About the author

Hing Ming Hung

Hung Hing Ming studied English at China’s most prestigious university in the early 1960s and went on to work as an official interpreter and translator working with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He taught English at Zhongshan University (Dr. Sun Yat San University), Guangzhou, in 1984 and again from 1987 to 1991, as an associate professor and an instructor for graduate students in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Kansas from late 1984 to 1987, when he earned his Masters degree in linguistics, before returning to Zhongshan University. In 1991, Mr. Hung moved to Hong Kong where he worked as a legal translator with international law firms for close to 20 years.Mr. Hung is writing a series of biographies to introduce some of China’s most emblematic historical figures to the American public.

From the Mongols to the Ming Dynasty

Name: From the Mongols to the Ming Dynasty
Price: 22.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Hing Ming Hung
ISBN: 9781628941500

How a Begging Monk Became Emperor of China, Zhu Yuan Zhang

Price range: $22.95 through $32.95

The Ming Dynasty was a brilliant stretch of three centuries of native Chinese rule, during which China’s influence left its mark on cultures and societies from Vietnam in the east to the Turks in the west.

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Categories: History: International, The World Beyond the USAuthor: Hing Ming Hung SKU: from-the-mongols-to-the-ming-dynasty Categories: History: International, The World Beyond the US Tags: ancient Chinese rulers, Asian history nonfiction, Battle of Poyang Lake, Chinese emperor from poverty, Chinese history 14th century, Chinese history books, Chinese imperial history, chinese military history, Chinese warlords history, founding of the Ming Dynasty, Genghis Khan legacy, how Ming Dynasty was founded, Kublai Khan China, medieval china, Ming Dynasty history, Mongol empire decline, Mongol rule in China, peasant becomes emperor China, political power in ancient China, rebellion and revolution in China, rise and fall of dynasties, underdog stories from history, unlikely leaders who changed history, Yuan Dynasty collapse, Zhu Yuan Zhang biography Author: Hing Ming Hung

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A beggar, an itinerant monk, leapt to greatness during a tumultuous epoch and went on to found the Ming Dynasty of China (1368-1644). How did it happen?

About the Book

The Ming Dynasty was a brilliant stretch of three centuries of native Chinese rule, during which China's influence left its mark on cultures and societies from Vietnam in the east to the Turks in the west.

This history traces the rise of one exceptional man during turbulent times, Zhu Yuan Zhang. As a destitute peasant with nothing to lose, he started a local rebellion; success built on success. Defeating local warlords, he conquered all the southern part of China, then sent his army north and took the rest. By unifying many Chinese lands, he brought peace and prosperity after a long period of tumult.

Zhu Yuan Zhang broke out of a desperate life of poverty to reach the heights, using his intelligence, strength and integrity to win a new opportunity, a bigger battle, a more powerful position at every turn. Building a local rebellion into a great fighting force, he crushed the Yuan Dynasty, where the Mongols ruled, and brought together a large and powerful nation.

From the Mongols to the Ming Dynasty is the only English-language popular history book about Zhu Yuan Zhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty of China. Along the way, Chinese scholar Hung Hing Ming notes the contributions of bold commanders, fearless fighters, wise leaders, and loyal servants who protected the interests and the dignity of their noble lords, illustrating values that underlie traditional Chinese culture.

Illustrations and copious maps beautifully depict the era and clarify details of the campaigns to unify the rival kingdoms into one stable and powerful country.

About the Book

Few rises to power in history are as dramatic as that of Zhu Yuan Zhang, the man who founded China's Ming Dynasty in 1368. Born into desperate poverty in 1328, he spent his early years begging for food and wandering as a monk — and yet within decades he had toppled the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty and become Emperor of China. This book by Hung Hing Ming traces that extraordinary journey from the ground up, starting with the Mongol conquest of China under Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan and the slow decay of Yuan Dynasty rule that made rebellion possible.

The story picks up real momentum when Zhu Yuan Zhang joins a local uprising led by Guo Zi Xing and begins building his own fighting force. What follows is a gripping account of military campaigns across southern China — battles for cities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, a massive naval confrontation at Poyang Hu Lake against rival warlord Chen You Liang, and the eventual defeat of Zhang Shi Cheng's competing state of Wu. Each victory brings Zhu Yuan Zhang closer to unifying the country under a single banner. When his armies finally take Dadu, the Yuan capital, the Mongol era in China is finished.

The book also covers the early Ming court — the granting of noble titles, political conspiracies involving Hu Wei Yong and Lan Yu, and the succession crisis that brought Zhu Di to power. For anyone interested in Chinese imperial history, the Mongol empire, or stories of unlikely leaders who changed the world, this is a detailed and readable account of one of history's most remarkable transformations.