CHAPTER 17The East Asian World  

China at its Apex

• Why were the Manchu’s so successful at establishing a foreign dynasty in China?

• What were the main characteristics of Manchu Rule?

• Banners

• Dyarchy

Ming Dynasty (1369 – 1644)

• Reign of Kublai Khan ended 1368

• Zhu Yuanzhang – Peasant rebellion– Period of expansion– Zheng He (1405-1433)

• Portuguese Contact– Permitted to Occupy Macao– Direct trade limited– Strong Jesuit Influence

16th C Decline of Ming

• Factors– Weak rulers– Era of corruption – concentration of land– English & Dutch disrupted silver trade– Decline of economy– decline of crop yields– Starvation & Epidemic– Peasant Rebellion

• LiZicheng, occupied Beijing

China and Its Enemies During the Late Ming Era

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

• Manchu's & Ming Military assumed the rebellion founded the Qing in 1644

• The Reign of Kangxi (1661-1722) • Stabilized imperial rule by pacifying the northern

and western frontiers• Made the empire acceptable to the general public• Active patron of arts and letters

– Supported scholars through projects

• Western missionaries were permitted to be active

Emperor KangxiThe Era of Peace & Prosperity

© Hu Weibiao/Panorama/The Image Works

Signs of Internal decay

• The Reign of Qianlong (1736-1795)• Military overextended• Corrupt subordinates exploited their position• Court corruption, siphoned off imperial funds to

family or favorites • Led to unrest in rural areas (higher taxes, pressure

on land, population increase)– White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) was suppressed at

great imperial expense

Qing Politics

• Factors of success for the Manchu's– Ability to adapt to new environment– Retained Ming Political system– Established legitimacy as rightful rulers by

stressing their devotion to the principles of Confucianism

Qing Politics• Factors of conflict?

– Ethnically, linguistically and culturally different from subjects

• Tried to protect unique identity (2% of population) • Legally defined as distinct from everyone else • Banners (stationed as separate units in various

strategic positions throughout china) the bannerman were the primary fighting force of the empire

• Dyarchy – all important administrative positions were shared equally by Chinese and Manchu's

The Qing Empire in the Eighteenth Century

Rise of European Dominance

• End of the 17th C English became the dominant force in European trade– East Indian Company

• trading unit and administrator of English territories

• First trading post in Canton in 1699

Canton in the Eighteenth Century

European Warehouses at Canton

•End of the 18th C England demanded they be allowed access to other cities along the coast and that the country be opened up to manufactured goods.

© The Art Archive/Marine Museum, Stockholm, Sweden/Gianni Dagli Orti

Changing China

• How did the economy and society change during the Ming and Qing eras?

• To what degree did these changes seem to be leading toward an industrial revolution on the European Model?

Social & Economic Changes• The Population explosion

– During Ming and Qing 70-80 million in 1390• Era of peace and stability under early Qing

• Introduction of new crops – peanuts, sweet potatoes, maize

• New species of faster growing rice

• Seed of industrialization• Steady growth of manufacturing and commerce

• Commercial networks began to operate regionally and nationally.

• Exports outpaced imports

Role of Women• Daily Life in Qing China

– Subordinate to men• Secluded and virtuous (Spanish observation)• Could not divorce or inherit property• He could divorce her if she produced no male heirs• Patriarchal privilege: second wife or concubine for

pleasure• Widows if they remarried , the in laws would

inherit all of her previous property and original dowry

• Female sacrifice & infanticide

Tokugawa Japan

• How did the society and economy of Japan change during the Tokugawa era?

• How did Japanese culture reflect those changes?

• Fudai Daimyo

• Tozama Daimyo

• Ronin

The Three Great Unifiers

•  Oda Nobunaga & Toyotomi Hideyoshi– generals attempted to seize control and expand their rule.

• Tokugawa Leyasu • named himself Shogun in 1603

• Most powerful and long lasting of all

• Tokugawa rulers completed the restoration of central authority that previous rulers had begun.

Tokugawa Japan

Open to western trade & religion

Restricted after missionaries acquired territory & used force to convert

The Tokugawa “Great Peace”

• Characteristics of Administration– Centralized Rule– Shogun ruled through Bakufu (coalition of Daimyo &

council of elders– Shogunate’s dual role

• Set national policy on behalf of Emp. Kyoto• Governed Shoguns domain• Domains or Han ruled by 250 Daimyo

– Fudai (inside Daimyo subordinate to Shogun)– Tozama (Outside Daimyo, independent)

Changes in Hierarchy

• Daimyo- supported by taxes on their lands

• Dual residence, family stayed in Edo to ensure their loyalty to the Shogunate– Reliance on rice cultivation - debt

• Samurai Class size limited, ceased to be a warrior class but maintained class distinction

Seeds of Capitalism

• Rise in commerce and manufacturing

• Tech advances in agriculture and expansion of arable land

• Commercial expansion took place in major cities and castle towns for the most part– Merchants and artisans lived with samurai

• Banking & paper currency

• Merchants guilds established

Beneficiaries of Changes

• Emergence of a merchant Class– Played a significant role in the life of the

nation– Early indigenous form of capitalism

Non-beneficiaries of Changes

• Samurai – barred from commercial activities– Fell into debt– “masterless samurai” or Ronin

• Farmers– rice cultivation saw rising cost of living and

decrease in profits– Transition to tenancy or wage labor– Peasant revolts

Rigid Patriarchal Caste society

• Intermarriage between classes not permitted – (warriors, artisans, peasant and merchant)

• Eta –outcastes of society – Hereditary Status – Ruled by discriminatory laws

• (where they could live, how they could dress and wear their hair)

Role of Women (Upper class)• Women became more restricted than

previous• (Confucian ideals more prominent in samurai class)

• Patriarchs had broad authority over property, marriage, divorce– Wives were expected to obey on pain of death– Males took concubines or homosexual partners

(Females were expected to remain chaste)

Role of Women (lower class)• Women valued as child bearers and

homemakers• Both sexes worked in the fields• Coeducational schools (25% students

female)• Infant daughters put to death or sold into

prostitution (poor families) • patrilocal marriage

• If she did not meet expectations –she would be divorced

Cultural Reflections of Change

• Popular literature written for townspeople (urban fiction) – Five women who loved love by Saikaku– Homosexual liaisons among the samurai

• Kabuki – the rise of the theater

Korea & Vietnam

• To what degree did developments in Korea during this period reflect conditions in China and Japan?

• What were the unique aspects of Vietnamese civilization?

• Yangban

• Chonmin

Similarities to Japan

• Entry into the bureaucracy was restricted to members of the aristocratic class– (Yangban “two Groups” civilian and military classes)

• Peasants remained in serf like conditions– worked on government estates or manors– Chonmin – class of slaves

• served on government plantations • occupations such as butchers and entertainers (beneath

dignity of the population)

 

Changes

• 15th C phonetic alphabet (Hangul) – Allowed for private correspondence and

published fiction for popular audience

• A rising commercial class began to displace the Yangban began to blur class distinction – (some became merchants, others peasants

as the rising commercial class grew in power and strength)

Dai Viet (Vietnam)

• Isolated from maritime routes– Peripherally involved in the spice trade– Did not lose territory to European colonial

powers

• Followed an imperial path of its own– Expanded into the state of Champa to the

south and into Old Angkor (Cambodia)– 17th C civil war split Dai Viet into two territories

• Beginning of European involvement