The Ming Invasion of Yunnan
The military successes achieved by the early Ming emperors in Southeast Asia marked the greatest territorial expansion ever achieved by a Chinese emperor and have never been seriously attempted ever since. That this was achieved is probably the result of superior military technology since, at this time, the Ming generals were able to equip as much as 10% of their troops with firearms, as well as deploying a variety of cannons, rocket launchers and other ordnance. The Vietnamese were ultimately able to counter this technology by creating their own gunpowder weapons industry but the peoples of Yunnan were not. Piecemeal they were conquered and incorporated into the native office (tu si) system to make sure they could not effectively rebel against central rule. Nevertheless, revolts continued to occur for centuries and there are still parts of Yunnan province where the rule of the central government has always been only partly enforced.
Fitzgerald, C.P., The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People (New York: Praeger Publishers Inc., 1972).
Sun Laichen, "Chinese Military Technology and Dai Viet: c.1390-1497," Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series, No.11 (September 2003).
Wade, Geoff, "Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th Century: a Reappraisal," Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series, No.28 (July 2004).
The copyright of the article The Ming Invasion of Yunnan in East Asian History is owned by John Walsh. Permission to republish The Ming Invasion of Yunnan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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