2. Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty (led by Zhu) rids China of
the Mongols and lasts from 1368 – 1644
Strong central gvt
Confucian principles
Reinstates civil service exam
Energizes and emphasizes Chinese
culture to erase Mongol influence
3. Zheng He
Chinese navigator in the
early 1400s
Traveled to SE Asia, Indian
Ocean and East Africa (100
yrs before Europeans do)
Chinese govt suddenly bans
the building of seagoing
ships in 1433 (when Zheng
He dies), Zheng He’s fleets
rot away and China turns
inward
Confucian Scholars actually
burn records of his journeys
State considered the
expeditions “silly” and a waste
of resources
5. What might have happened if the Chinese spent
the 15th and 16th centuries exploring?
6. Ming dynasty declines through the 16th
century
State still concerned about Mongols,
revamping the Great Wall
1600’s – famines, plummeting economy,
peasant revolts
1644 – Ming emperor invites Qing
warriors from Manchuria to quell a
peasant uprising, but oust the emperor
instead.
Qing (Manchu) Dynasty from 1644 -
1914
7. Manchus
Obsessed with remaining ethnically
elite (only 3% of the population)
Ban marriage of Manchu’s and
Chinese
Chinese forbidden to learn Manchu
language
Need the best and brightest of the
ethnic Chinese to help run the gvt –
so competition on the civil service
exam intensifies (the Manchu’s don’t
care about class)
8. Qing Dynasty
Will grow to
include
Taiwan and
parts of
Mongolia,
central Asia
and Tibet
Tributary
states –
Burma,
Nepal, and
Vietnam
9. Isolationism
Continue to focus inward
Focus only stretches as far as tributary
states
Fierce protectors of culture – ban
Christianity in 1724
Trade is restricted to only one city and is
regulated by the government
Silver streaming into Chinese economy
10. Japan
1542 – Portuguese established trade, missionaries poured in
300,000 or so Japanese converted to Christianity
1100s-1500s – era of feudalistic heirarchies
Era of daimyos (territorial lords) pledging allegiance to the shogun
(military overlord)
1500s Civil War breaks out, several warlords emerge and dominate
the different Japanese Islands
Toyotomi Hideyoshi – general, gains power, unifies Japan in
1590
Dreams of expanding the empire, attacks Korea
11. 1592 and 1597: Korea vs.
Japan
Hideyoshi attacks Korea
Korean Admiral Yi Sun-shin has his
70 foot “turtle boat”
Iron covering, looks like a turtle,
has holes for oars and cannons
Sinks hundreds of Japanese
vessels, even though the
Japanese have the musket from
the Portuguese
Admiral Yi dies in the attacks, but
the Japanese don’t attack again until
the 1910s
(Japanese invade Manchuria during
this time too, but will have to
withdraw after losing most of their
navy)
12. After Hideyoshi’s death,
Tokugawa Ieyasu daimyo’s meet under
Tokugawa Ieyasu and
create the Tokugawa
Shogunate in 1603
1603-1867
Bakufu (tent gov’t, implied only
temporary gov’t replacement
of the emperor’s pwr)
Claims personal
ownership to all the lands
Institutes rigid social
class, (its Confucian met
caste)
Warrior
Farmer
Artisan
merchant
**No Social mobility
13. Edo Period
Tokugawa moves capital from Heian (Kyoto) to
Edo (Tokyo)
Reversal in attitudes toward Western influence
Christians are persecuted, missionaries expelled
1580s – missionaries voted off the island
1590s – persecution of converts/missionaries begins
1614 – banned the faith
○ Kicked off the island, hunted down and killed
○ Rebellions persist, Christianity becomes and
underground faith
National Seclusion Policy – Japanese prohibited
from traveling abroad and from receiving visitors to
Japan
Only exceptions – Korea, China, and Netherlands
(Dutch and Nagasaki)
14. Rationale for Isolation
Spain in the Philippines
England and Portuguese hassling China
When Portuguese come into Japan to
negotiate, Japanese kill them on the
spot
15. Isolation is good for the Arts
Buddhism and Shinto still
influence culture
Kabuki theatre
Bunraku (puppet plays)
Haiku
Scrolls, wood-block prints and
paintings
16. South and Southeast Asia
Portuguese spearhead exploration, Dutch
follow suit
Port/Span are zealous missionaries,
Brit/Dutch not nearly as zealous
Conversions difficult in S and SE Asia…
why?
Islam has existed for 1000 years
Hindu ideas and rituals have existed for over
2000 years
Areas of success?
○ Philippines
17. Effects of Europe on Asia
Set up some bases that are new, more
powerful, wealthy port cities
New trade routes
Muslim Trade centers start to decline in
value
Introduce sea warfare
Diffusion causes
New food from Americas to enter Asia
Silver from Americas pours into Asia
Europeans get malaria and dysentary
18. Asian Reactions
Some empires are just too strong and too
populated
Cultures are too established
China and Japan just aren’t interested
Missionaries contained
Limited trading contacts
China stopped trading and allowed Europe to take
over “global” (and now actually global) trade
Because of isolation…
Asia does not keep up with Europeans
After 4000 years of technological superiority,
European technology surpass Asian technology
Fateful, consequential, critical time in history
But…does Europe still dominate?