China and JapanIsolation and Exploration

The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644

The Rise of the MingThe First Ming Emperor was a peasant’s son

HongwuHe commanded a rebel army in 1368 that drove the Mongols out of China

Ruled from NanjingReforms:

Restore agricultural lands

Erase all traces of the MongolsEncouraged a return to Confucian standards

Restored the merit-based civil service examination system

Encouraged fish farming and commercial crops, increased rice production and improved irrigation

YongloTook over after his father’s death in 1398Kept most of his father’s reforms, but moved the capitol to Beijing

1405 – Launched the first of 7 voyages

Partially to impress the world, and partially to expand China’s Tribute system

Beijing: The Forbidden City:Took 14 years to build

Surrounded by 35’ tall walls

Commoners and foreigners were forbidden to enter

The Voyages of Zheng HeZheng He Was a Chinese Muslim Admiral

who led all 7 of the voyages

Everything about these journeys was large, the size of

the ships, number of the ships, and the distance

travelledTravelled from Southeast Asia to Eastern Africa

Anywhere from 40 to 300 Ships

Up to 27,000 men

Largest treasure ships were 400 feet long (Columbus’ largest ship was 85’)

Brought gifts to show how superior China was and 16 countries sent tribute in return

A RETURN TO ISOLATIONIn 1433 The Chinese stopped Zheng He’s Exploration

In order to keep outside influence to a minimum, only the government was allowed to trade and only through 3 coastal cities

Canton

Ningbo

Macao

In reality, many merchant’s smuggled goods to waiting EuropeansSome industries grew rapidly such as silk making and ceramics

China didn’t become highly industrial however, for 2 reasonsFirst, China’s economy was geared towards agriculture and taxes on agriculture were low

Second, The idea of commerce offended Chinese Confucian beliefs because merchants were “supporting foreigners and robbery”

Manchus Found the Qing DynastyThe Ming dynasty began to fall apart by 1600

Primarily because of ineffective leaders, corrupt officials, and a bankrupt government

To the Northeast of the great wall was the area called ManchuriaThis was home of the Manchus

In 1644 they attacked and destroyed the Ming Empire

After they captured Beijing, they took a Chinese name for their dynasty

QINGPronounced Chihng

They would rule for 260 years and expand the boundaries to include Taiwan, Mongolia and Tibet

China under the Qing DynastyThe people of China first resisted the Qing, but slowly came to accept them after they restored Chinese prosperity and upheld Chinese traditions

KangxiBecame emperor in 1661 and ruled for 60 years

Reduced expenses and lowered taxesOffered government positions to scholars and artists

Learned about science, technology, medicine, and mathematics

QIAN-LONGKangxi’s grandson who ruled from 1736 to 1795

Kept up the reforms of Kangxi, and continued to work on the problems that China faced

Continued IsolationThe Chinese believed that they were the center of the universe, and had been for 2000 years

This meant that if any Europeans wanted trade with China, they’d have to follow Chinese Rules

Including:Trading only at special ports

Paying TributePerforming the Kowtow

The Dutch did all these things and they were accepted as trading partners

For this, they returned to Europe with: Porcelain

Silk And the hot, new trade item: Tea

The British:The British also wanted to increase trade with China but didn’t like the rules

Lord George Macartney

The British sent Lord Macartney with a letter from King George III to Qian-longBasically, they were demanding better trade agreements including the acceptance of British goods

Macartney refused to kowtow, and Qian-long refused the British demands

Korea Korea had been conquered by the Manchu in 1636, and became a mirror of what was going on in China

Life in Ming and Qing ChinaMost Chinese families farmed the land for hundreds of years.

During the Qing Dynasty fertilizer and irrigation use increased

Farmers grew rice, corn, and sweet potatoes

Better food production led to a population explosion

Families favored sons over daughters because only sons could perform vital religious rituals and only sons would raise their children in their parents homes, guaranteeing a work force

Consequently, female children were sometimes killed

Women did supervise education, control family finances, and work in the fields, some even worked as midwives or textile workers

JAPANNew Feudalism under Strong Leaders

The Sengoku – warring states period from 1467-1568

Samurai Seized power in old feudal estates. They then offered protection in return for loyalty

They soon became known as DaimyoWhich means great name. They became feudal lords

Under this system, the emperor in Kyoto lost all his power and the Daimyo became the ruling class

Daimyo built fortified cities and fought each other for territory using samurai and foot soldiers

Powerful New Leaders Restore Order

Oda Nobunaga Wanted to take control of the entire country and he did so by capturing Kyoto in 1568

In 1575 3000 soldiers under Nobunaga’s command destroyed a force of Samurai cavalry

When he failed to unite the country and one of his generals turned on him, he committed seppuku, or ritual suicide

Toyotomi HideyoshiWas a follower of Nobunaga and he continued the unification

By 1590 Hideyoshi controlled most of the country

1592 he began a long distance campaign to invade Korea that ended in a loss, with his death, in 1598

THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATETokugawa Ieyasu Succeeded in Unifying Japan in 1600

Defeated enemies at Battle of Sekigahara

Became Shogun, or sole ruler

Moved the capital to Edo (Later Tokyo)

Even though he had unified the country, Ieyashu had to control the daimyo

To do this he made them spend every other year in Edo and leave their families behind when they went back to their villages

Life in Tokugawa JapanSociety was very structured

By the 1700s Japan was becoming more urban, with Edo becoming the largest city in the world with more than 1,000,000 people

This led to more jobs for people, especially women

Worked in entertainment, textiles and publishing

Most stayed at home, worked the fields, managed her household, and cared for children, as well as obeying their husbands without question

Culture in Tokugawa JapanSamurai attended dramas, that focused on tragedy and the courage of ancient warriors

Fiction became popular

People began reading Haiku which is a 5-7-5 syllable poem of 3 lines

It presents images instead of ideasON A JOURNEY, AILING

MY DREAMS ROAM ABOUTOVER A WITHERED MOOR

Tabi ni yandeYume wa Kareno O

Kakemeguru

Matsuo Basho

Kabuki

Noh

Kabuki was a form of theater that was done as skits of modern life.

All the roles were played by men, even those of women

Used elaborate makeup, costume, and movement

CONTACT BETWEEN EUROPE AND JAPANThe

Portuguese1534 - The Japanese met the Portuguese when they washed up after a shipwreck

They start bringing unfamiliar items to Japan such as

Clocks Eyeglasses Tobacco

firearms

Merchants wanted these items for their markets

Daimyo were also interested in these items, particularly musket and cannon

It didn’t take long for the Japanese to begin manufacturing their own weapons

Led to huge changes in warfare. Samurai tended to favor the sword and were

slaughtered by musket fire

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN JAPAN

At first, the Japanese didn’t mind the missionaries because they associated them with the merchants and their goods

BUTThe missionaries were there to convert the Japanese

By 1600 over 300,000 Japanese had been converted to Christianity

Missionaries success upset Tokugawa Ieyasu for a number of reasons

1. Missionaries were undermining traditional Japanese beliefs

2. THEY STARTED GETTING INVOLVED IN LOCAL POLITICS

3. They were helping the Portuguese take land at gunpoint

Ieyasu didn’t do anything at first, because he needed the Portuguese for trade

In 1612 he banned Christianity and began getting rid of all Christians in Japan

Repression of Christians continued even after Tokugawa diedFinally came to a head in 1637 when an unhappy Samurai led 30,000 peasants in rebellion

The Shogun was so angry he removed or killed all Christians and forced all Japanese people to show that they were faithful to Buddhism

This was all part of a policy trying to control and limit foreign ideas in Japan

The Closing of JapanThe Shogun finally realized that he could get rid of Missionaries and Merchants

Japan was closed by 1639

Only the port of Nagasaki remained open to trade

The Japanese were forbidden to leave