J. Dardess

John Dardess

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Me and Ming China:  An Interview with John Dardess

Description of Research:

John Dardess became interested in Ming China in the early 1960s at Columbia University. The Ming dynasty reminded him of the occupation of Germany by Adolf Hitler and then Stalin after him. With growing interest in China's past, John began research on Ming Taizu. Taizu, like Hitler, rose to great power from humble origins, and like Hitler, had awful bloody plans to remake the world. Through generous support of the United States government, John was able to write several biographies for the Dictionary of Ming Biography. While at the University of Kansas he expanded on the Ming dynasty and wrote about the history chronologically. Some of those books covered the collapse of the preceding Yuan dynasty, the founding of the Ming dynasty, and the late Ming dynasty. His most recent book is Ming China 1369-1644.