1368 was the year that
Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang changed his name to
Hung-Wu, drove the
Mongol Yuan Dynasty out of
Beijing and founded a
dynasty that would last for two hundred and seventy-six years. He also initiated the reconstruction of
the Great Wall of China, building on or replacing the Wall which had already existed for close to sixteen centuries; most of the wall as we know it dates from the
Ming Dynasty.
Meanwhile...
1368 also saw the death of king Li Thai of Thailand, under whose reign Theravada Buddhism reached its height in the region; in Myanmar (Burma), the 1,262-year-long Bagan period finally drew to a close; and in Delhi Firoz Shah Tughlak completed the Qutab Minar, one of Delhi's most striking monuments. The Qutab Minar is a tower of sandstone and marble which stands more than 72 metres tall and took the best part of two centuries to build; it is covered with carvings of intricate patterns and verses from the Koran.