East Asia, c. 1500-1800
2
2
The Great Wall of China
Origins before 4
thcentury BCE, ruins
from Qin dynasty in 3
rdcentury BCE
Rebuilt under Ming rule, 15
th-16
thcenturies
1,550 miles, 33-49 feet high
– Guard towers
3
3
5
5
China: Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644 CE)
China: Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644 CE)
Rebellions in southern China against
Mongol rule led by Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to power
– Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
7
7
China: Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644 CE)
Used traveling officials called Mandarins
and large number of eunuchs to maintain control
Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424)
experiments with sea expeditions (Zheng He), moves capital north to Beijing to
Reaching Out: Ming China c. 1400 CE
Zheng He and seafaring ventures (1405-1433)
– Mongolian, Muslim, eunuch – Grandiose floating palaces – Why launched, why halted?Why launched, why halted?
China: Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644 CE)
Hongwu
Post-Mongol reconstruction (1370-1398):
– Four points:
Improvement of methods of rice production
– Champa rice
Rural innovations (peasants and farmers)
Repopulation and colonization
Reforestation
– Results: population boom (1550 CE), growing markets, industrial development
10
10
Ming Decline
16
thcentury maritime pirates harm
coastal trade
Navy, government unable to respond
effectively
Emperors secluded in Forbidden City,
palace compound in Beijing
– Emperor Wanli (r. 1572-1620) abandons imperial activity to eunuchs
11
11
Ming Collapse
Famine, peasant rebellions in early
17
thcentury
Manchu fighters enter from the north
and take city of Beijing in 1644
Manchus refuse to allow
reestablishment of Ming dynasty
12
12
China: Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911/12 CE)
Manchus originally pastoral nomads, north of
Great Wall
Chieftan Nurhaci (r. 1616-1626) unifies tribes
into state, develops laws, military
Establishes control over Korea, Mongolia, China
– War with Ming loyalists to 1680
– Support from many Chinese, fed up with Ming corruption
Manchus forbid intermarriage, study of Manchu
language by Chinese, force Manchu hairstyles as sign of loyalty
13
13
15
15
Qing Emperor Kangxi
(r. 1661-1722 CE)
Confucian scholar, poet
Military conquests: island of Taiwan,
Tibet, central Asia
Grandson Emperor Qianlong (r.
1736-1795) expands territory
– Height of Qing dynasty
– Great prosperity, tax collection cancelled on several occasions
16
16
The Civil Service Examinations
District, provincial, and metropolitan
levels
Only 300 allowed to pass at highest
level
17
17
Examination System and Society
Ferocious competition
Qing dynasty: 1 million degree holders
compete for 20,000 government
positions
– Remainder turn to teaching, tutoring positions
Some corruption, cheating
Advantage for wealthy classes: hiring
private tutors, etc.
But open to all, tremendous opportunity
Japan, c. 1500-1800 CE
Shinto religion
– Kami = “spirit”
– Emperor as descendant of the Sun Goddess
Civil War (c. 1350-1600)
Japan: “Feudalism”
Full development during Kamakura and
Muromachi (1185-1573 CE)
– Shoen, Daimyo
– Samurai
Bushido (“Way of the warrior”) = code of chivalry
– Developed among warrior class from c.
1000 CE
– Hara-kiri (“cutting the belly” or seppuku
(“belly cutting”)
Serfs Lords
Japanese “Feudalism”
Change in feudal structure (c. 1550 )Most powerful Daimyo consolidate territories
Practice of primogeniture becomes common
From 1559-c. 1600, Oda Nobunaga (a Samurai) wins control of his native
province of Owari and expands his territory
Japan: From Civil War
to Unification
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582 murdered)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598)
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616)
*Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867)
Shogun
Sakoku
Rangaku
Oda
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Tokugawa Ieyasu
