China After The Middle Ages
For many years China had been ruled by the Mongols. The Mongols had conquered China and had setup the Yuan Dynasty. The people of China greatly resented their Mongol rulers. In 1368 A.D. a military leader named Zhu Yuanzhang led a rebellion and successfully overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, establishing himself as the new Emperor.
Zhu had been born as a peasant, and had worked his way to power through his successes in the military. After becoming Emperor he named his dynasty the Ming Dynasty, which means ‘brilliant’ in Chinese.
