The Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. It was the last ethnic Han-led dynasty in China, supplanting the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty before falling to the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty ruled over the Empire of the Great Ming (Dà Míng Guó), as China was then known. Although the Ming capital, Beijing, fell in 1644, remnants of the Ming throne and power (now collectively called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662. The Civil Service and a strong centralized government developed during this period. Commerce, trade and also naval exploration flourished with ships possibly reaching the Americas in 1421, before Christopher Columbus set sail. Towards the end of the Ming rule, the first European colony, Macao, was founded (1557).
