Final answer:
The decline of the Ming Dynasty was primarily due to the financial burden caused by high court expenditures, defense costs, imposition of high taxes, natural disasters, and resulting rebellions. Economic instability and poor governance also contributed to the collapse, which was finalized by the advent of the Qing Dynasty in 1644.
Step-by-step explanation:
Main Causes of Decline of the Ming Dynasty
One of the main causes of the decline of the Ming Dynasty was the financial strain due to high expenditures at the court and the cost of defending against the Mongols, notably the maintenance of the Great Wall of China, and later against the Manchu.
This led to the imposition of high taxes, which, coupled with the government’s inability to manage natural disasters, such as droughts and floods causing famines, exacerbated the people’s plight. Consequently, rebellions erupted across China, further depleting the Ming treasury and weakening its defense capabilities.
In 1644, during a time of internal disarray, the Manchu took advantage and established the Qing Dynasty, promoting traditional Chinese cultural ideals of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism while closing off the capital to foreign ambassadors and asserting a China-centered international policy.
Meanwhile, climate changes, part of the intervals of the Little Ice Age, brought on temperature drops and resulted in widespread famine and floods across the country. A financial system that required taxes to be paid in silver further placed a burden on farmers, many of whom could not afford to pay their dues and faced land insufficiency. Moreover, a turn inward in foreign policy, occasionally relaxing to allow trade with Europeans, failed in preserving financial stability or preventing the ultimate overthrow of the dynasty.
Later, attempts to suppress uprisings that followed over time drained resources and highlighted the governance issues since Kublai Khan's unsuccessful military campaigns. The successive Ming emperors mismanaged the treasury, which was already suffering from natural disasters and the cold snap worsening conditions for the peasants, who faced inflation and food scarcity. Epidemics and banditry further contributed to the destabilization that welcomed the Ming's end and the rise of the Qing dynasty.