Upon leading a victorious rebellion against the
foreign Mongul rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a
peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang seized control of
China and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
As emperor, he founded his capital at Nanjing
and adopted the name Hongwu as his reign title.
Hongwu, literally meaning “vast military,” reflects
the increased prestige of the army during the
Ming Dynasty. Due to the very realistic threat
still posed by the Mongols, Hongwu realized that
a strong military was essential to Chinese
prosperity. Thus, the orthodox Confucian view
that the military was an inferior class to be ruled
over by an elite class of scholars was
reconsidered. During the Ming Dynasty, China
proper was reunited after centuries of foreign
incursion and occupation. Ming troops
controlled Manchuria, and the Korean Joseon
Dynasty
respected the authority of the Ming rulers, at
least nominally.
Like the founders of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-
220 A.D.), Hongwu was extremely suspicious of
the educated courtiers that advised him and,
fearful that they might attempt to overthrow him,
he successfully consolidated control of all aspect
of government. The strict authoritarian control
Hongwu wielded over the affairs of the country
was due in part to the centralized system of
government he inherited from the Monguls and
largely kept intact. However, Hongwu replaced
the Mongul bureaucrats who had ruled the
country for nearly a century with native Chinese
administrators. He also reinstituted the
Confucian examination system that tested
would-be civic officials on their knowledge of
literature and philosophy. Unlike the Song
Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), which received most of
its taxes from mercantile commerce, the Ming
economy was based primarily on agriculture,
reflecting both the peasant roots of its founder
as well as the Confucian belief that trade was
ignoble and parasitic.
Culturally, the greatest innovation of the Ming
Dynasty was the introduction of the novel.
Developed from the folk tales of traditional
storytellers, these works were transcribed in the
everyday vernacular language of the people.
Advances in printmaking and the increasing
population of urban dwellers largely contributed
to the success of these books. Architecturally,
the most famous monument of the Ming Dynasty
is surely the complex of temples and palaces
known as the Forbidden City that was
constructed in Beijing after the third ruler of the
Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, moved the
capital there. Today, the Forbidded Palace
remains one of the hallmarks of traditional
Chinese architecture and is one of the most
popular tourist destinations in the vast nation.
The Fu Dog, or Fu Lion as it is also known, is a
ubiquitous symbol that has been employed
repeatedly throughout the history of China.
Sometimes referred to as the “Dog of Happiness”
or the “Celestial Dog,” the earliest traces of the
Fu Dog in China date to the Han Dynasty (206
B.C.-220 A.D.). Then it disappeared from
Chinese art until it was resurrected during the
cultural revival experienced during the T’ang
Dynasty (618-906 A.D.). While lions are not
native to China, works of art with lion imagery
from other civilizations were imported into China
as gifts for the Emperor. The Fu Lion was
brought into China with the arrival of Buddhism,
where it became associated with the more
familiar dog during assimilation. The lion is a
sacred creature in the Buddhist pantheon, and
the Fu Lion was believed to be a companion of
the Buddha.
While sculptures of Fu Dogs such as this
outstanding blue and green-glazed example
originally stood guard outside of Buddhist
temples, by the time of the Ming Dynasty, when
this work was created, the Dogs had lost most of
their religious significance and were placed
outside the entrances to homes and palaces out
of custom. Even today, many monumental public
buildings are decorated with lion figures
standing guard at the base of the stairway.
Traditionally the Fu Dog is depicted with one of
his front paws resting on a globe (or occasionally
a demon). This gesture symbolizes the Dog’s
authority and power over the evil spirits that
might have tried to infiltrate the temple or
palace. Today, Fu Dogs continue to be a popular
symbol of luck and happiness.
