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
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
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 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.
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
• 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?
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?
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…