kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Ming Xia

1362 CE – 1371 CE · capital Chongqing

A rebel 'Great Xia' empire in Sichuan, founded by a Red Turban general and remembered for mild rule before its conquest by the Ming in 1371.

Origins

Ming Yuzhen, a commander of Xu Shouhui's Red Turban regime, led an army up the Yangtze into Sichuan in 1357 and took Chongqing. After Chen Youliang murdered Xu in 1360, Ming Yuzhen refused to accept him, and in 1362 proclaimed himself emperor of Great Xia at Chongqing.

Rule and society

Ming Yuzhen governed Sichuan with comparatively light taxes, held civil service examinations on the Chinese model and promoted the Maitreya Buddhism of the Red Turbans while restraining other cults. Protected by the Yangtze gorges, the state stayed out of the great wars in the lower valley, though an invasion of Yunnan failed.

Decline and legacy

Ming Yuzhen died in 1366, leaving his ten-year-old son Ming Sheng under regents. In 1371 Ming Empire armies under Tang He and Fu Youde advanced by river and over the mountains; Chongqing surrendered, and Ming Sheng was sent into exile in Goryeo.

Lineage

Yuan Dynasty 1271 CE – 1368 CEMing Xia

Connections (1)

More states of China, Tibet and Mongolia →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ming Xia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ming-xia
MLA
“Ming Xia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ming-xia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ming Xia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ming-xia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ming Xia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ming-xia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻