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The territory of the Ming dynasty started from present Korea in the east to Tibet in the west, and stretched from Vietnam in the south to Mongolia in the north, measuring 11,750 km long from west to east and 10,904 km wide from north to south. North Part of the Ming Dynasty The Ming rulers set up over 40 watch-houses along the Ming-Mongolian border owing to continuous wars against the Mongolians, including Dongsheng Watch-house, Yunchuan Watch-house, Guanshan Watch-house, Quanning Watch-house and Laohahe Watch-house. The Ming rulers moved to the South China owing to the disadvantageous position in the battle against Mongolians during the middle period of the Ming dynasty, and they ordered to renovate and build the Great Wall, along which a number of military cities were build, including, Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong, Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, Taiyuan and Guyuan. The Great Wall served as the north border of the Ming Empire in late Ming dynasty, which was also the dividing line between the farming area and the nomadic area then. Northeast Part of the Ming Dynasty Liaodong Prefecture was set up by Zhu Yuanzhang (founder of the Ming dynasty) in the Ming dynasty. The Ming rulers consecutively attacked Heilongjiang area and conquered it, and then offered amnesty to the Nuzhen (an ancient nationality in China, ancestors of the Manchus, who founded the Jin Dynasty). The territory was greatly expanded northward by Ming rulers during early period of the Ming dynasty, who also drove away the Nuchen in the forms of offering amnesty and enlistment to rebels and killing, resulting in the Ming territory stretching over Yalu River and Tumen River. Northwest Part of the Ming Dynasty The Ming Empire stretched to Qomul (east of Xijiang) in the northwest during Emperor Hongwu’s reign in the Ming dynasty, followed by a number of watch-houses set up. Turban Tribe and Mongolian Tribe became more powerful after the 15th century, and Qomul was seized by Turban Tribe in 1472 and 1514 respectively. The Ming Empire lost all territories in the northwest after late 15-century, so the Ming troops fell back on Jiayu Pass. Southwest Part of Ming Dynasty A number of administrative divisions were established in the southwest part of Ming Empire in 1381, whose frontier ranged to the north part of Burma, Laos and Thailand. The Ming army attacked An’nan (present Vietnam) in 1406 and conquered it, resulting in the establishment of Jiaozhi Provincial Administrative Government. Southeast Part of Ming Dynasty The Portuguese rented Macau in 1553 and gained the right of residence in 1557. The Ming rulers had the sovereignty over Macau and managed the Portuguese only in name. The Dutch colonists invaded south Taiwan in 1624, followed by Spanish colonists in north Taiwan in 1626, and the former drove away the latter in 1642 and captured most part of Taiwan. Zheng Chenggong rid Taiwan of the Dutch in 1662.
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Administrative Regions in the Ming Dynasty,
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