After the Yuan Dyansty , the Ming Dynasty ruled China . According to Chinese political orthodoxy , there could be only one legitimate dynasty whose rulers were blessed by Heaven to rule as Emperor of China ( see Mandate of Heaven ) , and so the Ming and the Northern Yuan denied each other 's legitimacy as emperors of China , although the Ming did consider the previous Yuan which it had succeeded to be a legitimate dynasty . Historians generally regard MÃ ng Dynasty rulers as the legitimate emperors of China after the Yuan Dynasty , though Northern Yuan rulers also claimed to rule over China , and continued to resist the Ming under the name `` Yuan '' or `` Northern Yuan . ''