Chapter 17 The East Asian World Contact with

Chapter 17 The East Asian World

Contact with the West • Increased contact with the west • China and Japan attempted to resist encroachment using different means and with differing levels of success

Ming Dynasty • By 1368, the Ming Dynasty booted out the last Mongol rulers in China and restored power over the empire to the native Chinese. • The Ming Dynasty ruled until 1644 and reestablished the following: – a strong centralized government based on traditional Confucian principals – reinstated the civil service examination, – removed the Mongol influence by reinvigorating Chinese culture.

Ming Interactions • Emperor Yongle sponsors voyages in the early 1400’s – The voyages led by Zeng He, a Chinese navigator sailed throughout S. E Asia and the Indian Ocean, all the way to East Africa, a century before the Europeans did the same.

Ming Interactions – The Chinese abruptly stopped their naval voyages due to the cost. – After Emperor Yongle’s death Chinese increasingly, turned inward. • By 16 th century, Chinese trading with the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch.

The Ming Dynasty and Silver • The Ming government attempted to prop up the failing economy by changing easily counterfeited paper money to a “single-whip” system based on silver currency. • Initially, the silver came from Japan, but with the discovery of American silver sources. • China establishes trade relations with the Spanish through the Philippines

Silver • This exchange fueled a period of commercial expansion. • The silver flooded the Chinese market and the government was unable to control the resulting inflation.

Problems Persisted • Many factors contributed to the Ming Dynasty's decline: – By the sixteenth century the Ming dynasty was already in decline. – Pirates increasingly raided port cities. – The Chinese were able to keep the Europeans at a safe distance.

Problems Persisted – However internal problems persisted. • Weak rulers • Crop Failures • Inflation led to unrest

Qing (Manchu) Dynasty • By the seventeenth century, famines crippled the Chinese economy, and peasant revolts erupted against increasingly powerless Ming rulers. • In 1644, the Ming emperor invited a group of Qing warriors from nearby Manchuria to help him with peasant uprising. • The Qing ousted the emperor. With that act, the Ming Dynasty ended. • The Qing (Manchu) Dynasty began. The Manchus ruled China until about 1912.

Changes in China • The Qing made many changes in China. – Forbid the Chinese to learn the Manchu language or marry Manchus (3% of population) – civil service gained new heights – Banned Christianity in 1724 – Impose Manchu dress and customs on Chinese

Qing Rulers • Two long-ruling emperors, Kangxi (16611722) and Qianlong (1736 -1795) allow for stability and acceptance. • Both of these emperors supported the arts but also expanded the empire – Kangxi ruled from 1662 -1722 was a Confucian scholar, and conquered Taiwan and Tibet – Qianlong ruled from 1735 -1795 and added Vietnam, Burma, Nepal as vassal states to China

Qing and Commerce • In 1757, restricted Europeans to trading in the port city of Canton. – Europeans bought large quantities of tea, silk, and porcelain – In exchange the merchants received huge sums of silver, which created a new rising class of merchants in the coastal cities – British pressure for more balanced trade (pottery & tea) – China remained agrarian, with trade and industry controlled by state – Maintained negative attitude toward industry, unequal taxes

Qing and. Society • • Continued focus on family Arranged marriages, male dominated Women not educated, in charge of the home Practice of female infanticide

Japan and the Shogunate • Warring states period in late 1400’s, after decline of Ashikaga Shogunate • Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu helped unify Japan • Tokugawa, the daimyo of Edo, names himself Shogun in 1603.

Tokugawa Shogunate • In 1600, Tokugawa Ieysau established the Tokugawa Shogunate, a strict and rigid government that ruled Japan until 1868 • Emperor is largely a figurehead. • Power was given to the daimyo (feudal lords) • Ieysau took ownership of all the land instituted a rigid social class model. – More like a caste system – Four classes (warrior, farmer, artisan, and merchant) were established and movement in classes was forbidden.

Japan and Christianity • In 1542, the Portuguese established trade with the empire (they also introduced guns to the Japanese). • Within a decade, Christian missionaries streamed in. • By the end of the century, a few hundred thousands Japanese converted to Christianity • Missionaries destroyed Shinto shrines.

Japan and Christianity • The Jesuits took control of the port city Nagasaki and trade flourished. • Christians were persecuted • Hideyoshi expels missionaries in 1587, but allows merchants to stay. • Tokugawa finalized expulsion in 1602. • Merchants evicted as well, except Dutch, who were given limited rights

Edo Period • Shogun moved capital to Edo (modern day Tokyo) • In 1635, National Seclusion Policy prohibited Japanese from… – traveling abroad – prohibited foreigners from visiting Japan (kept relations with China, Korea, Netherlands) – lasted for 200 years – This was passed to curb foreign influence

Daimyo • Daimyo were forced to maintain two residences to allow for control • Strain on finances led many to take back fiefs from samurai and make them into salaried workers • Samurai role as warriors declines • Revolts by ronin (masterless samurai) or peasants • Large population increase

Japanese Economy • New technology and exposure led to industrial & commercial revolutions • Development of paper money

Japanese Culture • Buddhism and Shinto remained at the center of culture • Kabuki theater and haiku poetry became popular