TRADITION AND CHANGE IN EAST ASIA CH 26

TRADITION AND CHANGE IN EAST ASIA CH. 26

The Quest for Political Stability

Ming Gov’t • Yuan falls and Ming Restored by Hongwu • Tightly centralized • Use of Mandarin & eunuchs • Prevent invasions Move capital from Nanjing to Beijing • Ineffective to Mongol Invasions The Great Wall • Built by the Ming Dynasty • Fortification against Northern invaders • Ming wanted to Eradicate any Mongol or Foreign influence (names, Dress) • Restore Chinese tradition (Confucian) Ming Decline & Collapse • Problems weaken society (Pirates, smugglers, ineffective defense, inept gov’t) • Famine • Disorganized gov’t • Manchu invasions

The Manchus • Qing “pure” • Nurachi unifies Manchus • Creates laws and Powerful military • Dynasty est. through Military and Chinese support (corruption, despised eunuchs) • Preserved their own cultural Identity Kangxi and His Reign • Effective Leader • Confucian scholar (wanted to implement Confucian policy) • Conqueror (Taiwain Where Ming loyalists Retreated) Grandson takes over Qianlong and his Reign • Height of Qing dyansty • 4 x he canceled taxes • Wealthy & well organized • Toward the end he Reign paid little attention To gov’t affairs. • Eunuch handle gov’t

The Son of Heaven • Human being designated By heavenly power to Maintain order on Earth. • Activities choreographed • Kowtow Scholar Bureaucrats • Day to day governance • Degrees earned by Civil service exam • Prep started at early age • By 11 -12 learned 1000 s Or characters Civil Service Examination System & Ch Society • Tests at the district, Provincial and metropolitan Levels • 300 pass metro. Exam • Taken several times • 3 days 2 nights writing “eight legged essays” posed By examiners • Highly competitive • Passing does not guarantee Position • CSE opens doors, social Mobility • Open to all males

Economic and Social Classes

Filial Piety • Duties of children to Fathers, but larger scale • Chinese family was Hierarchical, patriarchal, And authoritarian • Ancestor veneration Supports patriarchy • Filial piety cornerstone Of family values • Clans develop support Needs beyond nuclear family (local order, economies, Provisions) Gender Relations • Women under men • Boys preferred over Girls • Girls are a liability, At times performed Infanticide • Widows discouraged To remarry • Honor to commit suicide To follow husband’s to the grave Foot Binding • Originated in Song Dynas • Did not support woman’s Weight • Seen in wealthy classes • Sometimes in commoners To enhance social standing • Marriage contractual, Extend male lineage • Women could not divorce

American Food Crops & Population Growth • American maize, Sweet potatoes and Peanuts • Increase food supply Leads to more population Growth • Growth leads to social & economic problems • Can’t keep pace w/ Population • Commercial market leads To opportunities for entrepenuers Foreign Trade • Global trade leads to Prosperity for China • Trade in Indian Ocean Basin, C. Asia and Europe • Few imports • Tight gov’t regulation • Zheng He’s expeditions Stopped by eunuchs, but Did not necessarily stop Trade • Gov’t did not allow large Commercial ventures Trade and Migration in SE Asia • Merchants work Individually or in partnerships • Prominent in Manila, VOC Colony of Batavia, Phillipinnes, Malaya, Thailand • Economy took over Technological innovation • Adopted European Weaponry (based off of old Chinese innovation) • Technological slow down Due to gov’t priorities • Gov’t favored politics & Social issues

• Scholar Bureaucrats And gentry at high positions At Chinese society • Much in common: came From gentry ranks, intermediaries between imperial Gov’t and local society, easily Identifiable, distinct clothing, Received favorable treatment • Privileged status • 3 classes: peasants, Artisans or workers, & Merchants • Confucian saw Peasants as honorable • Artisan & workers Employees of state or Gentry and merchant families • Bottom of Confucian Social hierarchy • Secretly gained support For their enterprises • Unlike Europe, Chinese Did not support merchants On a larger scale • Military forces were a necessary evil • Some mean people: servan Prostitutes, entertainers

The Confucian Tradition and New Cultural Influence

Confucian Education Popular Culture • Promoted Confucian Values • Provided funding for Chinese cultural traditions (encyclopedia) • Not all Chinese Read Confucian works • Preferred more Entertaining pastime Reading • Popular novels Popular Novels • Confucian scholars Looked down on the Novels • Little merit, tales about Horror, wonder, excitement • Offered reflection on Human affairs

Matteo Ricci • Prominent missionaries Were the Jesuits • Ricci tried to convert Chinese to Christianity • He was learned, diplomatic And well liked by Ming • Well versed in Chinese Culture • Helped correct mistakes In Chinese scientific thought (calendars, bronze cannons) Confucianism and Christianity • Tried to catch Chinese Interest through science & technology • Ultimate goal always To convert • Argued Chinese culture Similar to Christianity • Gained little converts due To Christian exclusivity End of the Jesuit Mission • Jesuits missions end Due to internal Disagreements • Other missionaries Complain about tolerance Of Chinese traditions • Though conversion is Unsuccessful cultural exchanges Were • Europe gave China science and Technology • China gave Europe rational thought & use of the Civil Service Exam

The Unification of Japan

Tokugawa Ieyasu • Powerful states emerge Uniting into a unified land • Ieyasu est. the Tokugawa Bakufu (tent gov’t) • Tokugawa shoguns aim To prevent civil war and Control daimyo (territorial Lords who ruled most of Japan) • Daimyo absolute rulers in Their land, functioning gov’t Control of Daimyo • Shoguns attempt to Control Daimyo • Instituted policies “alternate attendance” (families in Edo, every Other year in court) • Other policies enforce Control (marriage alliances, Controlled visits, construction Permits…) Control of Foreign Relation • Japan restricted foreign Relations for 200 years • Expelled Europeans from Japan and forbade any trading In the ports • Traded locally, however

Population Growth • Increased agriculture Leads to population Growth • Many practiced Population control to Maintain or raise The standard of living • Late marriages, contraception, Abortion • “thinning out the rice Shoots” (infanticide) Social Change • Ushered in peace leads warriors To take on new gov’t positions • Daimyo and samurai live Inexpensive lives, become indebted To rice brokers • Merchants, however, become wealthy • Wealth allowed social mobility

Neo-Confucianism in Japan • Japan like China also Follow Neo-Confucianism • Becomes ideology of bakufu Native Learning • Neo-Confucianism Did not dominate Intellectual life • Some sought to create A cultural identity Separate from Chinese Influence • “Native learning” Emphasized folk tradition, Shinto religion, superiority Over others, xenophobic Floating Worlds • Floating world essentially Areas to get away from Social responsibilities and rules Of social conduct • Pop culture was urban, Satirical, secular • New forms of drama: kabuki Theater (bawdy skits singing, Dancing, spectacle) and bunrak (puppet theater)

Christian Missions • Christians contribute to Japan • St. Francis Xavier saw Success in conversion • However, as “native Learning” was established This creates backlash • Fear European alliance With daimyo will lead to destabilization Anti-Christian Campaign • 1587 -1639 many decree The halt of Christian missionaries • Many called to denounce Their faith • Refusal eventually led to a Painful death Dutch Learning • Interactions with Dutch merchants Were the only way to Make contact with The outside world, “Dutch Learning” • European art influences Study of anatomy And botany in Japan