AP World History: The Ming DynastyPeriod 3

Timeline of Chinese History

Timeline of Chinese History Continued…

Timeline of Chinese History Continued…

I Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)A) 1279 Mongol leader Kublai Khan

conquered China and began the Yuan dynasty.

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Continued…

B) After the death of Kublai Khan in 1294, the Yuan Dynasty weakened. The Chinese resented Mongol and the

discrimination against the Chinese in the government. This led to rebellions. China was once again unified under the Ming

Dynasty in 1368.

II The Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644)

A) The Ming Dynasty rid China of the Mongols, and built a new capital at Ying Tian (modern Nanjing). It was later moved to Beijing.

B) Revived Civil Service Exam that had been begun under the Han.

C) The Ming completed the Great Wall of China, which had begun under the Qin Dynasty, and pushed the Mongols further north to what is now Mongolia.

D) Began a policy of expansionism, and state-sponsored trading expeditions.

Ming means “brilliant”

III Emperor Yongle “Perpetual Happiness” (ruled 1402-1424)

A) Immediately upon taking the throne, Ming Emperor Yongle

executed anyone who opposed him.

B) He widened the size of the Grand Canal, to increase

trade

C) Yongle built the “Forbidden City”, his imperial home, in his

capital of Beijing.

The Forbidden City

178 acres800 buildings, and stables for elephants!

Legend says that it has 9,999 rooms, but there are actually 8,707Was the home of 24 Ming and Qing Emperors from 1420 – 1911.

Male Lion by the Gate of Celestial Purity

Gilded Unicorn Guarding Hall of Imperial Peace

The 9 Dragon Screen

Doorway

Balustrades

Sunset at the Forbidden City

IV Zheng He’s fleet (1405 - 1433)A) Ming Emperor Yongle desired to send shipsto the

west of China. Yongle appointed Zheng He, a trusted official, to command these western voyages.

B) Zheng He was Muslim, and a eunuch (castrated for service at the royal court).

C) Zheng He led 7 great expeditions, to India, the Middle East, and even Eastern Africa! He led 9 great “treasure ships” with 28,000 armed troops.

D) Confucian scholars resented Zheng He, as Confucianism looks down upon merchants.

Unlike later Western European explorers like Vasco de Gama, Zheng He was NOT exploring the unknown; China ALREADY KNEW about ports in India and East Africa. China also did not desire trade; merchants came to China. So what was the real purpose of Zheng He’s trips? To show off the

greatness of China, and to bring back exotic luxuries for the Emperor.

How Does Zheng He Compare to Other Explorers?

NavigatorNumber of

ShipsNumber of

Crew

Zheng He (1405 - 1433) 48 to 317 28,000

Columbus (1492) 3 90

Da Gama (1498) 4 160

Magellan (1521) 5 265

Model of Zheng He’s Ship

We have traversed more than… [30,000 miles] of immense water… and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have

set eyes on barbarian regions far away… while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night… - Zheng He, 1432.

A) 1435 Zheng He died. The new Emperor, Yongle’s son, Hongle, banned any further sea voyages.

B) Why did Emperor Hongle ban any further voyages? 1. He believed in Confucianism, that ranked merchants on the lowest scale of society.2. As the voyages were not for trade, they cost China more money than they brought in.

V Chinese Exploration Ends

The Now Shut Starbucks at the Forbidden City

Did the Chinese Beat Out Columbus?

By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop NY Times Saturday, June 25, 2005…Zheng, a Chinese Muslim, was captured as a child in wartime by the Ming army and

made a eunuch to serve at court. He became a scholar and a trusted adviser to the third Ming emperor, Zhu Di, who sent him on a mission to "proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas."

When the giant fleet returned in 1423, however, the emperor had fallen. With that change of leadership, China began a policy of isolationism that would last hundreds of years. The large ships were left to rot at their moorings, and most of the records of the great journeys were destroyed (though some argue the records still exist).

With 600 years of sailing experience, the Chinese had already developed many tools useful to sailing over great distances - like magnetized compasses and watertight bulkhead compartments of a kind the West would have to wait hundreds of years for. Importantly, Zheng He's ships, known as junks, included on-board vegetable patches, growing soybeans in tubes all year to provide protein and vitamin C, guarding sailors against scurvy…

Arguing that the Chinese had reached America 70 years before Columbus, Menzies's book caused a stir when it was published in 2002. "Columbus had a map of America, de Gama had a map showing India and Captain Cook had a map showing Australia, and it's not my saying; it's the explorers saying it,”...

Did the Chinese Beat Out Columbus?Menzies, who is planning to revise his book by 2007 in light of the latest evidence, now believes that Zheng He was

not the first to sail to America. "One of the mistakes I made in my book was to say that Zheng He did everything. He had a legacy. Most of the world had already been mapped by Kublai Khan's fleet," he said.

According to Menzies, recent evidence has been found of what are believed to be wrecked Chinese junks in Florida, South Carolina, New York and Canada. More compellingly, Menzies says, a new archaeological site in Nova Scotia at Cape Dauphin, discovered by the Canadian architect Paul Chiasson and represented by photos at the exhibition, indicates an early Chinese settlement.

Chiasson, in an e-mail interview, said, "The position of the wall on the side of the hill (not the summit), the layout of the wall across the hilly topography and the relationship of a small settlement located within the wall to the overall enclosure all point away from a European origin and appeared to point to a Chinese origin."

While some archaeologists argue that the settlement could be Viking, Chiasson disagrees, pointing out that the nearest and largest evidence of any Viking settlement in the area is more than 700 kilometers to the north and that the Vikings were building much smaller outposts than the one discovered.

The site has just been surveyed by Cedric Bells, who has also worked on a New Zealand site believed to have Chinese junks. Bells has found canals, smelters, mines, Buddhist tombs, Islamic graves, barracks, all pointing to a very large settlement, Menzies said. "This site is unquestionably Chinese and unquestionably pre-European. I actually believe it's quite possible it was started by Kublai Khan and then further developed by Zheng He."

Carbon extracted from one of the mines is now being carbon-dated, and there are plans to request permission from the Canadian government for DNA testing and carbon-dating to be made on the bones found in graves.

The new evidence is likely to generate as much controversy as the book. Tan Ta Sen, president of the International Zhen He Society, believes the evidence shown in the exhibition is "opening doors" but needs to be further substantiated.

"The book is very interesting, but you still need more evidence," Tan argued. "We [the society] don't regard it as an historical book, but as a narrative one. I want to see more proof. But at least Menzies has started something, and people could find more evidence."

Focus Questions

1. What were the main achievements of the Ming Dynasty?

2. Why do you think China stopped long-distance sea voyages? Do you agree with their decision?

3. What evidence is there that Zheng He may have come to America prior to Columbus? If it is proven, how would that change history?