Upon leading a victorious rebellion against the
foreign Mongul rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a
peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang seized control of
China and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
As emperor, he founded his capital at Nanjing
and adopted the name Hongwu as his reign title.
Hongwu, literally meaning “vast military,” reflects
the increased prestige of the army during the
Ming Dynasty. Due to the very realistic threat
still posed by the Mongols, Hongwu realized that
a strong military was essential to Chinese
prosperity. Thus, the orthodox Confucian view
that the military was an inferior class to be ruled
over by an elite class of scholars was
reconsidered. During the Ming Dynasty, China
proper was reunited after centuries of foreign
incursion and occupation. Ming troops
controlled Manchuria, and the Korean Joseon
Dynasty respected the authority of the Ming
rulers, at least nominally.
Like the founders of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-
220 A.D.), Hongwu was extremely suspicious of
the educated courtiers that advised him and,
fearful that they might attempt to overthrow him,
he successfully consolidated control of all aspect
of government. The strict authoritarian control
Hongwu wielded over the affairs of the country
was due in part to the centralized system of
government he inherited from the Monguls and
largely kept intact. However, Hongwu replaced
the Mongul bureaucrats who had ruled the
country for nearly a century with native Chinese
administrators. He also reinstituted the
Confucian examination system that tested
would-be civic officials on their knowledge of
literature and philosophy. Unlike the Song
Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), which received most of
its taxes from mercantile commerce, the Ming
economy was based primarily on agriculture,
reflecting both the peasant roots of its founder
as well as the Confucian belief that trade was
ignoble and parasitic.
Culturally, the greatest innovation of the Ming
Dynasty was the introduction of the novel.
Developed from the folk tales of traditional
storytellers, these works were transcribed in the
everyday vernacular language of the people.
Advances in printmaking and the increasing
population of urban dwellers largely contributed
to the success of these books. Architecturally,
the most famous monument of the Ming Dynasty
is surely the complex of temples and palaces
known as the Forbidden City that was
constructed in Beijing after the third ruler of the
Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, moved the
capital there. Today, the Forbidded Palace
remains one of the hallmarks of traditional
Chinese architecture and is one of the most
popular tourist destinations in the vast nation.
Modelled on a curved surface, a military
official decorates the side of these two circular
objects. A square-shaped hole cut out between
the feet indicates that the objects could have
been used as incense burners or lamps. The
military official is glazed in sancai colors, yellow
ochre, amber and green reminiscent of T'ang
style, while the raised base is left unglazed. The
features of these stocky figure are delicately
molded, depicting the serious expression and
bold nature commonly associated with military
men. Their tense eyebrows and piercing eyes
exhibit a sense of stamina and determination
and while sternly clasping hands in the position
of attention, their elaborately decorated battle
gear hint at their respected ranking in society.
Careful attention has been given to the
modelling of the headdress which drapes to the
shoulders and the outer armor which is incised
with horizontal diamond patterns. During the
Ming Dynasty, irredentist sentiment spawned a
cultural movement that sought to celebrate
China's glorious past. Reproductions of cultural
artifacts of the Han and T'ang dynasties flooded
the art market, increasing patrons appreciation
and awareness of their sophisticated past. It is
possible that this piece was produced amidst this
flurry of enthusiasm and celebration.
