The Ming Dynasty (c. 1368 AD – c. 1644 AD), was founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋, known as the Hongwu Emperor 洪武 and it was the successor to the Yuan Dynasty 元朝 and succeeded by the Qing Dynasty 清朝. At its height, the Ming Dynasty had a population of 160 million people. The Ming was described by Edwin O. Reischauer, John K. Fairbank and Albert M. Craig as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history". It was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese.