East Asia 1450-1750

East Asia 1450-1750 Continuities and Changes

ConfucianismMandate of HeavenEthnocentric/Middle Kingdom Global Trade

SilverEconomic Growth

CHINAThe Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

Comparison of European development?Comparison of Exploration/Colonization?

Overview:BeijingForbidden CityZheng HeGreat Wall

Brilliant = Centralized

mandarins, eunuchs, and imperial officials carry out policy

prevent invasions

restore Chinese

traditions

Political Goals & Organization

Reinstatement of the civil service

system

Corrupt bureaucrats faced

public beatings

All potential rivals to the throne were expelled to estates in the provinces

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

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 stateConsequence of Ming

Organization/Policy ORConsequence of timing?

How is this different than Mercantilist

Europe? Similar?

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

Documents 1 and 2

What do we know?

Increasing European involvement – missionary and tradeAttempts to embrace some aspects of European culture

religious blendingtechnology

Chinese Retreat and the Arrival of Europeans… CHANGE!

Modest progress by Franciscans and Dominicans among common peopleJesuits 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 Schall

spend time in the imperial city correcting faulty calendars, forging cannon, and fixing foreign clocks

By 1644, the failure to fully pursue these policies allows

the “pure” dynasty to prevail

Incompetent RulersRampant political

corruption

Public works fell into disrepair,

floods, drought, famine –Little ice

Age

Landlords take advantage of

peasantry

‘Japanese’ pirate attacks ravaged the

Southern coast – Wokou Piracy

What happened?

Seeds of capitalism?

Faulty taxation code

CHINAThe Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

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

Document 3

What do we know?

Confucian principles – Model of Han

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

All Things Chinese…

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

This determination to preserve Chinese traditions paralleled an equally conservative approach to Chinese society as a whole.

patriarchalhierarchal

authoritarian

How does their conservative approach

transfer to trade/economy/European

intervention?

Commercial and Urban Expansion

Continued growth that had begun under the SongCultivation 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

The Canton SystemGuangzhou

MacaoCohong

Factory System

Spheres of Influence

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.

TOKUGAWA JAPANTHE EDO PERIOD

1603-1868

Struggle to Unify

The Unifiers of Japan• Oda Nobunaga• Toyotomi Hideyoshi– Loyal to Oda

• Tokugawa Ieyasu– Bakufu or “tent government”

Sengoku PeriodRegional KingdomsNew Military TacticsEuropean Firearms

Document 4

What do we know?

• 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

Japanese Unification

Why did the Shogun break up estates and institute attendance policies at

Edo?

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?

Documents 5 and 6

What do we know?

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

Intellectual Pursuits…

East AsiaChinaMing

Qing (Manchu)Japan

Tokugawa (Edo)

Insular Societies

Attempting to maintain tradition

Struggling to control/work with

Western Penetration of trade networks and

exchange