MINERY, an artificial lake in Ceylon, 20 miles in circumference. A charming sylvan spot. MING. a dynasty of China of A.D. 1370-1650.
Choo Yuen-chaug, the first of the dynasty, was the son of a labouring man. In his youth he had been a servant in a monastery, but joined the insurgents who overthrew the Mongols. lie speedily obtained the leadership of a large army, with which he established a new Chinese dynasty, over the thirteen provinces of the empire. His military genius was as undoubted as his political sagacity was great. No sooner had he reached the throne than ono of his first acts was to issue an edict in which he justified his recent rebellion, by claiming a heavenly mission, in strict imitation of the usurper T'ang (p.c. 1766), who published a like manifesto in explanation of his having over thrown the last emperor of the Hea dynasty. • He further followed the example of preceding founders of dynasties, in leaving at their posts all officials who were willing to acknowledge his sovereignty, and in giving every encouragement to the national literature, and thus succeeded in establishing his rule in the affections of the people. During Ming
rule there was great literary activity, considerable refinement in manners, and material. civilisation ; the exquisite blue pottery was brought to great per fection. The Portuguese obtained Macao, the Jesuit fathers came from Rome, and but for the quarrels between the Jesuits, Franciscans, and the Domi nicans, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism would have disappeared. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci acquired an unrivalled knowledge of the book language, and the style of his meta physical and theological and scientific treatises commands the admiration of the Chinese. Hsii Kuang-eh'-i, a scholar and statesman, was his intimate friend, and wrote a defence of the Jesuits. About this time there appeared the Encyclopaedia of 22,000 books, with about 1,100,000 pages ; also the Chinese Herbal, and the imperial library had 1,000,000 books. The dynasty was overthrown by a popular rising, and a Manchu leader selected.