Bellringer
• Write a 1-3 paragraph
narrative summary of the
history of the Indian Ocean
trade between 600 and 1750.
– Consider:
– groups involved, locations traded
to, merchant interactions,
commodities traded, impacts and
exchanges…
Ming Dynasty
Tradition & Change China
A History of World Societies
by McKay
Pg. 575-585
Ming Reign
• 1368-1644
– What can be deduced from the
years of reign?
•Doesn’t fit periodization based on
European history because…
– China is the least affected by Europeans
– Who preceded the Ming?
– Who succeeded the Ming?
Ming Themes
• Agricultural reconstruction
• Maritime expeditions
• Commercial expansion
• Urban culture
Ming Government
• Emperors = incompetent or
erratic, despotic, ruthless
– Used exam system & scholar
bureaucrats but cautiously
– Increased centralization
•Example: No chancellor
•Disadvantages?
Forbidden City
• New Capital at Beijing
• Wealth, Power, Prestige
(ie centralization) of emperors
Ming Government
• Eunuchs:
– Castrated male slaves
•Acquired in dubious fashion
•Compliant & subservient
•Increasingly filled key
government roles
Ming Government
• Scholar-bureaucrats:
– Prized status because of
education & government
service
– Threatened by eunuchs &
emperors
•Often favored weak emperors to
allow bureaucracy to manage
empire
Ming Military
• Not expansionist
• Used hereditary service
obligations
• Garrisons in north & Great Wall
to control Mongols
– Seemingly self-sufficient
• Ultimately, weak relying on
northern nomads for security
Ming Daily Life
• Centered on family
– Marriage, Male heirs
– Status = combination of wealth,
education, family, &
government office
• Merchants still looked down on
– Attempted to marry scholarbureaucrats for status
Ming Daily Life
• Urban life
– Silver as currency
•Advantages? Disadvantages?
– Expansion of cities & trade
make economy strong
– Printing finally yields results
•New educated middle class
Ming Daily Life
• Rural life
– Reclaiming land
– Terracing farms
– Increased output =
increased population
Ming Decline
• Dynastic cycle
Zheng He’s
Expeditions
•How are his
personal
background, his
purpose, & his
interactions with
scholars symbolic
of the Ming?
Qing Dynasty
1644-1911
Qing Themes
• Northern nomadic Manchus
used to suppress rebels & ascend
to throne
• Expand China to new areas
Chinese Social Structure
Ruling Class
• Economic and
Social Changes
Scholar-Bureacrats
Gentry
Working Class
Peasants
How did this dynasty rise to
power?
• Chinese took advantage of chaos of
late Yuan rule to rebel against
Mongols
• Rebel leader and founder of Ming
Dynasty, Hong Wu, named his
dynasty “brilliant”
How did this dynasty govern
China?
• reintroduced Civil-Service Exam
• Emperors extremely powerful,
often ruled as despots
– Increased centralization
– Reduced factionalism
How did dynasty affect daily
life in China?
• Rebuilt bridges, canals, roads,
temples, shrines, tax reform,
Great Wall
– Early attempts to help peasants
– Late gentry dominance grows
What belief systems did this
dynasty encourage? Discourage?
• Rebirth of adherence to
Confucianism
• Many Chinese combined belief in
Daoism, Confucianism, and
Buddhism
European Arrival in Asia
• Asian Sea Trading Network
Arab Zone
•Glass
•Rugs & tapestries
•Slaves
Indian Zone
•Cotton
•Gems
•Pepper
Chinese Zone
•Paper & porcelain
•Silk & spice
• What did European bring & how did Asian
societies react?
JAPAN
Timeline
• c.1000-1540 = Feudal Japan
– Emperors & Shoguns w/o authority
– Daimyo w/ control
– War common
In order to get power, one
must attack those who
have it.
Bringing Unity
• From feudal civil war, three military
generals unified Japan
1. Nobunaga
2. Hideyoshi
3. Tokugawa
•
Make use of European imports to strike
at old authority
–
–
Use guns & surprise attacks to undermine rival daimyo
Use Christianity to undermine Buddhism
Timeline
• c.1000-1540 = Feudal Japan
– Emperors & Shoguns w/o authority
– Daimyo w/ control
– War common
• 1540-1600 = Unification
– Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Tokugawa
– Era of European influence
After Unification
• Unification by generals brought
strict military government
• Emperor remained figurehead in Kyoto
• Daimyo remained regional lords
…but…loyal to military dictator, Shogun
Tokugawa Shogunate
(Edo Period)
Timeline
• c.1000-1540 = Feudal Japan
– Emperors & Shoguns w/o authority
– Daimyo w/ control
– War common
• 1540-1600 = Unification
– Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Tokugawa
– Europeans bring guns & Christianity
• 1600-1867 = Tokugawa Shogunate
In order to keep power, one
must prevent others from
getting it
After Unification
• Most European influence removed
– Christians persecuted
– Guns banned
Selective Borrowing…
• Attempted to balance change & stability
1. Dutch exchange at Nagasaki
• Technology & science
• Manufactured good & techniques
2. School of National Learning
• Emphasized Japanese heritage
– Shinto
– Respect for emperor
– Samurai culture & bushido
Maintain Control?
…remove rival influences,
but how to create loyalty?
Loyalty?
• Alternate Attendance System
– Daimyo –
1 yr in Edo (Tokyo),
1 yr in district
– Travel & gift giving
• Result: improved economy
• Improved roads & internal commercial
economy
Result…
Unification brought:
• Peace & end to
civil war
• Rigid hierarchy
• Controlled isolation
• Internal development
• Heritage emphasized
But…
Social upheaval still on horizon…
• With peace came:
innovation & economic growth
– Which led to:
population growth, decreased need for
Samurai, increased wealth of merchants