Chinese military superiority over the nomads and put the Ming government on the defensive on the northern frontier In the mid-16th century, Mongol chief Altan Khan would raid China’s northern borders at will for two decades At the same time, Japanese pirates and Chinese renegades raided and looted the southern coast inflicting huge damage In the 1590s, Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea Suzerain China had to send a huge army to aid the Koreans for six years, at enormous cost Two long reigns in the 16th century (Jiajing or Chia-ching between 1520 and 1566, and Wanli (WanLi) between 1572 and 1620) brought a measure of stability, largely due to able ministers in the early part of each reign However both monarchs were grossly negligent of their duties, isolating themselves from government officials and relying on power-hungry palace eunuchs, with the result that the bureaucracy became increasingly demoralized A government that was unresponsive to social and economic problems would eventually be brought down by peasant rebels from northwestern China led by Li Zicheng (Li Tzuch’eng) in 1644 Ming China prospered, however, despite inept political leadership The population increased from about 60 million at the beginning to possibly 200 million by 1600 In addition to great metropolitan centers such as Suzhou (Soochow) and Hangzhou (Hangchow), many intermediate-sized market towns emerged Society was egalitarian and the flourishing printing industry facilitated the spread of education so that the sons of millions of families could realistically aspire to obtain an education, pass the state exam, and join the elite Popular culture represented by the theater and opera flourished in the cities In addition, a new genre of literature developed during the Ming It was the novel, written in the vernacular and depicting men and women of all social classes The government’s principal source of income was the land tax, assessed on land owned by farming families and not on the number of males in a household This system of taxation gave farmers greater freedom to choose employment and allowed the development of industries Silk and cotton manufacturing prospered, as did the porcelain industry, which led the world While China had traded with South and Southeast Asia and beyond for over a millennium, the Portuguese entered the trading scene in 1516, opening direct seaborne Sino-European commercial relations Portuguese merchants were followed by men from the Netherlands, England, France, and other European Ming dynasty, late 249 nations Westerners brought European products, but more significantly New World crops such as maize, sweet potatoes, and tobacco, with enormous impact on Chinese agriculture and diet More immediately European demand for Chinese silks, porcelain, and tea brought an influx of silver to China In 1581, the first Jesuit missionary landed in China Jesuits would be important during the late Ming and early Qing (Ch’ing) as cultural ambassadors between China and Europe They introduced Western sciences, mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and firearms to China and the ideals of Chinese philosophy to Europe, laying the foundations of Sinology, or study of Chinese civilization in Europe The 16th century was an era of great changes in Europe and China, where modern societies were beginning to develop Despite inept Ming emperors the educational system and civil service continued to provide for a prosperous and advancing civil society However by the beginning of the 17th century, many signs pointed to the fact that the country was exhausted An ineffective government could not simultaneously deal with internal rebellions and border incursions by nomads The last Ming emperor hanged himself as rebels swarmed into the capital; a beleaguered frontier general then invited the Manchus, a minority ethnic group living on the northeastern borders of the Ming empire, to help him put down the rebels Astute Manchu leaders seized this opportunity to ascend the throne and founded a new dynasty See also Great Wall of China; Jesuits in Asia; Ming, Southern; Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty, rise and zenith; Qing (Ch’ing) tributary system; Wu Sangui (Wu Sankuei) Further reading: Chan, Albert The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982; Ho, Ping-ti The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911 New York: Columbia University Press, 1962; Hucker, Charles O The Traditional Chinese State in Ming Times (1368–1644) Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1961; So, Kwan-wai Japanese Piracy in Ming China during the Sixteenth Century East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1975; Twitchett, Denis, and Frederick W Mote, eds The Cambridge History of China, Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Parts and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988 and 1998 Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur