Nanjing 1368-1450 - beautiful vases with detailed patterns

eLibrary: Early Ming Dynasty China (1368-1450)

Mongols had ruled China since 1271 but plague, disease and increasing demands on the population led to discontent and revolt. In 1356 rebel forces seized Nanjing and it eventually became the capital of the new Ming dynasty. This is the latest version of an electronic library of resources supporting the Early Ming Dynasty Virtual Museum. It offers free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the museum’s artifacts.

NOTE:

Some of these links come from Academia.edu and Researchgate.net. These require a free one-time registration.

To research further yourselves, you may consider registering with Jstore.org which gives limited but free monthly access to its collections.

 

History

Anderson, J.A. “The Ming Invasion of Vietnam, 1407-1427” in David C. Kang and Stephan Haggard (eds.) East Asia in the World: Twelve Events That Shaped the Modern International Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. [pdf]

Andrade, T. ‘How Yongle learned to stop worrying and love the gun. Perspectives on early Ming history’, The Ming World, Routledge, 2019 [website]

Brook, T. The Troubled Empire. China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Cambridge Ma , 2010, 336pp [pdf download]

Chen, B.Y. ‘Wearing The Hat Of Loyalty: Imperial Power And Dress Reform In Ming Dynasty China’ in G. Riello and U. Rublack (eds) The Right To Dress: Sumptuary Laws In A Global Perspective, c.1200–1800, CUP, 2019, 416-434. [pdf]

Church, S.K. ‘Zheng He: An Investigation into the Plausibility of 450-Ft Treasure Ships’, Monumenta Serica, 53, 1, 2005, 1-43. [Academia]

Church, S.K. ‘Two Ming Dynasty shipyards in Nanjing and their infrastructure’, Shipwreck ASIA: Thematic Studies in East Asian Maritime Archaeolog y, Adelaide (2010): 32-49. [Academia]

Dardess, J.W. ‘Civil Society in Early Ming China’, in C. le Blanc and A. Rocher (eds) État, Société Civile et Sphère Publique en Asie de l’Est, Montreal, 1998, 37-48. [pdf]

Eirkson, C.E.  Ideas of Empire in Early Ming China: The Legacy of the Mongol Empire in Chinese Imperial Visions, 1368-1500, PhD Thesis, Univ. Pittsburgh, 2018, 255pp [pdf]

Elman, B.A. ‘The Formation of ‘Dao Learning’ as Imperial ideology during the early  Ming Dynasty’ in T, Huters e.a (eds) Culture and State in Chinese History, Stanford, 1997, 58-82. [pdf]

Farmer, E.L. ‘The Placard of Peoples Institutions’ in E.L Farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation. The Reordering of Chinese Society Following the Era of Mongol Rule, Leiden, 1995, 197-209. [pdf]

Finlay, R. ‘The Voyages of Zheng He: Ideology, State Power, and Maritime Trade in Ming China’, The Journal of the Historical Society, 7, 3, 2008. [Academia]

Folch, D. ‘The Seas of Zheng He’ from D. Folch (ed.). Els grans viatges de Zheng He, Barcelona [Academia]

Grass, N.  Revenue as a measure for expenditure: Ming state finance before the age of silver, PhD thesis, Univ British Colombia [pdf download]

Harris, L.J. “Into the Frontiers: The Relay System and Ming Empire in the Borderlands, 1368-1449”, Ming Studies, 72, 2015, 2-23. [Academia]

Hucker, C.O.  The Ming Dynasty its Origins and Evolving Institutions, Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, 34, 1978. [pdf download]

Lotze, J.S. Translation of Empire: Mongol Legacy, Language Policy, and the Early Ming World Order, 1368-1453, PhD Thesis, Univ. Manchester, 2017. [pdf]

Ma, G. ‘Tributary Ceremony and National Security: A Reassessment of Wokou Diplomacy between China and Japan During the Early Ming Dynasty’, Journal of Asian History, 51, 1, 2017 [Researchgate]

Ming, R.  Rise and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, P/P presentation, 2019 [pdf] 

Owyoung, S.D.  ‘Emperor Ming Taizu & The Abolition of Caked Tea’ 8pp [pdf] 

Qujie, S.  Reconciliation And Legitimization: The Fifth Karmapa Deshin Shegpa’s Trip To Ming China (1406-1408), MA Thesis, Vancouver 2012, 108pp [pdf]

Sen, T. ‘Zheng He’s Military Interventions in South Asia, 1405–1433’, China and Asia, 1, 2, 2019, 158-191. [Academia]

Sen, T. ‘Diplomacy, Trade and the Quest for the Buddha’s Tooth: The Yongle Emperor and Ming China’s South Asian Frontier’ in C. Clunas e.a. (eds) Ming China, Court and Contacts, 1400-1450, 2016, 26-36 [Academia]

Slobodník, M. ‘Tribute and Trade— Economic Exchanges Between Central Tibet and Early Ming China’ SOS, 12, 2, 2013, 227-246. [pdf] 

Smith, P.J. and R. von Ghal (eds) The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History, Leiden, 2020, 553pp [pdf]

Tsai, S-s. H. Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle, Washington, 2011, 270pp [book]

Wade, G. Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th Century: A Reappraisal, Asia Research Institute Working Paper 28, Singapore, 2004. [pdf]

Wei, L. ‘A Preliminary Study of Mongol Costumes in the Ming Dynasty’, Social Sciences in China, 39, 1, 2018, 165-185. [Academia]

Wei, Y. ‘Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages to the “West oceans”’, Education about Asia, 19, 2, 2014 [pdf]

Zhan, B. Deciphering a tool of imperial rule: a case study of the marriage rituals of imperial princes during the Hongwu reign (1368-1398). PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London, 2016 [pdf]

Zhang, F. Chinese primacy in East Asian history: Deconstructing the tribute system in China’s early Ming Dynasty. PhD thesis, LSE, 2009 [pdf]

Art

Barakat Gallery, Chinese Art – Ming Dynasty [Academia]

Barnhart, R.M. Peach Blossom Spring: Gardens and Flowers in Chinese Painting (Met Publications, 1983) NOT just our period [pdf download]

Campbell, A. ‘Architecture of the Early Ming Court: A Preliminary Look’ in C. Clunas, e.a. (eds) Ming China: Courts and Contacts, 1400-1450, London 2016, 189-196. [Academia]

Hay, J. Art of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Originally published in Italian in Storia universale dell’arte: La Cina (Torino: UTET, 1995), 2 vols., ed. Michèle Pirazzoli t’Serstevens. [pdf]

Kim, K. ‘Debating Wang Meng’s (1308-1385) Undated Handscroll: The Continuous Dialogue between Images and Texts in China’, 美術史學硏究, 305, 3, 2020, 149-170. [pdf]

Li, B. Early Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain inspired by Islamic metal wares, Sothebys auction catalogue, 2015, 4pp [Academia]

Littleton and Hennessy, The Luxury of Chinese Lacquer, 2010 [pdf]

Watt, J.C.Y and D.P. Leidy, Defining Yongle: imperial art in early fifteenth-century China (Met Publications, 2015) [pdf download]

Watt, J.C.Y and Anne E. Wardwell, When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles (Met Publications, 1997) (NOT just early Ming) [pdf download]

Videos

Treasures of the Prince Zhuang’s Tomb (Google Arts and Culture)

The Yongle Emperor Moves the Capital (China Movie Channel) 44 minutes

Opera. The Lute (Confucius Institute) 138 minutes