EAST MEETS WEST
THE SILK ROAD
In the second century BC, caravans
began traveling a 4,000 mile route
linking Southeast Asia with the West.
 Silk carried along this route made its
way to Rome
 In both directions, various political,
social, religious, and artistic ideas
flowed.
 Ghengis Khan and his Mongol
descendants gained control of the
region by the 13th century

THE SILK ROAD
THE PATTERN OF EAST-WEST
RELATIONS-- FROM THE FIRST
DISCOVERY OF A SEA ROUTE FROM
EUROPE TO ASIA-- WAS LARGELY ONE
OF WESTERN ACTION AND
EASTERN REACTION
Voyage of
Vasco da
Gama
The West
went to
the East,
but the
East saw
no need
to come
to the
West.
Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India
in 1498 opened important commercial traffic,
led to the expansion and consolidation of the
Portuguese Empire, and the spread of European
culture and Christianity in the Orient.
The Portuguese were quickly followed
by the Spanish and Dutch, and later the
French and British sent their ships into
Eastern oceans.
The British, with their superior naval
strength, finally became the dominant
colonial power in southern Asia.
The Armorial Bearings of the Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies
Granted by Garter and Clarenceux Kings of Arms in 1600 and as Borne and Used until 1709
In India, the
British found a
country governed
by the Mogul
emperors.
As the
emperors
grew
decadent,
the British
came in,
first as
advisors -later as
direct
rulers with
military
and
political
control.
Throughout
history, India’s
attitude to
conquerors
had remained
the same -- she
ignored them
as long as they
did not
threaten the
basic Hindu
identity.
The English were content to live
apart, safe in their compounds
and strongholds
Government House in Calcutta
1799-1803
As closely as possible, they duplicated
life in England -- with certain luxurious
additions.
In their
isolation,
most of the
colonialists
ignored the
rich culture
of India and
the
beauty of the
Indian arts.
BRITISH EMPIRE 1800 - 1947
The political
dominance of the
British
introduced
Western culture,
language,
methods of
government and
technology into
urban centers
Paddle-steamer on the Hooghly, watercolour over a lithographed
outline, Kalighat painting by Becaram Das Datta, 1857
In the establishment of English schools,
they introduced the revolutionary ideas
of equality, social reform and selfgovernment which India would adapt to
its own cultural pattern.
First meeting of Indian National Congress, 1916
Independence came to India
in 1947 after decades of
campaigning and non-violent
protest led by
Mahatma Gandhi.
Satyagrahi
Dandi March
1930
INDEPENDENCE
1947



India gained
independence from
British rule in 1947
The Indian
subcontinent was
partitioned into the
countries of India and
Pakistan (East and
West)
1971: creation of
Bangladesh from East
Pakistan

The Chinese
could boast
of a
civilization
that had
been
developed
and refined
for over
2,700 years
A civilization whose arts and technology far
surpassed those of Europe in the 13th
century
Chinese called their
country
CHUNG KOU,
the Middle Kingdom:
the center of the
world.
The Great Wall of China
Convinced of their own superiority,
the Chinese were content to ignore
anything foreign.
MING DYNASTY 1368-1644
MING DYNASTY 1368-1644




CHU YUAN-CHANG (1328-1398).
Ming Emperor.
Chinese silk scroll painting
Founded by Chu Yuanchang, a peasant who had
been a Buddhist monk, a
bandit leader and a rebel
general
Last native imperial
dynasty in Chinese
history
Re-adopted civil-service
examination system
One of China’s most
prosperous periods:
agricultural revolution,
reforestation,
manufacturing and
urbanization
AGE OF EXPLORATION




The Ming Dynasty, under
the naval leadership of
Zheng He, was noted for its
sea explorations and
extensive trade from Africa
to Southeast Asia
Greatest naval power in
world in 15th c.
However, scholars
convinced the Emperor in
1435 that taste for exotic
wares would cause decline
of dynasty
Trade and maritime
expansion was greatly
contracted
Zheng He
ZHENG-HE’S EXPEDITIONS

Seven epic voyages from 1405 to 1433, some 80 years
before Columbus's voyages.
ZHENG-HE AND COLUMBUS
Zheng He’s Treasure
Ship
Compared to Columbus’s
Santa Maria
MING PORCELAIN
Cranes: Taoist motif
Scene from Chinese play
Kraak ware –made
for export
MING LITERATURE
 Development of the novel
Arose from traditions of Chinese
storytelling
 Written in commoner’s language
 Divided into chapters at points
where storytellers would have
stopped to collect money
 Classics of Chinese literature:
 Water Margin, 16th c. – band
of outlaws
 Romance of Three Kingdoms,
16thc. – historical novel
 Monkey: Journey to the West,
16th-17th c.
Encyclopedias
Dictionaries



PAINTING
Lady
Tang Yin (Tang
Baihu)
(1470-1523)
Poet on a Mountaintop
Shen Zhou (Shen Chou)
1427-1509
DECLINE OF MING EMPIRE
Incompetence of later Ming Emperors:
absolute authority – abolition of office of
Prime Minister
 Rebellions in 17th c. caused by increasingly
burdensome taxes
 Threat from the Manchus in the North

THE QING DYNASTY
1644-1911
THE QING DYNASTY 1644-1911




The Manchu Qing dynasty was the second
minority to rule the whole of China.
Imperial China reached its zenith of power
and influence.
Feudal policy of rewarding land cultivation
coupled with a reduction or exemption from
taxation.
Several large works such as the Encyclopedia
of Chinese Writings (Confucian classics,
history, philosophy and belles-lettres), Kangxi
Dictionary, and A Collection of Books Ancient
and Modern, were compiled
China, convinced of its superiority, had
restricted trade and other contacts with the
West.
Desperate to open up the rich ports of
China, the Europeans finally found a
product they could sell
in China
opium…
”Opium is an imperious master and treats
its subjects like slaves. It first comes with a
gentle touch...
...and then in a few weeks when it has
got its grip upon the man, it shows itself
to be the cruelest taskmaster that ever
drove man to a lingering death.”
When the Chinese
government tried
to curb the opium
traffic, the British
gunboats
triumphed in the
Opium Wars
(1839-42,
1856-60)
China was forced to open her ports and the
interior to a flood of foreign merchants,
soldiers and missionaries and
to legalize the opium trade.
The
Open Door Policy
imposed by the
Western Powers
created havoc in
China:
depredation by
foreigners and
internal rebellion


A secret society in northern
China
began a campaign of terror
against Christian missionaries
and Chinese converts.
Foreigners called them “Boxers”
because they practiced martial
arts.
THE BOXER
REBELLION
1900
1912: Overthrow of
last Imperial
Dynasty and
establishment of a
republic under the
leadership of Sun
Yat Sen
WORLD WAR II
His successor, Chiang
K’ai Shek was caught
in a war on two fronts
-- against the
Japanese and the
Communists
 He eventually
retreated to Taiwan
and set up a
government there.

MAOIST VICTORY

When Mao Tse Tung entered
Beijing and established a
Communist government in
1949, it ended more than a
century of rebellions and civil
wars.
While the
Chinese looked
to the Russian
Revolution for
inspiration,
they adapted
Marxism to its
their own
agricultural
society with
the vast
number of
peasants, who
had been
oppressed
throughout
history
China, after a
period of
isolation,
rejoined the
world stage.
Most of Eastern Asia acknowledged the
superiority of Chinese culture from which
it had borrowed for centuries.
The Japanese,
Koreans, and
Southeastern
Asians had
adopted
elements of
Chinese culture
as models for
their own
societies.
The Japanese
borrowed the
Chinese system of
government,
Chinese characters
for writing, and
Chinese
conventions for art,
architecture and
literature
But the Japanese quickly
assimilated Chinese borrowings and
built their own unique island culture.
The Japanese created special forms of
entertainment such as Noh and Kabuki drama
And simple but
stylized rituals
such as the tea
ceremony
In their social relations, they developed rules of
conduct with an intricate web of obligations for all.
The Portuguese, in their early voyages of
discovery, were the first Europeans to
encounter Japanese culture in
the 15th century
Japan, reacted to the Western challenge
in a rather different fashion
SHOGUNATE
Throughout the 14th19th centuries,
Japan had isolated
itself from foreign
trade and contacts
under the rule of the
Shoguns.
In 1542 the first Portuguese traders and Jesuit
missionaries arrived in Japan. They brought firearms
and Christianity with them. The Jesuit Francis Xavier
undertook a mission to Kyoto in 1549-50.
Despite
Buddhist
opposition,
many
warlords
welcomed
Christianity
because they
wanted to
trade with
Western
nations for
armaments
Imposing
order
after a
series of
civil wars,
Hideyoshi
in 1587,
issued an
edict
expelling
Christian
missions.
By the 19th c., the
rigid class
distinctions were
crumbling in the
wake of a failing
economic system
DISAFFECTED
SAMURAI
WARRIORS
ROAMED THE
COUNTRY AS
BANDITS
MERCHANTS AND TRADESMEN, HAD
GAINED POWER AND WEALTH IN THE GROWING
Such was the situation
when, in 1853, US
Commodore Matthew
Perry
steamed into
Yokohama
Demonstrating the firepower of what the
Japanese called his “black ships,” Perry
demanded that Japan open trade with the West
Realizing they could not match the military
power of America, Japan agreed to establish
diplomatic and trade relations
MEIJI DYNASTY
The military
humiliation of the
Shogunate,
combined with the
social and economic
problems brought
about the restoration
of the Emperor in
1868
MODERNIZATION
Imperial
administrators
quickly embraced
reform and
completely remodeled
the government and
economy to resemble
those of 19th c.
Europe and the US.
The abrupt break with the past left many
Japanese with feelings of cultural loss and a
sense of dislocation and regret
RISE TO POWER
But it also led to a rise of
nationalism and the
emergence of Japan as a
major world power at the
turn of the century
SINO-JAPANESE WAR, 1894
JAPAN DEFEATS CHINA
RUSSOJAPANESE WAR
1904-05
This print criticizes a Russian
General and his troops by
representing the General as a
Daruma -- a limbless Buddhist
figure normally portrayed
wrapped in robes -- implying
that the Russians have no arms
and legs and so cannot fight.
Pearl Harbor,
December 7, 1941
WORLD WAR TWO
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
Yamana Ayao,
"Donate Clothes for the Returning
Refugees, Especially for Women and
Children,"
Fall 1945.
Douglas MacArthur
AMERICAN
OCCUPATION
CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
THE COUNTRIES OF THE EAST AND WEST
HAVE REACTED TO EACH OTHER IN DIFFERENT WAYS,
but each has adopted something of the other
In the 18th c. a craze for anything Chinese swept Europe - Chinese furniture, wallpaper, porcelain and oriental
gardens
Chinese Garden in Zurich
JAPONISME
Similarly in the 19th c.,
Japonisme infiltrated
Western visual and
performance arts
Monet, La Japonaise, 1876
EASTERN THOUGHT AND RELIGION
India, as
seen
through its
great
religious
literature,
was
admired by
Western
Romantics.
Ralph
Waldo
Emerson
wrote a
poem, “To
Brahma”
The Eastern
philosophies of
spiritual enlightenment
influenced the
development of
American
Transcendentalism and
European
Existentialism
The great
conflicts of the
20th c. drew in
both Eastern and
Western powers
as allies and
enemies
Memorial to the children who
died at Hiroshima
The greatest challenge of the 21st Century is
the challenge for diverse cultures to
understand each other and learn to live
peacefully with each other.