China and Japan’s Reaction to
Western Exploration
The Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644)
1368 Hongwu became the first Chinese emperor of the Ming Dynasty
He had many goals including:
• Restoring agricultural land
• Increasing China’s prosperity
• Erasing traces of the Mongols
His reforms included:
•
Increased the imperial administration by restoring merit-based civil
service exams
• Used respected traditions and institutions to promote stability, such as
the return to Confucianism
He became a tyrant
Power struggle after his death
Yonglo (Hongwu’s son)
Very curious about the world and in 1405 he
begins exploring the world with all voyages led by
Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim admiral
He showed Chinese superiority everywhere he
went by distributing gifts, which led other nations
to pay tribute to the Chinese
1433, after 7th expedition, the Chinese withdraw
into isolation
Ming Relations with Foreign
Countries
Official trade policies of the 1500s reflected
isolation with the government controlling all trade
through a few official ports
BUT merchants traded anyway as European
demand for silk and ceramics was very high
Manufacturing and commerce increased but China
did not industrialize

Commerce was against Confucian beliefs

Chinese policies favored agriculture
The Qing Dynasty (1644 –
1911)
Manchus (people of Manchuria)
1644 Manchus invade a weakened China and take the
Chinese name Qing
Kangxi (1654- 1722)
1661- he became ruler and ruled for about 60 years
He supported the intellectuals and lowered taxes
Quian- long (1735- 1795)
China reached its greatest size and prosperity under him
Trade with China
All Europeans wanted to trade with China but they
had to comply with China’s demands
Dutch
Accepted China’s rules of paying tribute and
doing a kowtow
British
Wanted to trade but wouldn’t comply with all the
restrictions
Daily Life in Ming and Qing
China
Development of agriculture pays off and rice
production increases leading to a population boom
(by 1800 the population is about 300 million!)
Most families farmed land
Sons were favored over daughters leading to
increase in infant mortality
Men dominated the household
Footbinding continued because of women’s
inferior status
Japan
1467 civil war shatters Japan’s feudal system and
the country drives deeper into chaos
Central rule ended taking power away from the
shoguns and to territorial lords
1467-1568- Sengoku or Warring States period

Powerful Samurai, known as daimyo, took control of
old feudal estates and the daimyo became lords of a
new type of feudalism in Japan
Japanese Leaders
Oda Nobunaga
Defeated rivals and seized Kyoto in 1568
Unable to unify Japan
Committed suicide in 1582
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nobunaga’s best general)
Wanted to destroy the rest of the daimyo that remained
hostile
By 1590 controlled most of the country
1592 invaded Korea
1598 died and troops withdraw from Korea
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Completes the unification of Japan
1600 defeated rivals in the battle of Sekigahara
and becomes sole ruler three years later
Moved capital to Edo (later renamed Tokyo)
Alternate attendance policy
Tokugawa Shogunate
Would continue through 1867 and Japan would
experience more than two centuries of stability,
prosperity, and isolationism
Contact between Europe and
Japan
1543 Portuguese sailors wash up on shore and want to get in on
Japan’s trade with China and Southeast Asia
Europeans introduce firearms to the Japanese
1549 Christian missionaries begin arriving in Japan
1612- Japan bans Christianity and focused on ridding the country of
foreigners
1637 peasants rebellion in the south, which led to persecution of all
Christians and push to rid entire Japan of Christians
Closed Country Policy
1639 Japan’s borders are sealed
For almost 200 years Japan developed a self- sufficient country, free
from European attempts to colonize or to establish their presence
Discussion Question
How was the treatment of Europeans
different in Japan and China?
How was it similar?