Li Zicheng, Chongzhen and Wu Sangui at Shanhai Pass
At the fifth night watch on the nineteenth day of the third lunar month in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen era—April 25, 1644…
42 min read
Tag
Ming
Zhang Juzheng’s Single Whip Reform and the Silver That Broke the Ming
In the ninth lunar month of the ninth year of the Wanli era (1581 CE), an imperial decree drafted by the most powerful statesman…
31 min read
The Imjin War and Ming China’s Pyrrhic Victory Over Hideyoshi
On the thirteenth day of the fourth lunar month in the twentieth year of the Wanli era (May 23, 1592 CE), the morning sea…
28 min read
Wang Yangming and the Unity of Knowledge and Action
In the suffocating, pitch-black midnight of the third year of the Zhengde era (1508 CE), a freezing mountain rain battered the limestone crags of…
28 min read
The Eastern Depot, the Eunuch Dictatorship and the Donglin Martyrs
In the freezing midnight gloom of the twenty-fourth day of the seventh lunar month in the fifth year of the Tianqi era (August 26,…
28 min read
The Jingnan Campaign, the Usurpation of Zhu Di and the Move to Beijing
In the suffocating summer heat of the thirteenth day of the sixth lunar month in the fourth year of the Jianwen era (July 13,…
28 min read