The Rise and Fall of the Ming Dynasty
The Rise and Fall of the Ming Dynasty  
Podcast: Dan Snow's History Hit
Published On: Mon Sep 21 2026
Description: At its height, Ming China was one of the most powerful states on Earth. Its cities bustled with merchants and scholars, its goods travelled across continents, and its treasure fleets sailed as far as East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. At the heart of this vast empire stood the Forbidden City- a spectacular symbol of imperial authority.But prosperity bred corruption, power created enemies, and rebellion threatened the dynasty from within. In this episode, Dan heads to Beijing to explore how an impoverished peasant founded a dynasty that ruled China for nearly three centuries and how war, political crisis, rebellion and environmental catastrophe ultimately brought it down. Warning: this episode refers to suicide. Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal PatmoreYou can check out our documentary on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHBTevu_eTcIf you want more of Jeremiah on Dan Snow's History Hit, check out these episodes on any podcast player:The Opium Wars at https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GYkpTToitfmACR6RX9yGaThe Forbidden City at https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FdOolMSttL4aIXlMniMUjThe Terracotta Warriors at https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-terracotta-warriors/id1042631089?i=1000666138627Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.Dan Snow's History Hit is a History Hit podcast.History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.