User:Lawrence Croll/sandbox

The End of the Imperial Preceptor
The Yuan Dynasty ended in 1368, after the armies of the Ming Dynasty captured the Capital city, Khanbaliq. This followed decades of struggle for the Yuan Dynasty, including natural disasters, like flooding and droughts, and a rebellion. The Red Turban Rebellion (1351) was the result of a lack of faith shown in the government.

Due to the weakening of the government and the Yuan Emperor's (Emperor Huizong) reliance on local Warlords' armies, it led to his desire of keeping his seat of power to vanish. Emperor Huizong eventually fled North to the city of Shangdu, leaving the Capital open, to be captured by the armies of the Ming Dynasty.

At their capture of Khanbaliq in 1368, it led to the formation of the Ming Dynasty, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, otherwise called the Hongwu Emperor. As the Yuan Dynasty were Mongol people, the Hongwu Emperor passed many edicts that were intended to purify China of their influence whilst also forbidding many Mongolian practices.

The Hongwu Emperor changed the basic structure of the government which was used by the Qing Dynasty after them, lasting up until 1911/12. One of the changes that was made was the revoking of the Imperial Preceptor title. When Zhu came to power and the Ming Dynasty was established, the role of the Imperial Preceptor was abolished, and their responsibilities and roles were divided. Titles of lesser importance were created and the people that carried these new titles were given the Imperial Preceptor's previous responsibilities. However, these new titles were granted to very few people, mainly due to political reasons.

During the reign of the second Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor, the ties between China and Tibet were brought closer together, especially through religious teachings. The Yongle Emperor hosted many Tibetan teachers with the most famous and highest regarded being Dezhin Shekpa. Shekpa was the only one to be recognised as the Emperor's personal preceptor. Because of this, Shekpa was granted a lengthy title often shortened to Rulai dabao fawang, meaning "Tathagata Great Precious Dharma King". The highest title to be granted to a Tibetan teacher during the Ming period, it was the equivalent of being granted the title of Imperial Preceptor.