China Rejects European Outreach

         The Ming Dynasty

• 1514: Portuguese ships landed on the Chinese coast
• China under control of the powerful Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
• Ming Dynasty controlled extensive lands, and gathered tribute from areas like Korea
• Ming Dynasty had taken over after Mongol rule (Yuan Dynasty) and wanted to protect area from outsiders.

The Rise of the Ming

• Rebel army, led by Hongwu, drove the Mongols out of China in 1368
• Hongwu became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty
• Reforms of Hongwu:
• Restore agricultural lands devastated by war
• Erase Mongol influence
• Increased rice production
• Restoration of Confucianism
• Merit-based civil service exam reinstituted
• Hongwu became more tyrant like in latter part of his reign
• Power struggle following Hongwu’s death, Yonglo took over.
• Moved royal court to Beijing
• 1405 launched seven voyages of exploration led by Muslim admiral and eunuch, Zheng He

The Voyages of Zheng He

• Earliest voyages were to Southeast Asia and India, eventually Arabia and eastern Africa
• 40 to 300 ships for each voyage- crews of up to 27,000 people
• Zheng He distributed gifts at the ports, to show Chinese superiority
• 16 countries sent tribute to the Ming court
• 1433: China ended voyages and retreated to self-sufficient isolation

Ming Relations with Foreign Countries

• Wanted to keep influence of outsiders to a minimum
• Only government could conduct foreign trade through 3 coastal ports
• High demand for Chinese goods (Europeans mostly traded with silver)
• Large-scale industrialization did not occur, partly because Confucianism viewed merchants as “parasites”
• Christian missionaries also went to China, including Jesuit Priest Matteo Ricci.  Gained some favor, but many educated Chinese people opposed Christianity

The Qing Dynasty

• By 1600 many problems in Ming Dynasty: unemployment, starvation, bad harvests and high taxes
• 1644: Manchus (from northern area of Manchuria) invaded China and took over and established the Qing Dynasty

China Under the Qing Dynasty

• Many Chinese resisted rule by the non-Chinese Manchus
• Confucianism maintained
• Kangxi: Qing emperor from 1661 to 1721- reduced government expenses and lowered taxes.  Allowed Jesuits at court.
• Qian-long: grandson of Kangxi, ruled from 1736-1795: China reached its greatest size and prosperity.

Manchus Continue a Policy of Isolation

• China referred to itself as the “Middle Kingdom” and imposed many restrictions on foreign trade
• Dutch traders cooperated with the Chinese and gained a trading position.
• Dutch diplomats paid tribute and performed the “kowtow”
• Dutch obtained highly prized items of silk, porcelains and TEA
• 1793: Lord Macartney attempted to open China up to trade with Great Britain, but he refused to kowtow, and was denied.

Korea Under the Manchus

• 1636 Manchus conquered Korea
• Korean government  followed Confucianist traditions
• Despite Chinese influence (Sinification), Korea resisted and strove to preserve own culture

Daily Life in Ming and Qing China

• Greater rice production led to a population increase (300 million by 1800)

Family and the Role of Women

• Most families were farmers
• Sons were favored over daughters
• Sons were allowed to carry on religious rituals
• Daughters married at young age and had to bring a dowry to her husband’s home
• Female infanticide did occur
• Women played an important role as wives and mothers
• Worked in fields
• Oversaw children’s education
• Managed family finances
• Painful ideal of beauty which persisted in China into the 20th Century= Footbinding
• Young girl’s foot was broken and wrapped tightly and put into tiny shoes
• Goal to have very small feet “like a lotus flower”
• Sign of status, because difficult to stand on feet for long periods of time.

Cultural Developments

• Famous book: Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Zhan
• Drama was highly prized

Chapter 3.3: Japan Limits Western Contacts
Strong Leaders Take Control

• 1467: Japan was rocked by civil war and chaos followed

Local Lords Rule

• Period of Warring States, 1467 to 1568
• Powerful Samurai offered protection in return for loyalty from subjects.
• Known as Daimyo (warrior-chieftains)
• New Japanese feudalism was similar to European feudalism

New Leaders Restore Order

• Oda Nobunaga: seized Kyoto in 1568
• Motto: “Rule the Empire by force”
• Aimed to defeat enemies including other daimyos and Buddhist monasteries
• 1575: used firearms in battle to crush a rival’s samurai cavalry
• One of Nobunaga’s generals turned on him in 1582, and committed seppuku (ritual disembowelment)
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Nobunaga’s best general took over.  Controlled most of the country, and then invaded Korea.

Tokugawa Shogunate Unites Japan

• Completed the unification of Japan
• 1603: Tokugawa Ieyasu became the Shogun  of Japan
• Moved capital to Edo (becomes Tokyo)
• Daimyo had to spend every other year in the capital, families left behind in cities when they returned to their lands (hostage system)
• Tokugawa Shogunate lasted until 1867
• “Take care of the people.  Strive to be virtuous.  Never neglect to protect the country.”

Tokugawa Society and Culture

• Two centuries of peace and prosperity, but many were weighed down under heavy taxes

Social History

• Confucian values dominated
• Agriculture was highly prized: farmers = ideal citizens
• Peasant farmers bore the main tax burden
• Typical Japanese woman led a sheltered and restricted peasant life.

Culture Under the Tokugawa Shogunate

• New styles of drama: Kabuki Theatre
• Poetry: Haiku (5,7,5)

Contact Between Europe and Japan

• Europeans began coming to Japan in the 16th century, at first welcomed, then banished.

Portuguese Sailors and Technology Reach Japan

• 1543 shipwrecked Portuguese sailors landed in Japan
• Portuguese brought firearms, clocks, eyeglasses and tobacco to Japan.
• Firearms changed the culture of the Samurai

Christian Missionaries in Japan

• 1549: Christian missionaries began arriving in Japan
• Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans (Roman Catholic) came to convert the Japanese
• Francis Xavier, Jesuit priest, led first mission to Japan
• About 300,000 Japanese were Christian converts by 1600.
• Conversions upset Tokugawa Ieyasu
• 1612 banned Christianity
• Following a peasant revolt, widespread persecution of Christians

The Closed Country Policy

• Persecution of Christians was an attempt to control foreign ideas.
• 1639: isolation instituted by government
• Only Nagasaki was open to Dutch and Chinese merchants.

European Feudalism
Declines around 1350’s
King/Monarch (grants of land to lord in exchange for promise of protection)
Lord(gives land and food to Knights in exchange for protection…give land and protection to serfs and serfs grow food for kingdom)
Knights (promised to serve to lords)
Serfs (bound to the land)