Section 12.4

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Kublai Khan died in 1294.
A period of weakness followed and Chinese people showed how much they resented
Mongol control and decided to take back their throne
1368 – a rebel leader named Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor moving the capital to
Nanjing.
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Changed his name to Hong Wu (military emperor)
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He brought back order, but was a cruel leader.
Trusted no one, killed people he suspected of
treason (disloyalty to the government)
Ruled for 30 years.

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Yong Le (son of Hong Wu) took over after his father’s death.
He moved the capital back to Beijing in
1421and built a large series of palaces and government buildings called the Imperial City.
The very center is known as the Forbidden City because it is home to China’s emperors.
China’s emperor’s lived there for 500 yrs. Today you can visit it if you visit China.

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Restored civil service examinations (tests were even harder
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Carried out a census from time to time so they could collect taxes more accurately.

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Hong Wu ordered canals and farms destroyed by the Mongols to be rebuilt and ordered people to move to the new farms.
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He ordered new forests to be planed and new roads to be paved.
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Repaired and expanded the Grand
Canal to improve shipping .
Encouraged farmers to grow cotton so they could rely less on other countries.

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Early Ming emperors were curious about the world outside China so they built a large fleet of ships.
From 1405 to 1431, Emperor Yong Le sent the fleet on seven overseas voyages to:
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trade with other kingdoms,
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3.
show off China’s power demand that weaker kingdoms pay tribute to China

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Zheng He – the leader of the journey, a Chinese
Muslim and court official.
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First fleet had 62 large ships, 250 small ships, almost
28,000 men.
Traveled to southeast Asia in his first voyage.
Later travelled to India, the Persian Gulf, east Africa.
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Traded Chinese goods silk, paper, and porcelain.
Brought back silver, spices, wood, and other goods.
But some people complained – it’s too expensive, bad to bring in outside ideas, and helped merchants get rich.
People felt merchants went against Confucian teachings by putting themselves ahead of society.

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Agter Zheng He’s death, Confucian officials convince the emperor to stop the voyages.
The boats are dismantled.
The shipbuilding technology is forgotten within 50 years.

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In 1514 a fleet from Portugal arrived in China. It was the first time a European ship had ever sailed to
China since Marco Polo.
The Europeans had come to encourage trade and to convert them as Christians.
The Chinese thought the Europeans were barbarians
(uncivilized people).
At first they refused to trade with the Portuguese, but by 1600, they agreed to set up a trade post in
Macao, but the trade remained limited.
Despite their resistance, Jesuit priests traveled with the goods on ships. The priests were highly educated and impressed the Chinese. But they couldn’t get them to become Christians.

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Ming emperors had taken too much power for themselves and had not been working with their officials.
The greedy officials instead went out and taxed the peasants who eventually revolted.
The Manchus attacked China’s northern border and defeated the Chinese army capturing Beijing.
In 1644, the Manchus will create their own dynasty.