TheMing dynasty in Inner Asia was the expansion of theMing dynasty's realm and influence inInner Asia between the 14th and the 16th centuries. The Ming dynasty overthrew and succeeded theMongol-ledYuan dynasty and sought to avert further incursions by a regime originating from Inner Asia.[1] Wars were fought against theNorthern Yuan, which existed as arump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, but also against other states in Inner Asia including theOirat Confederation andMoghulistan (and later its successor state, theTurpan Khanate). As a result, Ming China at the height incorporatedManchuria (Northeast China andOuter Manchuria), much of the regions ofInner Mongolia andQinghai, and parts ofXinjiang into its realm, and also had some degree of influence inTibet especially during the reign of theYongle Emperor.
The early Ming emperors from theHongwu Emperor to theZhengde Emperor continued Yuan practices such as hereditary military institutions, demandingKorean andMuslim concubines and eunuchs, havingMongols serve in the Ming military, patronizingTibetan Buddhism, with the early Ming emperors seeking to project themselves as "universal rulers" to various peoples such asCentral Asian Muslims,Tibetans, and Mongols.[2][3] The Yongle Emperor citedEmperor Taizong of Tang as a model for being familiar with both China and the steppe people.[4] Even though most of the frontier regions were lost to neighbouring states by the late Ming period, Ming emperors had an influence on Tibetan Buddhism even towards the end of the dynasty.[5] Inspired byNew Qing History studies, the so-called "New Ming History" studies have also emerged, which similarly attempts to draw attention to the Inner Asian characteristics of the Ming dynasty.[6]
Manchuria (present-dayNortheast China andOuter Manchuria) was ruled by the Mongol-ledYuan dynasty under theLiaoyang province. The Ming dynasty's rule ofManchuria began withits conquest of Manchuria in the late 1380s after the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368. The military expedition of the Ming army led by GeneralFeng Sheng against the Uriankhai horde of the Mongol chieftainNaghachu in Manchuria, which was still controlled by theNorthern Yuan at that time, concluded with the surrender of the Uriankhai to the Ming whichthen controlled Manchuria.
Ming control of Manchuria reached its peak in the early 15th century with the establishment of theNurgan Regional Military Commission, which was however dissolved in 1435. The Ming dynasty then adopted a political strategy of divide and rule for different Jurchen tribes. The Ming categorized the Jurchens into three groups, theJianzhou Jurchens, theHaixi Jurchens, and theWild Jurchens. Starting in the 1580s, theJianzhou Jurchen chieftainNurhaci, who was originally a Ming vassal and considered himself a local representative of imperial Ming power,[7] began to take control of most of Manchuria over the next several decades, and in 1616 he established theLater Jin and renounced Ming overlordship with theSeven Grievances. TheQing dynasty established by his sonHong Taiji would eventuallyconquer the Ming and take control ofChina proper.
The region known asInner Mongolia was controlled by the MongolYuan dynasty, withShangdu located in Inner Mongolia as itssummer capital. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the Ming dynasty captured large parts of Inner Mongolia including Shangdu andYingchang, forcing the Yuan remnants to retreat toKarakorum inMongolia, known as theNorthern Yuan. The victory of the Ming armies led to the military dominance of the early Ming dynasty in much of Inner Mongolia.[8] Ming China established the Three Guards around theGreat Wall of China. TheYongle Emperor launchedseveral aggressive campaigns against the Mongols, defeating the Northern Yuan, Eastern Mongols, Oirats, and various other Mongol tribes. However, shortly after theTumu incident in 1449, when the Oirat rulerEsen taishi defeated the Ming forces and captured theEmperor Yingzong of Ming, Mongols reconquered most of Inner Mongolia from the Ming, until they submitted to the Manchu-ledQing dynasty.
The region known asQinghai was controlled by the MongolYuan dynasty under theBureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan). After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the armies of the early Ming dynasty arrived in what is now northeastern Qinghai province including the regions around theQinghai Lake in the early 1370s, establishing the Xining Guard (Chinese: 西寧衛) stationed atXining in 1373[9] under the "Shaanxi Capital Command and Envoy Department" (Chinese: 陝西都指揮使司) as part of its military system. In 1377 Ming generalsMu Ying andLan Yu were given command of a punitive expedition to punish a Tibetan chieftain who had refused to recognize Ming rule. This expedition marched deep into modern Qinghai, as far west as theKunlun Mountains.[10] The Ming dynasty at its height once controlled large parts of Qinghai, but the territory was later gradually lost to the Mongols and Tibetans, and by 1642 the whole Qinghai became under the control of theKhoshut Khanate established byGüshi Khan. The region was later conquered by theQing dynasty around 1724.
TheMing–Turpan conflict were a series of conflicts between the Ming dynasty and theCentral Asian-based Khanate ofMoghulistan (later its division theTurpan Khanate) that erupted due to disputes over borders, trade and internal succession to the throne of Moghulistan (or Turpan). Ming China at its height controlled portions of eastern Xinjiang before retreating in the early 16th century.
In 1389, theBuddhist Chagataid prince Gunashiri broke away from theNorthern Yuan and established theKara Del kingdom inHami of present-dayXinjiang. The next year, the Ming dynasty occupied the territory and forced him to submit, although he remained in control of his territory.[11][12]
In 1404, Gunashiri's successor Engke Temiir accepted the establishment of a Ming guard and becameHami Prefecture.[12] The Ming also defeated the Moghulistan force in 1406, although the Ming did not directly govern Hami, and Engke Temiir was granted the title of "obedient prince" (Chinese: 忠順王) by the Ming court.[13] During the 1430s, Kara Del submitted to theOirats. In 1446, disturbances broke out in Hami. Ming forces under Ren Li occupied the city and deported 1,230 people to the east ofJiayuguan.[14] However, the situation in Hami never stabilized, and Hami was seized byMansur Khan, the ruler of Moghulistan in 1513. The whole Xinjiang was later conquered by theDzungar Khanate and theQing dynasty by the 18th century.
Tibet was conquered by theMongol Empire and was later incorporated into theYuan dynasty founded by Mongol leaderKublai Khan. During the last years of the Yuan dynasty, theSakya viceregal regime installed by the Mongols in Tibet was overthrown in a rebellion by the Phagmodru myriarchTai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (1302–1364), who established thePhagmodrupa dynasty and gainedde facto rule over Tibet, although there were civil wars going on in Tibet between rival religious sects. The Yuan dynasty itself was overthrown in 1368 by theMing dynasty founded by theHongwu Emperor. Instead of recognizing the Phagmodru ruler, the Hongwu Emperor sided with theKarmapa of the nearerKham region and southeastern Tibet, sending envoys out in the winter of 1372–1373 to ask the ex-Yuan officeholders to renew their titles for the new Ming court.[15]
In 1403, the Yongle Emperorsent messages, gifts, and envoys to Tibet invitingDeshin Shekpa, the fifthGyalwa Karmapa of theKagyu school ofTibetan Buddhism, to visit the imperial capital – apparently after having a vision of theBodhisattvaAvalokitesvara. After a long journey, Deshin Shekpa arrived inNanjing on 10 April 1407 riding on an elephant towards the imperial palace, where tens of thousands of monks greeted him. After the Karmapa's visit, Yongle promoted the idea that he was the earthly manifestation ofManjushri just like Kublai Khan and styled himself aBuddhist sage ruler. A large amount of Tibetan Buddhist art was created in imperial workshops to demonstrate his authority and right to govern.[16]
Unlike the preceding Mongol Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty did not garrison permanent troops in Tibet. TheWanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) attempted to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations in the wake of aMongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, an alliance which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Manchu-ledQing dynasty (1644–1912) in their support for theDalai Lama of theYellow Hat sect. By the late 16th century, the Mongols proved to be successful armed protectors of the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama, culminating in theconquest of Tibet byGüshi Khan who established theKhoshut Khanate. The Qing dynastyconquered the region in 1720 following the invasion by theDzungar Khanate.
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