East Asia 1450-1750

1. East Asia 1450-1750 Continuities and Changes Confucianism Mandate of Heaven Ethnocentric/Middle Kingdom Global Trade Silver Economic Growth

2. Comparison of European development? Comparison of Exploration/Colonization? The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) Overview: Beijing Forbidden City Zheng He Great Wall China

3. mandarins, eunuchs, and imperial officials carry out policy prevent invasions restore Chinese traditions Brilliant = Centralized Political Goals & Organization

4. All potential rivals to the throne were expelled to estates in the provinces Reinstatement of the civil service system Corrupt bureaucrats faced public beatings • Productivity…- and appeal? • Promoted public works such as wall & dike building and irrigation systems • Unoccupied lands would become tax-exempt property of those who cultivated the land- incentivize agricultural production • Lowered forced labor demands on the peasantry by the government and gentry class • Promoted silk and cotton cloth production –incentivize commercial production

5. Economic Growth • New food crops continued to contribute to population growth • Revival of commercial growth as overseas trading link multiplied through tribute system • Merchants made great gains with much of the wealth being transferred to the state Consequence of Ming Organization/Policy OR Consequence of timing? How is this different than Mercantilist Europe? Similar?

6. This detail of Macau in the late 1500s reveals Westerners being carried in palanquins or walking through town accompanied by servants with umbrellas. The inner harbor is busy with Western ships. Macau, the earliest city inhabited by European traders, also attracted Christian converts, including Chinese, mixed-race Chinese, and Japanese. “Amacao,” ca. 1598, by Theodore de Bry

7. Documents 1 and 2 What do we know? Increasing European involvement – missionary and trade Attempts to embrace some aspects of European culture religious blending technology

8. Chinese Retreat and the Arrival of Europeans… CHANGE! Modest progress by Franciscans and Dominicans among common people Jesuits adopt a top-down strategy • Did win interest of Ming and Qing emperors • Some conversion among elite, but many were hostile • Matteo Ricci and Adam Schallspend time in the imperial city correcting faulty calendars, forging cannon, and fixing foreign clocks

9. Public works fell into disrepair, floods, drought, famine –Little ice Age Incompetent Rulers Faulty taxation code Rampant political corruption What happened? Landlords take advantage of peasantry ‘Japanese’ pirate attacks ravaged the Southern coast – Wokou Piracy Seeds of capitalism? • By 1644, the failure to fully pursue these policies allows the “pure” dynasty to prevail

10. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) China

11. Background • Nurhaci was the architect of unity among Manchu tribes by combining cavalry into a cohesive fighting unit (Ming government official invited the tribes beyond the Great Wall to put down local rebellion) • These forces captured Beijing within a year

12. Document 3 What do we know? Confucian principles – Model of Han

13. All Things Chinese… • By this time, the Manchu elite had already • adopted a Chinese style bureaucracy and court ceremonies • employed a number of Chinese scholar-officials • Manchu commoners were less affected as many remained nomadic herders, although a fair percentage had become sedentary farmers. • While only 2% of the population, Manchus occupied most of the highest political positions

14. The Qing dynasty established an empire larger than any other in Chinese history, except the Tang. Demanded tribute from kingdoms such as Vietnam and Burma

15. This determination to preserve Chinese traditions paralleled an equally conservative approach to Chinese society as a whole. How does their conservative approach transfer to trade/economy/European intervention? patriarchal authoritarian hierarchal

16. Commercial and Urban Expansion Continued growth that had begun under the Song Cultivation of new lands, large work force, silk, lacquer ware, tea production • The State and individual merchants profited until the end of the 18th century from the influx of silver • New wealthy merchants (compradors) specialized in the import-export business on Southern coast New System of Limited trade

17. Spheres of Influence The Canton System Guangzhou Macao Cohong Factory System

18. The Qing (or Ch'ing) Dynasty (1662–1911) is the political matrix from which the Canton System emerged. Economically, the preceding Ming Dynasty (1368-1662) was characterized by a relatively laissez-faire approach which saw an increase in private enterprise and foreign trade. Although its difficulties in collecting taxes and chronic underfunding are cited in the dynasty’s downfall, prior to its ultimate collapse the Ming saw a period of economic growth and increased prosperity. The government under the Qing Dynasty became highly centralized and structured about an Emperor who was an absolute monarch. This centralized, authoritarian approach was reflected in its economic policies which saw a return to state-run enterprise and interventionist practices. The Qing also saw an inward turning and a rejection of things not Chinese. … It is significant that the Qing Dynasty was Manchu not Han. For the entirety of its rule the dynasty was perceived by the Han as being a foreign occupation and it was as much threatened from within as it was from without. Many of the economic and political structures put in place were based on the inescapable Manchu distrust of Han.

19. 1603-1868 Tokugawa JapanThe Edo period

20. Struggle to Unify Sengoku Period Regional Kingdoms New Military Tactics European Firearms The Unifiers of Japan • Oda Nobunaga • ToyotomiHideyoshi • Loyal to Oda • Tokugawa Ieyasu • Bakufu or “tent government”

21. Document 4 What do we know?

22. Reorganized daimyo • Many lands were directly controlled by the Tokugawa family or held by daimyos closely allied with the shoguns. • All daimyo required to take a pledge of personal allegiance to the shogun. • Many estates broken up – • Policy of alternate attendance enforced Why did the Shogun break up estates and institute attendance policies at Edo? Japanese Unification

23. Economic Growth • Rooted in agricultural growth as a result of water control, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers. • Brought rapid population growth • Curbed by birth control, late marriage, abortion, and infanticide • Why?

24. Documents 5 and 6 What do we know?

25. Dealing with the European Challenge • 1543 Portuguese initiate contact after washing upon shore • European middlemen brought goods from India, China, and SE Asia and traded them for silver, copper, pottery, and lacquer ware • Also brought firearms, printing presses, and Christianity • Francis Xavier and others worked a “top-down” approach to convert many daimyo and their samurai retainers • Many thought Nobunaga might convert—although he did not • Subsequent leaders concerned with reports of converts refusing to obey their overlords’ commands

27. Social Changes • Class lines blurred: Land-owing daimyo became less prosperous than merchants • Rice dealers, producers of sake and silk, and pawnbrokers were quite wealthy • Samurai were left with nothing to do (compare to feudal Europe) and many fell into debt

28. Changing Policies • 1580s Christian missionaries ordered to leave the islands • By 1614 the faith is officially banned and thus began the persecution of any remain missionaries and Japanese Christians • 1630s Japanese ships were forbidden to sail overseas • By the 1640s only the Dutch and Chinese were allowed on Deshima in Nagasaki • Export of silver and copper restricted • Western books banned How does the Japanese Policy compare to Chinese?

29. View of the bay of Nagasaki and the island of Deshima in 1850.

30. A six meter Japanese silk screen mural (called a makimono) produced between 1840-1850 illustrates the interior of the Dutch factory at Deshima.

31. Intellectual Pursuits… School of National Learning Dutch Learning Thinkers championed a new ideology which laid emphasis on Japan’s unique historical experience and the revival of indigenous culture at the expense of the Chinese imports. Japanese elite at Deshima followed developments in the West far more than scholar-gentry of China.

32. Struggling to control/work with Western Penetration of trade networks and exchange Insular Societies Attempting to maintain tradition East Asia ChinaMing Qing (Manchu) Japan Tokugawa (Edo)