The Chinese regarded earthquakes and other natural catastrophes as signs of Heaven's anger. Many times people interpreted them as warnings of other things to come. In 1626, eighteen years before the Ming empire collapsed, a strong earthquake hit the area around Beijing. The following is a description of the event:

When the . . . partisians [palace eunuchs] were secretly plotting in the palace, there was a sudden earthquake. A roof ornament over the place where they were sitting fell without any apparent reason and two eunuchs were crushed to death. In a moment there was a sound like thunder rising from the northwest. It shook heaven and earth, and black clouds flowed over confusedly. Peoples' dwellings were destroyed to such an extent that for several miles nothing remained.

The reason why the earth growls is that throughout the empire troops arise to attack one another...