July, Juyong Pass, Huailai and Yongping all fell to the Yan forces.
August 1399: In 1399, the Rebel Prince of Yan led his forces to attack and capture the cities of Xiongxian and Zhengzhou. This event marked a significant victory for the Yan forces in their rebellion against the ruling dynasty.
August 1399: On August 24, Yan forces arrived in Wujixian.
3.2.First Government Counteroffensive (Jingnan rebellion)
Was the first offensive of Ming emperor against the revolt of his uncle, the prince of Yan.
August 1399: Yan forces retreated to Beiping.
3.3.Second Rebel Offensive (Jingnan rebellion)
Was the second offensive of Ming emperor against the revolt of his uncle, the prince of Yan.
October 1399: Yan forces reached Daning and Zhu Di entered the city.
November 1399: The Battle of Zhengcunba in 1399 was a conflict between the rebel Prince of Yan and Li Jinglong, a military commander of the Ming Dynasty. Li Jinglong's retreat to Dezhou marked a significant loss for the Ming forces in their struggle against the rebellion.
December 1399: The Battle of Zhengcunba in 1399 was a military conflict between the Ming Dynasty forces led by Li Jinglong and the opposing army. Li Jinglong, a prominent general of the Ming Dynasty, was forced to retreat to Dezhou after facing defeat in the battle.
3.4.Second Rebel Offensive
Was the second offensive of the forces of the prince of Yan against Ming emperor Zhu Yunwen.
December 1399: Yan forces reached Guangchang and the local garrison surrendered.
January 1400: Yan forces captured Weizhou without resistance.
February 1400: Jinglong was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, while Zhu Di was the Rebel Prince of Yan. The armistice request was made during the power struggle between the two factions in 1400 in Datong.
March 1400: The city of Baoding surrenders to the rebel prince of Yan.
May 1400: Yan forces captured Dezhou on May 9.
May 1400: The Rebel Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, led his forces to Jinan in 1400 during the Ming Dynasty. The city was surrounded by the Yan forces in an attempt to overthrow the ruling Ming Dynasty.
October 1400: Yan forces reached Cangzhou and took the city in two days.
3.5.Third Government Counteroffensive (Jingnan rebellion)
Was the third offensive of Ming emperor against the revolt of his uncle, the prince of Yan.
August 1400: With the supply line threatened, Zhu Di was forced to withdraw towards Beiping on 16 August. The Jinan garrison followed and retook Dezhou city.
3.6.Third Rebel Offensive (Jingnan rebellion)
Was the third offensive of the forces of the prince of Yan against Ming emperor Zhu Yunwen.
March 1401: Yan forces crossed the Jia River.
3.7.Fourth Rebel Offensive (Jingnan rebellion)
Was the final offensive of the forces of the prince of Yan against Ming emperor Zhu Yunwen. The emperor was defeated and the prince of Yan took his place.
March 1402: Yan forces passed Suzhou.
March 1402: The Rebel Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, reached Bengbu on March 9, 1402.
April 1402: The Yan forces reached the Sui River on April 14.
June 1402: On June 1, Yan forces were about to cross the Yangtze River, but met stiff resistance from Sheng Yong.
June 1402: In 1402, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Rebel Prince of Yan led his forces to advance towards Nanjing, the capital city. By June 8, they had reached up to 30 km east of Nanjing, eventually sealing off the city on June 12.
July 1402: On July 13, 1402, Yan forces arrived in Nanjing. The defenders of the city decided to open its gates and surrender without resistance.
July 1402: Zhu Di was crowned at the imperial palace and became emperor as Yongle.
Was a a conflict that saw the transition from the Ming to the Qing Dinasty in China. The Qing created an indpendent domain in Manchuria, revolted against the Ming and systematically conquered all Ming territories in the following decades.
January 1641: A mutiny led by Zhang Xianzhong broke out in Sichuan in 1640.
4.1.Qing conquest of Ming China
Were a series of military campaign by the Qing against the the Ming that saw the fall of the latter.
May 1618: Battle of Fushun.
September 1618: Battle of Qinghe.
July 1619: Battle of Kaiyuan.
September 1619: Battle of Tieling.
October 1619: Battle of Xicheng.
June 1621: Battle of Shen-Liao.
December 1621: Battle of Fort Zhenjiang.
March 1622: Battle of Guangning.
December 1631: Battle of Dalinghe.
September 1634: Siege of Lüshun.
January 1643: Battle of Song-Jin.
April 1644: Wu Sangui's departure from Ningyuan Stronghold had left all territory outside the Great Wall under Qing control.
May 1645: The Qing army, led by the Manchu prince Dodo, captured the key city of Xuzhou, north of the Huai He River, in early May 1645.
May 1645: On May 13, 1645, Ming Dynasty general Shi Kefa and Qing Dynasty forces led by Prince Dodo converged on Yangzhou.
June 1645: On June 1, 1645, the Qing armies led by the Manchu prince Dodo crossed the Yangtze River and easily captured the garrison city of Zhenjiang from the Ming Dynasty forces.
June 1645: The Qing Dynasty, led by Emperor Shunzhi, arrived at the gates of Nanjing in 1645. The Hongguang Emperor, leader of the Southern Ming Dynasty, had already fled the city. As a result, Nanjing surrendered to the Qing forces without resistance on June 16.
July 1645: The Jiangnan region is pacified by the Qing.
October 1645: Jiangyin held out against some 10,000 Qing soldiers for 83 days but on October 9, 1645, its walls were finally breached.
March 1646: In February 1646, Qing armies conquered the land west of the Qiantang River from the Lu regime.
September 1646: The Longwu court left its Fujian base.
November 1646: Milayin, a muslim chief at Ganzhou, led a rebellion against the Qing rule.
January 1647: A small Qing force, led by former Southern Ming commander Li Chengdong, captured Guangzhou.
June 1648: Li Chengdong mutinied against the Qing, and the concurrent rebellion of another former Ming general in Jiangxi helped the Yongli regime retake most of southern China.
January 1651: The new Qing armies managed to recapture the central provinces of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong in 1649 and 1650.
August 1652: Most of the commanders who had supported the Qing in Guangxi reverted to the Ming side.
January 1659: In late January 1659, a Qing army led by the Manchu prince, Doni, captured the capital of Yunnan.
4.2.Shun secession
Was the secession of the state of Shun, centred in Xi'an, from the Ming Dynasty.
March 1644: In February 1644, the rebel leader Li Zicheng founded the Shun dynasty in Xi'an and proclaimed himself king.
April 1644: By March Shun armies had taken the important city of Taiyuan in Shanxi.
April 1644: On April 24, Li Zicheng breached the walls of Beijing, and the Emperor hanged himself the next day on a hill behind the Forbidden City.
Were a series of intermittent skirmishes between the Qing dynasty of China and the Tsardom of Russia in which the latter tried and failed to gain the land north of the Amur River.
June 1643: In 1643, the native tribes of the Amour region submitted to the Qing Empire, under the rule of Emperor Hong Taiji.
January 1371: Yingchang was seized by the Ming shortly after the death of Northern Yuan ruler Toghon Temür (r. 1333-1370).
January 1371: The Mongols retreated to Karakorum after the fall of Yingchang in 1370, where they carried on calling themselves the Great Yuan, known retroactively as the Northern Yuan.
January 1381: In 1380, the Ming invaded Northern Yuan and sacked Karakorum.
February 1381: End of the Ming sack of Karakorum.
January 1388: In 1388, after defeating Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür around Buir Lake, the Ming dynasty gained control of Karakorum, the capital of the Northern Yuan dynasty
February 1388: Karakorum is reconquered by the Mongols.
January 1389: Northern Yuan general Naghachu surrendered to the Ming dynasty in 1387-88.
January 1390: The territory founded by the Yuan prince Gunashiri, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, in 1389 was Kara Del. It was ruled by the Chagatayids, a branch of the Mongol Empire, after its establishment.
January 1400: The Uriankhai surrendered to the Ming dynasty in the 1390s.
January 1400: In 1399, the Oirats, a western Mongol group, gained control of the territory in the region. The Oirats were one of the four major tribes of the Oirat people, who formed the Alliance of the Four Oirats. This event marked a significant shift in power dynamics among the Mongol tribes.
January 1401: In 1400, Hkamti Long was an outlying territory of the Shan state of Mogaung.
January 1401: The Mong Lem state was established before the 14th century.
January 1401: In the early 1400s, Wuqiu was known as a marker on the sailing route between China and the Ryukyu Islands.
January 1407: From 1406, Kara Del was governed by the Ming.
January 1408: The fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam was a period of the history of Vietnam, from 1407 to 1427 during which Đại Việt (the northern kingdom) was ruled by the Chinese Ming dynasty.
January 1415: Both Chiefdoms of Sizhou and Sinan were fully annexed into the central bureaucratic system of the Ming dynasty.
January 1428: The fourth Chinese occupation of Vietnam was eventually ended with the reestablishment of Đại Việt under the new House of Lê.
January 1430: In 1429, the Mawsön (Bawzaing) state was founded in Burma.
January 1441: Kara Del conquered by Esen of the Northern Yuan dynasty.
January 1451: The border between China and Korea on the Yalu-Tumen rivers appears to have been in place by the mid 15th century.
January 1456: The Kara Del once again becomes a vassal of the Ming.
January 1471: Wanmaw state established.
January 1480: Möngkawng (Mong Yang), a city in present-day Myanmar, was occupied by the Ming Dynasty of China between 1479 and 1483.
January 1481: In 1480, Yunus, a prominent figure in Moghulistan, captured Hami from Kara Del, a tributary of the Ming dynasty. A Ming army attempted to expel the Moghuls from the city but was unsuccessful in capturing them.
January 1483: In 1482, Hami was restored to Kara Del under Qanšin.
January 1484: In 1483, Möngkawng (Mong Yang) was liberated from Chinese occupation by the ruler of Mogaung. This marked the end of Chinese control over the territory, returning it to the local ruler's authority.
January 1489: The Turpan Khanate conquers Hami.
January 1490: Khan Ahmad Alaq was driven out of Hami by the Ming Dynasty.
January 1496: Dayan invaded Ming territory and subjugated the Uriankhai Three Guards, who had previously submitted to the Ming.
January 1496: In 1495, the city of Mogaung was briefly occupied by the Ming Dynasty of China. This period of occupation was part of the Ming Dynasty's expansionist policies in Southeast Asia under the rule of Emperor Hongzhi.
January 1497: In 1496, the territory of Mogaung was returned to the local rulers after being briefly occupied by China in 1495. This event is significant in the history of the region as it marked a temporary period of Chinese control over Mogaung.
January 1501: In 1500, the territory of Hsipaw acknowledged Bayinnaung's sovereignty. Bayinnaung was a powerful king of the Toungoo Dynasty in Burma, known for his military conquests and expansion of the empire. Hsipaw was a Shan state in present-day Myanmar.
January 1506: Establishment of Laihka.
January 1514: Mansur Khan from the Chagatai Khanate overthrew the Gunashiri dynasty and conquered the region of Kara Del.
January 1558: By 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macao, paying an annual ground rent of 500 taels to Ming China. In 1573, the Chinese built the Barrier Gate to regulate traffic and trade. The rent and boundary delimitation showed both the Portuguese subsidiary position to the Ming government and China's tacit acceptance of Macau's de facto foreign occupation.
January 1561: Manipur is acquired by the Kingdom of Toungoo.
January 1563: Keng Tung conquered by Kingdom of Toungoo.
January 1564: Mong Mao conquered by Burma.
January 1601: The Ming Dynasty burned down Hailongtun, and put an end to the 725 years rule of the Yang Family.
January 1617: In 1616, Nurhaci, the leader of the Jurchen clans, established the Later Jin dynasty.
January 1623: At this time, the Dutch East India Company was trying to force China to open a port in Fujian to Dutch trade and expel the Portuguese from Macau. When the Dutch were defeated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Macau in 1622, they seized Penghu.
January 1625: In 1624, the new governor of Fujian sent a fleet of 40-50 warships with 5,000 troops to Penghu and expelled the Dutch.
January 1631: Shuidong was fully annexed into the central bureaucratic system of the Ming dynasty.
January 1643: In 1642, parts of western Tibet came under the control of the Khoshut Khanate.
January 1645: Dartsedo was conquered by the Tibetans during the transition from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
Disestablishment
January 1664: The Prince of Lu, a member of the Southern Ming dynasty, resisted the invading Manchu Qing dynasty forces. In 1651, he fled to Kinmen, which the Qing dynasty took in 1663.
Ming Dynasty
