Front Page News Story

Downfall of the Ming Dynasty

            Just days ago, while the economy was getting worse, Li Zicheng, the leader of the largest rebellion group in China was preparing to take down the Ming Dynasty. While the rebels were preparing for the big fight, the Manchurians were on their way to invade China because the Ming Empire was becoming weaker by the day.

           Yesterday, when the rebels attacked, the strongest Ming troops were sent along the Great Wall to fight a Manchurian tribe. The Manchurians offered to help take out the rebels, when the Manchurian forces took over Beijing and defeated Li Zicheng, they refused to leave and the Ming Empire had to relocate to the south.

          The Ming Dynasty began to fall when peasants began to rebel against the Ming government because the government failed to provide food to the people of China before the country underwent a famine. Not only did the famine effect China, but so did China's awful economy. The economy was so horrible that China was lacking paper money and had to switch to coins. The coins lost value. Provinces of China were even forced to create their own coins, some added lead to the coins, making the coins even less valuable. The Ming Emperor was digging a hole to deep for China to climb out of.

          We got the news just late last night that last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Sizong, had committed suicide. Sizong had hanged himself because he was so depressed about the downfall of his empire. More on the surprising death of Emperor Sizong tomorrow!

Opinion/Editorial

               China's economy has been getting worse by the day since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Adding to the stress of being poor, people now are forced to create their own coins! Since China is concerned about their money issues, the Manchurian troops thought that it would be the perfect time to invade China because they seemed to be powerless and unfocused due to the economy problems. The Manchurian troops succeeded in taking over the Ming Empire and has now created the Qing Empire. The Ming Dynasty was overthrown because of China's economy issues. If the country had worked harder on the economy instead of letting it get worse, than the Manchurians would not have come to take over China, because China would not  have seemed so unprepared and unfocused. The Emperor should have spent more time caring for his country than himself.                                                                                  The Emperor was careless and only cared for himself because he never did anything to better the economy. While the Emperor was splurging on himself, other unfortunate people were forced to make their own money! Then when the coins are accidentally made with lead and the value of them drops, the Emperor blames everyone but himself. The Emperor should have hired someone who would create the coins correctly to create the money for China. Another reason that the Emperor should have spent more time bettering his country is that he did not provide food to his people before a famine began. It does not make sense that an Emperor, someone who claims he is the perfect leader, a good person and who has loads of money does not spend some of that money on food for their people. Also, The Emperor should not have accepted the help of the Manchurian troops because after they defeated the rebels they took over the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor should have trusted that his army has skilled enough to take on the rebels without any outside help.

Many people go against ideas and thoughts about how terrible the Emperor, government and economy because they are scared. Most people are afraid to speak up because they are worried that they will be punished or executed for saying harsh things about the Emperor, government and economy. Also, all that people want is to fit in, so going against the government would make them a complete outcast. Those who are scared to voice their opinion are wrong because the Emperor, government and economy is definitely not perfect and many people know that it is not perfect, but they just will not say anything. People who have the same opinions on the Emperor, government and economy as me are right because they are not afraid to say what they are thinking. Those who go against the government know that what they have to say is important because they are speaking for those who believe that our Emperor, government and economy needs to improve but they are just too afraid to say so their selves

The Emperor should have focused more on bettering China because without money the country cannot function. Money is needed for shelter, food, everyday essentials, to create even more money and to even run a country. If the Emperor created a stable money system, the Manchurians would not have attacked them because China would not have seemed so weak. If the economy was stable than the Emperor could have spent more time focusing on preparing his army to defend his country, and maybe the Ming Dynasty would not have been overthrown.

 

Map

      This is a map of the Ming Dynasty. (1368 A.D- 1644 A.D) The pink area on the map is the Ming territory. The orange area surrounding the Ming territory is the current borders of China and Mongolia. Also on the map is the Ming Dynasty's capital, Nanjing. Beijing, China's current capital is also shown on the map. One major achievement that occurred during the Ming Dynasty was the completion, repair and expansion of the Great Wall. The Great Wall of China is shown on the map as a red line. The Great Wall was important because it was used to keep invaders out of China, also the Great Wall's gates were used as trading centers.

Interview

My Interview with Zhu Yuanzhang 

Question: Emperor Hongwu, you were successful with overthrowing the Mongols, Why do you think that you are a better fit for emperor than a Mongol?

Answer: The Mongols are foreigners, therefore they are not fit for the role of emperor. The Mongols know nothing about the Chinese government or even China in general. I am a better fit for emperor because I am Chinese, I have lived in China for all of my life so I know what needs to be improved in the Chinese government.

Question: Emperor Hongwu, why do you think you were the most successful out of all the other rebel leaders?

Answer: I was the most successful because I did not waste time and I was focused. I was concentrated on fighting fellow rebel leaders opposed to completely focusing on the Mongols because I wanted supreme power. I was much more clever than the other rebel leaders and because of my intelligence I am now the emperor of China.

Question: Emperor Hongwu, What was your childhood like? Were you close to your family?

Answer: I was born into a poor family. As a child I lived with my Mother, Father, and elder siblings. At one point in my life I even became a monk in order to escape the plague that killed my Mother, Father and elder brothers. Shortly after becoming a monk I joined a local rebellion group.

Question: Emperor Hongwu, how do you plan on keeping invaders out of China?

Answer: I plan on keeping China safe from invaders by expanding the Great Wall of China. Once the Wall is expanded It will cover even more of China than before, therefore protecting China from invaders that can now not come into the country.

Question: Emperor Hongwu, why was improving the Great Wall beneficial to China? 

Answer: Improving the Great Wall of China was beneficial in more than one way. By repairing the Great Wall it will now last much longer, by expanding the Great Wall we are able to keep invaders away in more places than before. Also since the Wall was completed China has gained more places for trade, such as the Great Wall's gates in Beijing. 

   

Inventions

                                Inventions


          The Ming Dynasty was known for it's incredible inventions. The Ming Dynasty produced inventions that we still use today, some of these inventions are paper, bristle toothbrushes and the Yongle encyclopedia. Paper and bristle toothbrushes are used on a daily bases all around the world. The Yongle encyclopedia was the very first encyclopedia to ever be created. The Yongle encyclopedia included information about agriculture, art, astronomy, drama, history, medicine, religion and technology.  The Yongle encyclopedia was the largest encyclopedia during ancient times and inspired our current encyclopedias.

Bibliography

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