The Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty of China, carried out a comprehensive set of economic, social, and political reforms from the 1360s to the 1390s. These aimed to rebuild the Chinese state after years of conflict and devastation following the decline of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Chinese resistance to Mongol rule. The reforms resulted in the restoration of a centralized Chinese state, the growth of the Ming economy, and the emergence of a relatively egalitarian society with reduced wealth disparities.
The Hongwu Emperor attempted to create a self-sufficient society based on agriculture, with a stable system of relationships that would minimize commercial activity and trade in cities. In this newly organized society, agriculture was the main source of wealth and the backbone of the economy. Two-thirds of the land was owned by the state, and it was divided among small peasants who directly cultivated the land. In contrast, large landowners were targeted through land confiscations and restrictions on their accumulation of property. Industry and crafts were under state management, and trade was strictly supervised. The Emperor showed concern for the common people and aimed to ensure a peaceful life for them, while also limiting the extravagances of the wealthy.
The Emperor sought to exert control over all aspects of the country's life. The newly established Ming state administration was small and cost-effective. The government was led by the Emperor's old comrades, who now served as generals in his army. Over time, they were gradually replaced by the Emperor's sons. Routine administrative tasks were carried out by officials who had received a Confucian education. Taxation was primarily based on in-kind levies on agricultural and manufactured goods, as well as compulsory labor in state-owned factories and construction sites. The Emperor's social ideal did not align with the use of money, so the government attempted to restrict its use. The lack of a suitable currency, such as copper or silver, and the unreliability of paper money, which could not be exchanged for precious metals and was prone to inflation, made it difficult to implement this policy.
In the long run, the rebuilding of China's agricultural base and the improvement of communication, along with the development of a military transport network, had an unintended consequence—the growth of markets along the restored roads and the spread of urban influences into rural areas. This led to the gentry, a class of Confucian-educated landowners who held official positions, being influenced by the emerging consumer culture. Over time, merchant families also began to integrate into the educated bureaucracy and adopt the customs of the gentry. This shift also brought about changes in social and political philosophies, administrative institutions, as well as in art and literature.
Background The Hongwu Emperor was born in 1328 to a peasant family in Zhongli, Haozhou (present-day Fengyang, Anhui), along the Huai River, then under the rule of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He grew up in the impoverished and turbulent region of Anhui, and when he was 16 he lost his parents and brother to a plague epidemic. He then entered a nearby Buddhist monastery, where he spent the next eight years alternating between monastic life and wandering as a beggar. In 1352, after Red Turban rebels entered Fengyang, Yuan forces destroyed the monastery, suspecting that the monks had ties to the rebellion. The Hongwu Emperor then joined the Red Turban movement and quickly rose through its ranks, defeating rival warlords before overthrowing the Yuan dynasty and founding the Ming dynasty in 1368.
The Emperor's social ideal
In the eyes of the Hongwu Emperor, the ultimate goal of government was political stability. All politics and the nature of institutions, including social and economic structures, were subordinated to this goal. The chaos and foreign rule that led to the establishment of the new Ming dynasty only further reinforced the importance of maintaining order.
To achieve this goal, the Emperor believed in creating a simple agricultural economy, with other sectors serving as complementary. His motto was one of frugality and simplicity. He firmly believed that if every man worked in his field and women also contributed, there would be no shortage and the overall quality of life for the people would improve.
The Hongwu Emperor's public statements were filled with sympathy for the peasants and hostility towards the wealthy landowners and scholars. He referred to himself as a villager from the right bank of the Huai River. Despite his position as emperor, he never forgot his difficult upbringing and maintained a strong belief in the ideal of a self-sufficient village life in peace, which was unattainable during his youth. As emperor, he made every effort to make this dream a reality for his subjects.
Despite his roots in the Manichaean faith of the anti-Mongol insurgents, the Hongwu Emperor chose to adopt Confucianism as the state ideology and relied on Confucian scholars in the construction of the state apparatus. This emphasis on Confucianism led to a prioritization of moral considerations over economic ones in politics. Confucianism also provided justification for the government's stance against disproportionate wealth in the hands of a few. Extreme wealth inequality, which resulted in the political power and uncontrollability of the rich, was seen as a destabilizing force in society. Additionally, Confucian beliefs viewed wealth as a limited resource, and its concentration in the hands of the wealthy (or the state) would inevitably lead to the impoverishment of the people. The government therefore saw it as its responsibility to prevent the growth of wealth disparities.
Under the banner of "humanity" (ren, one of the central concepts of Confucianism), the Hongwu Emperor's government transformed society. The redistribution of property and wealth, particularly land, resulted in a more egalitarian society. This was a significant and far-reaching change, similar in depth and scope to the land revolution of the early communist People's Republic of China in the 1950s.
To effectively govern the Ming state, the government relied on the support of the social elite, including the gentry, educated officials, and landowners. In order to compensate for the loss of wealth they experienced under the previous Yuan dynasty, these elites were freed from labor obligations and services required by the local self-government system known as the lijia, and instead only had to pay the land tax. The status of the educated elite was distinguished by their privileged role in village assemblies and their inability to marry commoners. These measures helped to clearly define social groups and separate the bureaucratic class from the common people, beyond just wealth. The court also attempted to limit land ownership and discourage elites from accumulating large amounts of land. Despite these efforts, the elites still sought to use their social status to gain wealth. A gradual concentration of land ownership was therefore inevitable.
Government reforms Central government
Upon ascending to the throne, the Hongwu Emperor appointed his wife, Lady Ma, as empress and his eldest son Zhu Biao as his heir. He surrounded himself with a group of military and civilian figures, but the civil officials never attained the same level of prestige and influence as the generals. In 1367, he named three of his closest collaborators as dukes (gong)—generals Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, and official Li Shanchang. After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, he granted ranks and titles to a wider circle of loyal generals. This military elite was chosen based on their abilities, but their titles and ranks were still hereditary. The generals therefore became the dominant ruling class, surpassing the bureaucratic system. Officials had no political autonomy and were solely dedicated to carrying out the Emperor's orders and fulfilling his demands. In a sense, this arrangement mirrored that of the Yuan dynasty, with the ruling class of Mongols and Semu being replaced by families of distinguished military commanders who were connected through kinship ties with each other and with the imperial family.
The Ming administrative apparatus was initially modeled after the Yuan dynasty. The civil administration was led by the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng), which was headed by two grand chancellors (chengxiang), who were informally known as the prime ministers. The Central Secretariat oversaw six ministries: Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works. The Censorate controlled the administration, while the Chief Military Commission oversaw the army. The Hongwu Emperor initially limited the number of eunuchs in the palace to 100 due to concerns about their influence. He later allowed their number to increase to 400, with the restriction that they were not allowed to learn to read, write, or interfere in politics.
The civil administration, which became the core of the government under later emperors, primarily served to secure finances and logistics for the army. Initially, the administration of the provinces was also under the control of the general, with the civil authorities also subject to them. In the 1370s, however, civilians began to be appointed to leadership positions in the provinces, weakening the military's influence. Regional military commanders were consequently left with responsibility for managing the affairs of hereditary soldiers in the Weisuo system.
Centralization after 1380 In 1380, Grand Chancellor Hu Weiyong was imprisoned and executed on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy against the Emperor. Following Hu's downfall, the office of grand chancellor and the entire Central Secretariat were abolished. The Emperor also permanently forbade the restoration of the chancellery. The Emperor then had direct control over six ministries. The Censorate was reorganized, and the Chief Military Commission, which oversaw the armed forces, was divided into five Chief Military Commissions. Additionally, some of the regiments in the capital's garrison were under the direct control of the Emperor. One of these regiments, known as the "Embroidered Uniform Guard", acted as the secret police. After the reform, the Emperor personally managed the central offices and served as the sole coordinator between departments. This resulted in a fragmentation of state authority and government, which prevented the possibility of a coup d'état but also weakened the government's long-term effectiveness.
The 1380 purge was succeeded by subsequent trials, targeting not only several ministers and deputy ministers, but also hundreds of less prominent individuals. The purge incited a series of protests from officials, who argued that the state apparatus was being demoralized and valuable human resources were being wasted. While the Emperor did not punish these critics, he also did not alter his policies.