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Establishment of the Ming Wei-Suo Military System

Type Event Region Asia Time 1370–1379

During the Hongwu era the Ming established the wei-suo system with hereditary military households and military-agricultural colonies, taking shape in…

Timeline

  1. 1372–1374Nanjing (early Ming capital) · JiangnanDrawing on Yuan precedent and founding-war experience, the Ming court established military units based on the wei (about 5,600 men) and the suo (about 1,120 men), with hereditary military households, under the Five Chief Military Commissions, with regional Regional Military Commissions locally, laying the framework of the wei-suo system.
  2. 1375–1379Northern frontier and key coastal locations · Northern ChinaIn the middle and later Hongwu period, the Ming court established wei and suo on a large scale along the northern frontier, in Liaodong, on the coast, and at key interior locations, aligning wei-suo with Regional Military Commission jurisdictions to form a three-tier 'Regional Commission-wei-suo' system, making the wei-suo military system the basic form of Ming military organization.

Sources