Chapter 14
Discussion and Review
Mongol Empire
Mongolian Steppes
Xinjiang Region – Typical Uygher [Mongol]
“Yurt”
Mongol Invasions
Mongol Warriors
Mongol Archer
Gold Saddle Arch –
Mongols, 13c
Gold Saddle, Front View –
Mongols, 13c
Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws:





If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity.
If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children.
If you do not have children,
we will take your wife.
If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head.
Used cruelty as a weapon --> some areas never
recovered from Mongol destruction!
Mongol Nobleman, late
13c
Robe of a Mongol
Nobleman, early 14c
Yuan Golden Bowl, 13c
Yuan Empire (1279-1368)

Khubilai Khan
Declared Great Khan in 1265
 founded the Yuan empire in 1271
 Moved capital to Beijing
 Incorporated Chinese traditions

 Confucian

laws and public policies
Government
Western Asian Muslims as official
 Hierarchical system
 Legally defined status groups
 Confucians had a weak role
 merchants and doctors elevated

Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, 12791368 C.E.

Kublai Khan [r. 1260-1294]

Pax Mongolica [“Mongol Peace”]
Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them. 
No Chinese in top govt. posts.
Believed foreigner were more
trustworthy.
Encouraged foreign trade & foreign
merchants to live and work in China.
 Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254-1324)

A Venetian merchant.

Traveled through Yuan
China: 1271-1295
 “Black Stones” [coal]
 Gunpowder.
 Noodles.
Marco Polo’s Travels
Yuan Dynasty

Economy / Trade
Tax farming
 Used paper money and copper coins
 Revitalized trade


Cultural Diffusion
Encouraged sharing and exchange of ideas
 Medical information, Science, Mathematics,
warfare, etc.

Yuan Porcelains &
Ceramics
China’s last native imperial dynasty!
Ming Dynasty - 1368 – 1644
Closed borders to foreigners
 severed relations with Middle East and Central
Asia
 moved capital to Nanjing; later moved backed
to Beijing
 The Ming were nationalistic and turned toward
Confucianism.

2
How Did the Ming Restore
the Chinese Government…
1. Restored the civil service system and
made the exams more rigorous than ever
2. Revived Confucian learning
3. Repaired the canal system that linked
regions and made trade easier
4. Supported a revival of arts and literature
The Forbidden City: China’s New
Capital
Revived the Civil Service Exam
Ming Cultural Revolution
 Printing & Literacy

Cheap, popular books:
 woodblock printing.
 cheap paper.


Examination system.
Leads to explosion in
literacy.


Leads to further popularization
of the commercial market.
 Culture & Art

Increased literacy leads to
increased interest in
cultural expressions, ideas,
and things:




Literature.
Painting.
Ceramics.
Opera.
Ming Silver Market
 Spanish Silver Convoys


Triangle route:
 Philippines to China to Japan.
Silver floods Chinese Market:
 Causes devaluation of currency & recession
 Adds to reasons for Chinese immigration
overseas.
 Reduces price of Chinese goods in Europe
 Increases interest in Chinese culture & ideas in
Europe.


Helps fund conquest of New World

Encourages Europeans in conquest & trade.
Ming Dynasty, 13681644 C.E.
 Golden
Age of Chinese
Art
 Moderation
 Softness
 Gracefulness

Hundreds of thousands of
workers constructed the
Forbidden City.
Ming Emperor Tai Zu (r.
1368-1398)
The Tribute System
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
 Ming “Treasure Fleet”
 Each ship 400’ long & 160’ wide
 China’s “Columbus?”
1371-1435

Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages
 First Voyage: 1405-1407 [62 ships; 27,800 men].
 Second Voyage: 1407-1409 [Ho didn’t go on this trip].
 Third Voyage: 1409-1411 [48 ships; 30,000 men].
 Fourth Voyage: 1413-1415 [63 ships; 28,500 men].
 Fifth Voyage: 1417-1419
 Sixth Voyage: 1421-1422
 Emperor Zhu Gaozhi cancelled future trips and ordered ship
builders and sailors to stop work.
 Seventh Voyage: 1431-1433
 Emperor Zhu Zhanji resumed the voyages in 1430 to restore
peaceful relations with Malacca & Siam
 100 ships and 27,500 men; Cheng Ho died on the return
trip.
Zheng He’s Mission

Mission



To reestablish trade links with
the Middle East
Bring Southeast Asian
countries and their overseas
Chinese population under its
influence
Accomplishments



Acquired Ming tributary states
50 new tributaries
Overall not very profitable
Shape of the World Video Clip…
 1498 --> Da Gama reached Calcutta, China’s favorite port.
Why did Ming emperors turn their back
on overseas exploration?
1. Confucian scholars had little interest in
overseas ventures. To them, Chinese
civilization was superior to all others.
2. The Chinese wanted to preserve ancient
traditions, which they saw as the source of
stability.
3. Fleets of seagoing ships were costly and did
not produce any profits.
Ming Empire: Technology
Ming technological innovation slowed after
1400, though the economy continued to grow.
 The causes of the slow-down were complex

growth in population, large labor supply lowered the
need for mechanization
 Revival of civil service exam
 scarcity of metals for the building of new machines
 relative lack of technological challenge from military
enemies were all contributing factors.

Ming Vases, 18c
Ming Carved Lacquer
Dish 15c
Ming Scroll Painting
“Travelers in Autumn
Mountains”
Ming Painting – “Taoist
Scholar”
Ming Painting – “Birds and
Flowers”, 16c
Ming Painting and
Calligraphy, early 16c
Ming Empire Vs Mongols

Similarities
Ming China was built on a Mongol foundation
 political structure and administration

 including
the military system and a hereditary system of
social stratification.

Differences

More ideological than structural
 Closed
borders to foreigners, severed relations with
Middle East and Central Asia, moved capital to Nanjing

The Ming were nationalistic and turned toward
Confucianism.
Geography of Japan
•
The surrounding
seas have both
protected and
isolated Japan
Here come the Mongols
•Only Severe threat to Japan
Prior to World War II
•Attracted by gold, pearls and
power the Kublai Khan sent a
letter demanding submission
and tribute in 1268
•Two Attempts were made in
1274 and 1281
Mongol Armour, 1271.
Japan Defeats
the Khan’s Army!!
• First attempt 900 ships
and 40,000 men
• Surprisingly a strong wind
came up “kamikaze” or the
divine winds
• Destroyed 200 ships and
13,000 men
A stone barrier 20 km long
bordering the coast of Hakata Bay
at Fukuoka
• By 1281 the samurai had
built a stone wall and the
Khan’s army was fought
off from the wall!
•
Vietnamese Legend
Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader of thirteenthcentury China, sent an army to conquer Vietnam.
The Mongols smashed the Vietnamese capital but
were repulsed by a Vietnamese guerrilla counteroffensive. A second Mongol invasion followed that
consisted
of 500,000 soldiers. The Mongols were met by a
Vietnamese force of 200,000 men led by Tran Hung
Dao who is today considered to be Vietnam’s
greatest national hero. According to a legend that
reminds us of England’s King Arthur story, a
magical turtle arose from a lake and gave Tran an
enchanted sword. He used this sword to again
defeat the Mongols and then returned it to the turtle
in the lake.
Han Conquest







Han conquered the southern “barbarians” in 111
B.C.E. by always had trouble controlling the area.
Why? Geography
Viet elite adopted the bureaucratic ways of the
Chinese.
Adopted Confucianism.
Adopted ancestor worship and extended family
concept.
Buddhism became a dominant influence in the
religious and cultural life of the people.
Position of women was stronger than in China

Trung sisters
Independence
Massive rebellion in 907, taking
advantage of political chaos of the
Tang.
 939 won independence from China
 Defeated all 3 invasion attempts by the
Yuan Mongols
 Vietnam's independence ended in the
mid-19th century CE, when the
country was colonized by the French
Empire.

Koryo Dynasty





Root of modern name – Korea
918 – 1392 C.E.
From the Silla through Koryo adoption of
Chinese influences
Adopted Chinese political institutions
Tributary system to the Chinese emperor
Mongols Influence in Korea

Cultural Diffussion
The Mongols shared information and facilitated the
spread of technologies and knowledge to Korea.
 philosophical ideas of Yuan China, astronomical
observation, mathematics, and growing of cotton

Fall of the Koryo


Mongol invasion of 1231.
Koryo was a “puppet” dynasty of this time.



Overtime it will become attached and loyal to
Mongols
In 1392, Yi Song-gye seized power and
founded the Yi Dynasty (or sometimes seen
as the New Chosen).
Yi Dynasty lasted until 1910.
Choson (or Yi) Dynasty
1392-1910
• In 1392, the
Koreans
overthrew their
Mongol
conquerors and
set up the Choson
dynasty
• The period began
in 1392 and
ended in 1910.
• Japan will control
Korea from 1911
to 1945.
Painting on Silk
- 18th century
Yi Dynasty (1392 -1910)

The Yi kingdom
Established the longest dynasty in Korea
 The Mongols shared information and facilitated the
spread of technologies and knowledge to Korea.


Education

Moving from block printing to movable type, brought
about a very high rate of literacy
 Hangul

military technology
Patrol ships with mounted cannons, gun powder
arrow-launchers, and armored ships
 made possible a formidable navy

Class System



Aristocrats (ruling class)
Yang-ban (Upper class)
Jung-in (Middle class)


Chun-min (Lower class)


Merchants, artisans,
doctors
Peasants, farmers, slaves,
Baek-jung (untouchables)

butchers, executioners
Easy to Learn Language


Illiteracy is virtually
nonexistent in Korea.
This is another fact
that attests to the
easy learn ability of
Han-gul.
Han-gul Language
As the above examples clearly show, Hangul. with only 14 consonants and 10 vowels,
is capable of expressing virtually any sound.
Hanbok

In the Choson dynasty people were garments called the
Hanbok.
The clothes reflected the social status
 people wore the clothes of different designs,
patterns, and colors according to their social
classes.

Hanbok
Hanbok
Royalty