The Ming people represent the Ming dynasty of China, an Exploration Age civilization in Civilization VII.
The Ming's civilization ability is Great Canon of Yongle, which grants 
Science in the 
Capital but reduces Science per turn for each Social Policy slotted. Their associated wonder is the Forbidden City, and their unique components are as follows:
- Unique units: Xunleichong (military), Mandarin (civilian)
- Unique improvement: Ming Great Wall
- Unique civics: Nine Garrisons, Lijia, Da Ming Lu
Intro[]
Guided by the stars, the Ming will seize the mandate of heaven, and lead the people into a prosperous future.
Emerging from the shadow of Mongol-dominated Yuan, the Ming turned inward, revitalizing Han traditions and fortifying Chinese infrastructure and economy. The Great Wall was expanded and improved, a tributary system of defense and dependency was installed, and Ming goods became the most desired commodities in the global market. But when silver sources collapsed, unpaid Ming armies rebelled, leading to the rise of the Manchu-dominated Qing.
Strategy[]
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Civilopedia entry[]
Between 1368-1644 CE, Ming China was the richest and most powerful country of its time. The opulent stories about Florence, Renaissance Italy, or Shakespeare-era London pale in comparison. In the eras to follow, colonization was largely an attempt to gain access to China. Yet the Ming grew complacent. Peace and stability led to stagnation. By the end of the empire, the Europeans had gained the upper hand on the world stage.
Ming was a vast empire driven by scholar-officials, eunuchs, sprawling bureaucracies, massive riches, political stagnation, and insularity. During this time, Confucianism turned to neo-Confucianism, secret societies formed and pulled the strings behind the scenes, and neighboring states bowed to the awesomeness of the court.
Isolation is never good, and it was unpopular within China, so when the empire began to suffer from disasters (namely plague and famine), revolution was not far behind. In the 14th century, a group of Song loyalists helped install a new emperor, Hongwu, who razed Dadu, the old capital of the former Yuan dynasty (which would also eventually be a new capital in a new era, under the name Beijing). He rechristened Chilenfu as Nanjing (“south capital”), the new capital of China.
The early Ming era focused on rebuilding relationships both internally and externally. This process involved rebuilding infrastructure that the Yuan rulers had neglected, establishing advisory and tributary relationships with neighbors, and retaining features that the Mongols had introduced (like the famous Mongol cavalry). Hongwu also introduced the Da Ming Lu, the Ming code of laws, as well as a secret police (jinyiwei) to enforce them and preserve the position of the emperor.
Determining Ming territory is difficult. The Ming maintained unique relationships with neighbors, and settlements had varying degrees of allegiance depending on their proximity to the capital. The Manchu, for instance, were a group of non-Chinese agriculturalists that the Ming controlled via a range of small garrisons and tribal alliances. So the Ming controlled them, but were they “part of Ming”? That is unclear.
Areas like Korea were even farther afield. States such as these would sometimes send gifts to the Ming in exchange for protection. This was not a formal alliance but was akin to an agreement. It remains unclear if both sides understood the agreement in the same way – when Ayutthaya sent tribute, they may have simply thought they were sending gifts, whereas the Ming understood them to be pledges of loyalty.
Other borders were clearly delineated. In the west, the Great Wall achieved its most impressive stretch, a wise move considering the fall of the Song Dynasty to Mongol invasion.
Under Ming, society was divided into a few broad classes: shi (gentry), nong (farmers), gong (artisans), and shang (merchants). The shang rose in relation to the others, just as merchants began to wield more power in European and Japanese society.
The term “mandarin” is most associated with Chinese, but the word is Portuguese and is a corruption of “menteri,” a Malay word derived from “mantri,” in turn a Sanskrit word that means “advisor” or “scholar-official.” The title defined men who studied Confucian texts carefully and passed various grades of examinations. They were usually from the gentry (shi), but there was room for mobility among other classes. Either way, they were profoundly associated with Confucianism.
Eunuchs also grew increasingly powerful under Ming and came primarily from conquered regions. Castration became a common punishment for captured soldiers from opposing armies. However, once castrated, eunuchs might find some degree of gainful employment. They were perceived as non-threatening and thus loyal to the emperor; they also pushed back against the power of the mandarins. Tension between the groups persisted, reflecting previous debates in Chinese society about the power of the emperor versus the power of the Confucian bureaucracy. While Hongwu (the first emperor) forbade eunuchs to study and emphasized the merits of traditional continuity, many achieved great fame nonetheless.
Zheng He was one of the great voyagers of the exploration age. He was a Muslim eunuch who, between 1405-1433, sent massive exploratory and treasure fleets from China to East Africa (and everywhere in between). Zheng He was born in Yunnan before its conquest by Ming (when it was still occupied by Mongol forces). When the Ming invaded, he was captured and castrated. He entered the service of a rebel who sought to capture the Ming capital at Nanjing. After this successful campaign, a new emperor, Yongle, took over the new capital of Beijing.
Yongle oversaw investments in wood-block printing and expanded the empire’s borders (e.g. to Vietnam). He also wanted to control trade in the Indian Ocean, which was a severe departure from prior Chinese notions. He sent Zheng He to trade gold and porcelain for exotic beasts and other items of interest. However, this expansionist move rankled the internal-oriented Confucian scholars and other conservatives in the administration.
The relative stability of isolation comes with stagnation in science. In Ming China, fancy gadgets were perceived as signs of decadence (specifically Mongol and foreign decadence), so they were largely rejected. While science declined, arts and other more conservative traditions did not, and Ming remains famous for these achievements.
Religion was relatively free. This era began the fusion of Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, folk belief, and Confucianism that many consider “Chinese religion” today. Islam was generally accepted in Ming, and the city of Kaifeng maintained a reasonable Jewish population. Older Chinese Christianity (Nestorian Christians who had been present in the region for a long time) vanished, but the Jesuits were able to cast themselves as scholar-elites in the Confucian model, for a time.
Eventually, Ming broke under its weight.
That story starts in Sengoku Japan. This was an era of all against all on the island, as lords of different regions fought to control the emperor and claim the title of shogun. The second great leader of this time was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who didn’t want to stop his conquest with Japan. Instead, he decided to invade Korea and China. This expedition was not a success, and over time the Koreans threw out the Japanese with Ming assistance. However, Ming was already in deep financial distress, so they granted autonomy to Jurchen (and Manchu) chiefs in Manchuria, which bordered Korea.
One of these chiefs, Nurhaci, became emboldened with power and sent a list of grievances to the Ming court. Most of these are immaterial and relate to poor diplomacy on the Mings’ part, but Nurhaci sparked a rebellion that was not immaterial. Peasant revolts erupted around the empire.
When the Sengoku wars in Japan ended, Tokugawa declared the country closed. At first, this development seemed advantageous for the Ming. They no longer had to fear invasion from the east. However, China was reliant upon silver from Japanese mines. With Japan closed, the Ming economy went into free fall; soldier and peasant rebellions grew alongside the Manchu threat. The war lasted decades, pushing the Ming farther south (even leading to a rump group of loyalists hiding in southern Vietnam). The end of this campaign birthed the final Chinese imperial dynasty, the Manchu-dominated Qing. However, the Qing belong to a later age…
Cities[]
Trivia[]
- The Ming civilization's symbol is a fènghuáng (鳳凰) or Chinese phoenix, a symbol of imperial power associated with yīn, and one of the Twelve Ornaments, a set of traditionally auspicious Chinese symbols.
- The Ming civilization ability is named after an encyclopedia, or a lèishū (類書), commissioned by Yongle Emperor in 1403 and completed in 1408.
- The Ming background art depicts an army marching atop the Great Wall. The mountains in the background resemble the mountains of Zhāngjiājiè in Southern China.
Soundtrack[]
| Original Track | Track | Based on | Credits | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Ming Dynasty (Exploration Age)" | 26 | Mǔdān Tíng: Zào Luó Páo | Composed & Conducted by Geoff Knorr Performed by Bei Bei Monter, Liu Yang, Celia Liu, Aiko Kyo, Zhiming Shu, & Zhe Song |
6:00 |
The Qing theme is based on a composition titled "Zào Luópáo" (皂羅袍) which translates to "Black Silk Robe". This piece is from Act 10, titled "Jīng mèng" (驚夢), meaning "Awakening from the Dream", of "Mǔdān tín" (牡丹亭), also known as "The Peony Pavilion", an opera play by Míng-period playwright Tāng Xiǎnzǔ. The play is one of the most famous of Kūnqǔ-style Opera and Chinese Opera in general, and Tāng Xiǎnzǔ is considered the Chinese equivalent to William Shakespeare, with the two men even dying in the same year of 1616.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Ming city in-game (Civ7).jpg (7.58 MB)")
.png "Forbidden City in-game (Civ7).png (4.39 MB)")
.png "Ming Background (Civ7).png (1.69 MB)")
Videos[]
See also[]
- Ming in other games
External links[]
| Civilization VII Civilizations [edit] | |
|---|---|
| Antiquity | |
| Exploration | |
| Modern | |
| 1 Requires DLC | |