Change Of North-east boundary of the early Ming Dynasty

with the map of 1385

After establishing the Ming Dynasty in January of 1368, the first emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, required his generals to march north. In the later period of the same year, the Ming army defeated the Yuan army and captured the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Dadu (Beijing) (Zhang, 1739). However, the war did not finish. The Yuan emperor (Yuan Shun emperor, ruled 1333-1370) and his government retreated to Mongolian Plateau and continued to fight with the Ming army. The loss of capital led to the instability of the Yuan’s ruling system all over the country. The Yuan’s formal officer, the military and political leader of Liao Dong peninsula, Liu Yi, led the local army surrendered to the Ming government in 1371 (Hu, 1418, p.61). However, the other parts of the Northeast were still under Mongol warlords’ control. So there is no land route between Liao Dong and Ming’s inland. Under such conditions, the Ming government could not transport a huge amount of soldiers to Liao Dong in a short time. As a result, the emperor required Liu Yi to stay in Liao Dong and lead his formal army to administrate local land. The emperor settled a new administrative system on Liao Dong. It was named “Liao Dong headquarter Du si” (辽东都指挥使司）or “Liao Dong Du si” (辽东都司), and Liu Yi was appointed as the commander of the Liao Dong Du si (Hu, 1418, p.61). That was the starting point that the Ming power entered the Northeast and established the garrison system (Tsai, 2001, p.159).

At the same time as the war with the Yuan, the Ming emperor started expanding his management system to the territories he controlled.

The “Headquarter Du si” was the name of the local military system, and the national name of the military system is the “Wei Suo” system (卫所制）or can be called garrison and battalion system. For example, the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang settled “Bei Ping Du si” (can be found from the map) on the land that the Ming army just occupied in 1369. He also settled a series of garrison points around the formal Yuan’s deputy capital, “Shang Du”, and named them “Kai Ping garrison” (the small black points on map 1) (John, 2006, pp.104-119). The “Du si” was a Provincial level organization. It governed several garrison points. Mostly, each city may have one garrison point. Some cities of strategic importance may have three or more garrison points. For example, the city “Kai Ping” had four garrison points (can be found on map 1) in the 1380s. Because Kai Ping city was near the front line of the Yuan and Ming, that means it was under great military pressure from the Mongols. From the Ming Dynasty’s governmental record, each garrison town had about 5600 troops (Zhang, 1739). Most of the soldiers in Ming’s army came from military households, which consisted of about 20 per cent of households in the early Ming period (Szonyi, 2017, p.28). Each military household was required to provide one man to serve in the army. Hereditary soldiers were meant to be self-sufficient. They provided their own food via military farms (tun tian) and rotated into training and military posts such as the capital, where specialized drilling with firearms was provided (Swope, 2009, p.19). So, to some extent, the “garrison and battalion system” involved both military and civil affairs as the military household may live around or in the garrison towns (Robinson, 2013, p.46). This situation expanded in the northeast region like Liao Dong Du si and Bei Ping Du si. By considering the condition that lack of Han residents, the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the administrative system like prefectures and counties in the northeast region in 1377 and administrated this area through the Liao Dong Du si and the garrisons under it (Hu, 1418, p.120). It means that the region of Liao Dong was placed as a relative military control zone, and each garrison point became the basic administrative unit. In the following period, the expansion of the Ming’s influence in the northeast region was based on garrison points. Thus, it is important to have a detailed understanding of the “garrison and battalion system”.

After the surrender of Liao Dong, the Ming Dynasty did not expand actively to the northeast direction in the 1370s. One of the reason was the limited transportation. The central government could not transfer enough troops and military materials through the seaway. The Ming’s attention was also attracted to other more intense front lines. Thus, during the 1370s, the Ming’s army in Liao Dong was in the defensive position. So the political situation of the northeast did not change largely from the early 1370s to the mid-1380s. Another reason that the Ming Dynasty did not expand in this period was the powerful Mongol warlords in this area. The yellow series polygons on the map represent the Yuan’s power and its followers’. The Yuan’s central government directly governed the western part of the northeast region. The power in the south that lay across the Ming’s Bei Ping Du si and Liao Dong Du si was the powerful Mongol warlord Naghachu. Naghachu burn as a Mongolian noble. He had governed this area since 1362 (Zhang, 1739). He managed his region well and trained troops actively. The governmental record of the Ming Dynasty said he commanded more than two hundred thousand troops (Hu, 1418, p.187). Although he followed the orders from the Yuan government, he had strong independence. His attitude towards Ming Dynasty was not strongly aggressive. A big reason was that his territory was surrounded on three sides by Ming’s power (can see the map 1), so he had to settle most of his troops to the borderline to deal with the possible coming attacks (Edward. L, 1982, pp.141-142). Although Naghachu organized several small scale invasions to Liao Dong in the late1370s, he gave up such actions after several failures (Zhang, 1739).

 As similar to Naghachu, the northern territory was controlled by another Mongol warlord: Azari. He was a member of the collateral branch of the Yuan’s royalty. His family was granted the title “Prince of Liao” in 1316 (can be found from map 1). Azari succeeded in this title and focused on managing his territory (Song, 1370, p.108).

The eastern part of the northeast region was the tribal territories of different Jurchen Tribes. They were indigenous people of this region. Although the Yuan Dynasty established dominance of this area after it conquered the Jin Dynasty in the mid 13th century, the rule over this area collapsed after the collapse of rule over China (Fairback, 1994, p.488). The Jurchens can be distinguished into four groups, the Jianzhou Jurchens (建州女真), the Haixi Jurchens (海西女真), the Wild Jurchens (野人女真) and the Solon Tribes (北山女真). There were not any big difference between these groups and the origin of their names depending on the area they lived. After the collapse of the Jin Dynasty, those Jurchen tribes did not have a leader or unified government. This situation existed even in each group. For example, in Jianzhou Jurchens, there was no ruling family but loose tribal alliances. The loose tribal alliances did not have clear borders. So, in some areas, especially the fertile Wusuli River Basin, the scopes of the tribes’ activities were overlapped. Also, there is no subordination between large and small tribes (Crossley, 2002, p.74). That is why several Jurchen tribes (can be found from map 1, the red polygon near Liao Dong Du si), which settled near the border of Liao Dong, pledged eternal loyalty to the Ming Dynasty in1380 (Li, 1461, p.19). But, at this period, these Jurchen Tribes (red part on the map) were only treated as vassal states, and the Ming Dynasty did not try to send troops or settle garrisons in this area (Tikhvinskiĭ, 1981, p.201).

In this period, the Koryo Kingdom was the biggest cause of regional instability. This Kingdom existed as a vassal state of the Yuan Dynasty before. And its royal family had a deep relationship with the Yuan Dynasty because every queen of this kingdom came from the Yuan’s royal family (Weatherford, 2010, p.127). The Koryo Kingdom pledged its loyalty to the Ming Dynasty just after the Yuan losing its capital in 1368. But, after the Ming Dynasty refused to give the northern land of the Korean Peninsula to the Koryo Kingdom, this kingdom just turned to the Yuan’s side in 1377 (Zhang, 1739). In the later period, it even organized an army to march north to occupy Liao Dong. This march may be mentioned in the following paragraphs as it may both influence the northeast and the Koryo Kingdom itself.

Generally, the situation in this period (1368-1385) did not change largely. Because all the powers did not have an overwhelming advantage. But for the Ming Dynasty, it’s only the starting point of administrating the Northeast.

with the map of 1398

Compare to the last period, the period from 1386 to 1398 was quite similar to some extent. The general policy was still focusing on the war with the Yuan and fighting with the Mongolian forces (warlords), but not deep management of the farther area in the northeast.

After a long term war with the Yuan Dynasty in border regions, the Ming army controlled Gan Su (now Gansu Province) and stabilized the northwest line of defence. The emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, finally had enough military resources to solve the problems in the northeast. He organized an offensive military expedition towards the warlord Naghachu in December 1386 (Langlois, 1998, pp.157-158). This army had more than two hundred thousand troops with famous generals Fu Youde (傅友德) and Lan Yu (蓝玉) (Edward. L, 1982, pp.141-142). Finally, Naghachu surrendered in 1387. He was taken to Nanjing and was made a marquis by the Ming emperor (Tsai, 2001, pp.46-47).

At the same moment, the Koryo Kingdom kept expanding its influence to the north direction. It kept expelling the Jurchen tribes (can see the change from map 1 and 2) who settled in the North Korean Peninsula away from that area and occupied this area in late 1387 (Zhang, 1739). Although the Jurchen tribes were vassals of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming emperor acquiesced the Koryo’s action. Because the Ming Dynasty did not directly govern the lands. Also, the emperor did not want any back threats to happen when he has organized another expedition toward the Yuan in the northeast (Langlois, 1998, pp.159-160).

After the surrender of Naghachu, the Ming Dynasty had a staging base to organize another expedition to the Yuan’s power farther north in 1388. This march led by general Lan Yu with more than one hundred and fifty thousand troops (Edward. L, 1982, pp.141-142). The Ming army stormed the Yuan’s temporary capital around the Buir Lake and made a big victory. The whole central government, including the royal princes and imperial concubines of the Yuan Dynasty, were captured by the Ming army(can be seen in figure 6). Only the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty and his elder son escaped. But they were captured and killed by another Mongol noble, Yesüder. Yesüder was a member of the Yuan’s royal side branches (Amitai, 2000. p.294). He claimed him the Khan of Tartar and controlled the eastern part of formal Northern Yuan’s territory. As the direct line of descent of Yuan’s royalty extinct, the Yuan Dynasty (the Northern Yuan) collapsed and divided into two main powers, the Tartar and the Oirats.

After the collapse of the central government of Yuan, the formal Yuan’s Prince of Liao surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in 1388 but rebelled two years later. The emperor Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his fourth son, Prince of Yan of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di (朱棣), to lead an army to suppress the rebellion (Chan, 2007). This march led to changes in the farther area of the northeast (can be seen in figure 7) except the re-surrender of the Mongol warlord (Prince of Liao), more and more Jurchen tribes (most were Haixi Jurchens) who settled around that area pledged eternal loyalty to the Ming Dynasty after seeing the powerful troops of the Ming Dynasty (map 1 to 2 shows the changes). However, Zhu Di’s main purpose was not expanding influence in Jurchen Tribes. So he did not send messengers to farther places to spread the prestige of the Ming Dynasty (Twitchett, 1988, p.260). So from map2, it is clear that the situation of the north northeast did not change during this period, and no connections were established between the Ming Dynasty and these Jurchen Tribes. Even the new expanded red area (Ming’s vassal tribes) overlapped in some part as some tribes who settled on that area did not establish a connection between the Ming Dynasty.

All the victories before stabilized Ming’s rule in the southern part of the northeast and the border region near the Mongols (Yuan/ Tartar). The emperor Zhu Yuanzhang expanded the Liao Dong Du si and Bei Ping Du si. He also settled a new Du si, the Da Ning Du si (Hu, 1418, p.230). In the 1390s, more and more military resources and troops are transferred to the newly occupied territories to form the newly established garrison towns. He settled hundreds of garrison towns outer the Great Wall to defend the Mongols out of the Great Wall. To make the defensive plan more effective, Zhu Yuanzhang established several old feudal principalities for his sons. For example, his fourth son Zhu Di was granted Prince of Yan to guard Bei Ping (now Beijing) and Bei Ping Du si; his seventeenth son Zhu Quan was granted Prince of Ning to guard Da Ning Du si; all the Princes could dispatch and command the troops in the garrison towns in their own region (Zhu, 1395). Also, as the surrender of formal Yuan’s Prince of Liao, the Ming government hired the Mongol cavalries and named them “Duo Yan three guards” (can be found on map 2). These Mongols were given lands to graze, which existed as Ming’s military vassals (Haskew, 2008, p.101).

During the 1390s, the Koryo Kingdom stopped expanding to the north. Because it fell into internal conflicts. In 1388, the king of the kingdom organized an army and planned to attack Liao Dong when the Ming fought with the Yuan in the northern front line. General Yi Seong-gye led this army but he rebelled later. He controlled this army and led them to break into the capital. ( can be seen in figure 8) The king and his followers were imprisoned. Then, general Yi usurped the throne and established the Korean Kingdom in 1392. To get support, he pledged loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and made the Korean Kingdom a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty (Carrington, 1976, p.1601).

       As time passed 1398, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, died in Nanjing. During his late ruling period, the Ming Dynasty expelled the Mongols from the northeast and settled garrisons and feudal princes to stabilize the rule of the southern northeast. However, the emperor did not know, his sons, the powerful princes in the border region, might bring a big internal conflict and an expansion frenzy toward the farther northeast in the later period.

with the map of 1424

After the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, his grandson succeeded the throne in 1399 as Zhu’s elder son died earlier than him. The new emperor (Zhu Yunwen) worried about his uncles' power, who were granted as princes and led strong army at the border region. He tried to weaken his uncles by limited their army and imprisoned them (Dardess, 2011). These radical actions led to the rebel of his fourth uncle, the Prince of Yan (Zhu Di). As mentioned before, Zhu Di governed Bei Ping Du si and the army of the garrison points. He raised with the local army and battled with his nephew. During the war, Zhu Di also prevailed his younger brother, the Prince of Ning (Zhu Quan), who governed the Da Ning Du si and led the Duo Yan Guards to join his rebel (Wang, 2012). After four years of war, Zhu Di defeated the army of the central government of Ming and broke into the capital Nanjing in 1402. The emperor Yunwen disappeared, and the victor Zhu Di became the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty (Gu, 1658). This civil war influenced the fate of the Ming Dynasty and apparently impacted the historical trend of the northeast border region.

As Zhu Di usurped the throne, his rule was not stable in the legal sense. So, he had to take some expansive actions to prove that he could get great achievements, and he had the mandate of heaven to stabilize his rule. And expansion to the northeast is one of his policies.

Zhu Di sent emissaries to the northeast, especially the farther region of the four Jurchens tribes, to announce the change of throne and required tributes in 1403. As the governmental record, at the end of this year, several chiefs of Haixi Jurchens went to Nanjing and paid three hundred horses as tributes to pledge allegiance. Zhu Di gave them official positions of the Ming Dynasty and appointed them the commanders of the Wu Zhe garrison towns (兀者诸卫) (Zhang, 1430, p.18). 

As time passed, more and more Jurchen tribes (most were Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens) went to Nanjing to pledge allegiance to the new emperor in 1405. The emperor (Zhu Di) settled garrison towns on their original land and appointed them commanders of the garrison (Zhang, 1430, p.25). As mentioned before, the whole northeast border region is a military region. The garrison towns were the basic units for both administration and military. So, in fact, the chiefs still governed their original tribesmen but needed to serve military duty and accepted leadership at a higher administrative level.  The settlement policies effectively transferred the tribes, which already served loyalty earlier period, to a position that easier to control and manage.

 As mentioned before, during the civil war 1399-1402, Zhu Di led the army of garrison towns to march south. This action weakened the border guards and led to a new Mongol (the Tartar) invasion. Thus, in 1409, the emperor ordered Yishiha to start preparations for an expedition to the lower Amur River region, to demonstrate the power of the Ming Empire to the Nurgan Jurchen populating the area and induce them to enter into relations with the empire, and to ensure that they would not create trouble for the Ming state when the latter went to war with the Eastern Mongols (Rossabi, 1976, pp.685-686).

 At the same time, the emperor organized an expedition towards the Mongols (The Tartar) in 1410 (figure 11). He led the army by himself, marched to the Onon river, and defeated the Mongols again (Robinson, 2021, p.22). The Ming army hammered the Tartar. That led to the large scale surrender of eastern Mongols tribes to the emperor Zhu Di. Zhu Di followed the policy, settled garrisons on the Mongol Tribes’ land and appointed the chiefs commanders in 1411 (Zhang, 1430, p60). The farthest garrison settled near the Onon river. (Onon river garrison, 斡难河卫).

During the period of civil war, the Korean Kingdom started to expand to the north again. A big conflict broke between the Korean and Jianzhou Jurchens in the early 1410s. The conflict point is the land around the Tumen River. The result stopped the Korean until the end of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Jianzhou Jurchens started to migrate northwest to the area present in map 3. They settled near the Liao Dong Du si and built a closer relationship with the Ming Dynasty than other Jurchens (Elliott, 2001, pp.50-51).

As Yishiha led his fleet sail to the lower Amur River region, the Jurchen tribes along the way were all shocked by the fleet and army of the Ming Dynasty. The chiefs pledge allegiances, and Yishiha appointed them commanders of the newly settled garrison towns (settled along the river as most of the tribes settled along the river) in the name of the emperor. The Ainu people who settled on Sakhalin Island on the other side also came and pledged allegiances (Tsai, 2002, pp.158-159). The fleet arrived at the estuary of the river and built a city called Nurgan. This city was the capital of the highest administrative department of the northeast region, the Nurgan Du si (奴儿干都司). To 1414, most of the Jurchen chiefs went to Nanjing to pledged allegiances. Even the Solon tribes, which settled far north, sent fur as tributes and accepted the official positions (Mote, 1998, p.260).

Without a doubt, the vast territory of Nurgan Du si was not totally controlled by the Ming government directly. As under that period’s material and transport condition, the government in Nanjing could not supply hundreds of garrison points located far north. Similarly, to cultivate the chief’s support, most commanders were only chiefs of small tribes. So, the garrison towns in the Northeast did not follow the “5600 troops” policy. Most of them only had hundreds or one thousand Jurchen tribesmen. And the towns located along the Hei Longjiang river and the estuary may have several Ming soldiers.

So, in map 3 (map of 1424), the lighter the red colour, the weaker the control power. The Ming Dynasty did not have strong power in surrendered Mongol tribes, the Solon tribes and the Ainu area. The relationship between them and Ming maintained tributes and temporal military duty. The garrison towns in these areas did not have Ming soldiers.

I tried to use a thermogram to present the garrison points of the three different periods. It may show the difference in control and power of the Ming Dynasty in the Northeast. From these maps, it is clear that the Ming Dynasty had extreme power in the southern Northeast. It was also relative powerful along the Hei Longjiang River and the estuary. However, in the far north area, its power was separate and weak.