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.

This miniature procession consists of five attendants, a horse, and palanquin. The attendants are dressed in layers of robes that expose their footwear. The outer emerald colored robe is shortened at the cuff of the wide sleeves to reveal an inner yellow ochre robe. They wear tall rounded, short brimmed caps and lean forward as a gesture of humility. As Chinese statuette art prescribes, the faces are created individually, owing to their distinctive expressions and features. With the exception of the palanquin, the attendants and horse stand atop a stepped pedestal of yellow, green or amber colors. The horse charms us with its playful expression conveyed through its long eyelashes, wide eyes, smiling grin, and blockish built. Reminiscent of a childhood merry-go- round, the white horse is well-groomed with its black mane combed and parted in the center around its ears, its tail hair brushed and curled upward, and its body lavishly adorned with emerald green and amber trappings. Glazed in the same color scheme as the other figures, the palanquin is elegantly constructed with a diamond pattern designed screen on both sides, an arched, arabesque open entry, and curved hip roof.