More than 180 experts from home and abroad gathered at an international seminar Wednesday in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province to discuss the history of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Co-sponsored by Chinese Society for Ming Studies, Northwest Normal University, the Academy of Social Sciences of Gansu Province and Qinghai provincial Normal University, the five-day seminar carries the theme of "Northwest China During the Ming Dynasty and Other Issues."

The source with the organizing committee said the experts and scholars will study the dynasty in terms of its politics, economy, culture and ideology.

The experts will also discuss topics related to the peasant uprising leader Li Zicheng in the last years of the dynasty.

Zhang Xianqing, head of the Chinese Society for Ming Studies, said the seminar is expected to promote academic exchanges.

Founded in 1983, the Chinese Society for Ming Studies has organized ten seminars in the past 22 years, making it a regular international academic exchange.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)