The Plague's Affects on the Ming Dynasty

Mentioned briefly in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty unit was a reference to the decreasing Asian population caused by the plague. A recovery was made soon after, however I felt drawn to the subject and decided to further investigate. According to Wikipedia.com, the plague, also known as the Black Death, was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. The outbreak was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestils, which was thought to have started in Central Asia. As it reached Crimea, it was then transported to merchant ships following trade routs, resulting in the illness being spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The large, puss-filled bumps blanketing millions of bodies across Asia inflicted both tremendous fear and pain on the Ming Dynasty as a whole, causing a steep decline to be made. However, they were able to recover and pull themselves out of their slump, continuing on to a successful and productive future.