1. What European voyage initiated contact with South and East Asia?
Vasco de Gama, who sailed around Africa to India in 1498-99
2. Why limited European interest in Asia when they began contacting it in the 16th and 17th
centuries?
Europeans couldn’t find demand for any of their products in exchange for Asian silks or
porcelain. Few people wanted to convert to Christianity. Also, Asian kingdoms were too large
and stable to be conquered by Europeans.
SPANIARDS AND PORTUGUESE: FROM RECONQUEST TO CONQUEST
3. What is the significance of the fact that Muslims beat Europeans to South and SE Asia?
The presence of Islam made it more probable that inhabitants had already been exposed to the
high-quality goods Europeans offered. Also, it made conversion to Roman Catholicism less
likely.
BONDS OF COMMERCE
3. What is the Asian Sea Trading Network and what are its zones?
The Asian sea trading network was the system of trade that stretched thousands of miles along the
Asian continent. Trade, which had been expanding steadily for millennia, happened from the
Middle East and East Africa all the way to China and eventually Japan. This network can be
partitioned into an Arab zone, an Indian zone, and a Chinese zone.
4. What goods were traded in the Arab zone?
Glass, carpet, and tapestry were all produced and traded from the Arab area, which encompassed
the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
5. What goods were traded in the Indian zone?
Cotton textiles were the main products traded in the central portion of the Asian sea trading
network.
6. What goods were traded in the Chinese zone?
Paper, porcelain, and silk textiles were produced and traded.
7. Which products fetched the highest prices in markets across Asia?
Spices were the most valuable products, but ivory, precious stones, silk, and cotton were also
traded over long distances for large profits.
8. What characteristics of the trading network made it easier for Portugal to try to control it?
It had no central authority controlling it, nor did the ships carry much weaponry. Trade in the
seas around Asia was usually peaceful and ships did not need to be heavily armed.
TRADING EMPIRE
9. Why did Portugal try to take control of the trade network by force?
The Portuguese saw no way to conduct fair trade with Asian societies while still following the
properties of mercantilism. They feared that fair trade would strengthen the Muslims and others
at the expense of their own empire. Portugal could make up for its lack of numbers with its
superior ships and weaponry
10. What cities did the Portuguese claim in the early 1500s?
They took Ormuz, at the tip of the Persian Gulf, Gao, on the west coast of India, and Malacca, on
the tip of the Malaysian peninsula. Malacca was particularly important because of its location – it
was on a narrow strait that joined mainland Asia and island Southeast Asia.
PORTUGUESE VULNERABILITY
11. What doomed the Portuguese effort to monopolize spice trade?
They did not have the necessary soldiers or ships to control the trade network. Portuguese vessels
were constantly being lost due to overloading and poor ship design.
12. Which two European nations challenged the Portuguese in the early 17th century?
The Dutch and the English. The Dutch ended up taking Malacca, building another port at Batavia,
and claiming victory temporarily.
13. What were similarities between the Dutch trading empire and the former Portuguese one?
Both relied on fortified towns with factories to collect, organize, and manufacture products. Both
used warships on patrol to ensure their monopoly control of certain important products.
14. How did the trade tactics of the Dutch and English change over time?
Eventually they decided to work themselves into the established Asian trade patterns peacefully,
rather than trying to control the whole system.
GOING ASHORE: EUROPEAN TRIBUTE SYSTEMS IN ASIA
15. What was the relationship between Europeans and inland Asian kingdoms?
Europeans did not have the power or numbers to challenge even the smaller Asian kingdoms.
16. In the regions that Europeans could control, what tribute did they exact?
European tribute systems in Asia were similar to those of the Americas. Indigenous people could
live normally as long as they met agricultural quotas – either of native crops or of introduced
crops like coffee and sugar cane – established by Europeans.
17. What did the Spanish use to control and govern their colonies?
Administrative institutions: the governorship, the treasury office, and the royal court of appeals; a
body of laws; the church--missionaries and a cathedral; a university.
SPREADING THE FAITH
18. Which European countries were most interested in religious conversion?
Spain and Portugal, since they were Roman Catholic, were much more interested in converting
people than the Protestant Dutch and English Empires.
19. What did Italian Jesuit missionary Robert di Nobili try in India and why did it fail?
Di Nobili tried to convert Indians to Christianity from Hinduism by learning Sanskrit, reading
Hindu texts, dressing like a Hindu, and trying to convert the upper castes. Largely, Di Nobili was
rejected. Hindus would not accept the equality of all believers before God, one of the central
tenets of Christianity, because of their entrenched views of the caste system.
20. Which country was converted to Christianity with the most success?
The Philippines. They had never been exposed to Islam or Hinduism, so they accepted
Christianity more fully. Still, however, native religions continued to be practiced secretly.
MING CHINA: A GLOBAL MISSION REFUSED
21. Who founded the Ming dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang, who declared himself the Hongwu emperor
22. With the rise of the Ming Dynasty, what happened to the Mongol influence in China?
It was eradicated. Mongol dress and names were abandoned, and Mongol palaces and buildings
were raided and sacked.
ANOTHER SCHOLAR-GENTRY REVIVAL
23. What changes did the Hongwu emperor make regarding scholars and the Civil Service Exam?
He reappointed Confucian scholars to high positions in government. He reinstituted and
expanded the Civil Service Exam. The exam now had local and regional components and took
many days to complete.
REFORM: HONGWU’S EFFORTS
24. What political reforms did Hongwu make?
He abolished the position of chief minister, instituted harsh punishments for officials charged
with misdeeds, cut down on court factions and power conspiracies, limited the powers of eunuchs,
and exiled all potential rivals to the throne to provincial estates. Sometimes, however, his
techniques for maintaining power went too far, such as his heavy censorship of writings that
contradicted him.
A RETURN TO SCHOLAR-GENTRY SOCIAL DOMINANCE
25. In what ways did Hongwu improve the lives of Chinese peasants?
He supported public works projects, promised tax exemption to people who would clear and
cultivate unoccupied lands, and subsidized the production of silk and cotton.
26. Despite these reforms, why did peasants’ lives not improve much under Hongwu?
Gentry households continued to gain power and privileges as well. The gap between peasant and
gentry grew.
27. What societal changes occurred during the Ming dynasty?
Neo-Confucianism, which supported heavily the subordination of women to men and youths to
elders, grew stronger during the Ming dynasty. Women were treated worse than ever and could
only really gain respect through their family.
AN AGE OF GROWTH
28. What led to the population increase of the Ming dynasty?
The introduction of maize, sweet potatoes, and peanuts from Spanish and Portuguese merchants
allowed more intensive agricultural in the hilly southern regions of China.
29. Which industries led the commercial boom of the Ming dynasty?
Handicrafts such as silk textiles, tea, fine ceramics, and lacquerware, led this commercial
expansion.
30. Which two Chinese cities served as ports for Europeans during this time period?
Macao (southern China) and Canton (north-central China)
31. What artistic and literary changes accompanied the Ming dynasty?
Ming painting became busier and more colorful. In literature, major changes occurred. The
novel emerged as a literature form, and several novels from the Ming period continue to be read
and studied today.
AN AGE OF EXPANSION
32. Who was Zhenghe and what was his significance?
Zhanghe was a Ming naval admiral who led seven huge expeditions to locations as far as Persia
and the east coast of Africa. Zhanghe’s fleets had much larger fleets and much larger ships than
European contemporaries like Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus.
IN DEPTH: MEANS AND MOTIVES FOR OVERSEAS EXPANSION
33. What motivated the Zhanghe expeditions?
These expeditions were largely motivated by the ambitions of a single emperor and his eunuch,
not by a societal yearning to expand. China already had the land and products it needed to
thrive.
34. What group within Chinese society opposed foreign expeditions?
The scholar-gentry. The scholar-gentry thought that the emperor should focus on building armies
and fortifications within China, rather than launching frivolous expeditions to faraway
lands. They also hated the fact that eunuchs gained much power through such expeditions.
35. What were Europeans looking for when they launched expeditions?
European expeditions were launched by leaders and merchants, who looked to find lands to grow
cash crops or become rich through trade. Monarchs also wanted to spread their form of
Christianity to the heathen masses who inhabited the remainder of the world.
CHINESE RETREAT
36. How did the Ming limit overseas explorations?
They passed a series of edicts, beginning in 1390, limiting the size and number of ocean-going
ships allowed.
37. As Jesuit missionaries began to arrive in Beijing in the 1580s, trying to win converts within
the imperial court, what was the Chinese response?
The Chinese were tremendously interested in the technology that European missionaries
possessed, but were less interested in their Christian message. The Chinese were hostile at times,
but allowed some of the visitors to stay in the Ming imperial court.
MING DECLINE
38. What were internal symptoms of Ming decline?
They were the same as other dynasties. Corruption increased, public works projects fell into
disrepair, drought and famine raged, and farmers who had been forced off of their lands rose up
in rebellion.
39. What foreign entities threatened Ming power?
Pirates, both of Japanese and Chinese ethnicity, attacked ships in the mid-16th century.
40. How was the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, finally toppled?
In 1644, rebels from the northeastern province of Manchuria stormed the Forbidden City and took
it.
FENDING OFF THE WEST: JAPAN’S REUNIFICATION AND THE FIRST
CHALLENGE
41. How did Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi unite Japan after years of civil war?
Their daring and ruthlessness on the battlefield allowed these two military leaders to conquer
much of Japan. Also, these leaders fully recognized the power of firearms, traded from the
Portuguese. Hideyoshi particularly was also adept at diplomacy.
42. Who was Hideyoshi’s successor and what did he accomplish?
His name was Tokugawa Ieyasu, a vassal of Hideyoshi. He was granted the title of shogun in
1603 of the newly established Tokugawa shogunate.
DEALING WITH THE EUROPEAN CHALLENGE
43. What caused Nobunaga to accept western customs and Christianity?
He saw Christianity as a way to counter the rebellious Buddhist factions that would not submit to
his authority. Nobunaga’s successors, however, saw Christianity as a threat and eradicated it.
THE SHIFTING BALANCE OF POLITICS AND TRADE
44. The persecution of which group in Japan was the first step to Japan’s increasing isolation?
The Christians. Starting in the 1580s, missionaries were forced to leave. Over the next fifty
years, persecution of Christians was made so intense that followers could either renounce their
faith or face imprisonment or execution. Rebellions occurred, but Christianity was eventually
wiped out.
45. As Japan became more isolated, what city became its only international port?
Deshima, in Nagasaki bay
46. What was the school of National Learning?
It was an intellectual movement from the 18th century in Japan. It emphasized Japanese heritage
and customs, as opposed to Chinese Confucianism or other foreign influences. Still, small groups
of scholars managed to remain in contact with Western intellectuals.