List of Ming dynasty era names
The Ming dynasty was the last unified dynasty founded by the Han ethnic group in Chinese history, lasting for 276 years. The Ming dynasty continued to use the emperor's era name, beginning with Emperor Wu of Han, to record the year, using a total of 17 era names. Among them, the first era name used was the Hongwu era name, inaugurated by Zhu Yuanzhang in 1368, and the last era name was the Chongzhen era name, which was suspended after Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself in Meishan during the Jiashen Incident; the longest era name in use was the Wanli era name, lasting about 47 years and 7 months, and the shortest was the Taichang era name, which succeeded Wanli for only about 5 months. After the Jiashen Incident, the Ming imperial clan successively established the Southern Ming regimes in the Jiangnan area. The Ming imperial clan's last regime was eradicated after Zhu Youlang, the Yongli Emperor, was captured and killed.