Early Ming China: 1368-1500

China and the Ming Dynasty

• Restoration of ethnic Chinese rule under the Ming Dynasty (after Yuan dynasty Mongol rule) (1368-1644)– Largest population of any civilization of the time– Renewed agricultural/commercial growth– Europeans use New World bullion to pay for goods– High degree of technology– Large numbers of skilled engineers and artisans– Centralized bureaucracy

China and the Ming Dynasty-Hongwu

Zhu Yuanzhang declares himself the Hongwu Emperor First Ming Emperor Hongwu=“Vast Military”

Wants to rid China of all traces of the “barbarian” Mongols Mongol dress was

discarded Mongol names were

dropped Mongol palaces were

destroyed

China and the Ming Dynasty-Hongwu

• Return of the Scholar-Gentry– Somewhat suspicious of this class because of his Peasant

upbringings– Scholars versed in Confucian classics were appointed to

high positions in government– Civil Service Examination system was reinstated

• Abolished the position of chief minister • Instituted Public beatings for bureaucrats found

guilty of corruption and incompetence

China and the Ming Dynasty-Hongwu

• Hongwu exiled all potential rivals to the throne to estates in the provinces– Forbade them to be involved in political affairs

China and the Ming Dynasty-Hongwu

• Introduced measures to improve lives of peasants

• Public works projects• Unoccupied land would become the tax-

exempt property of those who cleared and cultivated it

China and the Ming Dynasty

• Women: subordinate to men as per Confucianism.– Played role in Hongwu’s court– Hundreds/Thousands of women would wait at the

palace to be seen by the emperor as one of his concubines

– Status was defined as to their ability to bear male children

Ming China

• Territory controlled was not as expansive as in the T’ang Dynasty

• Commercial and Population boom began in the Song Dynasty was continued

• Spanish and Portuguese mercantile contacts imports crops from the New World– From the Andes highlands– Maize, sweet potatoes,

peanuts• Grown on inferior soil with

little irrigation– Cultivation spread quickly

through marginal areas

Ming China

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Population(inmillions)

• Food crop importation is key to hedging famine amongst HUGE population growth

Ming China

Commercial growth: Advanced handicraft industries▪ Silk textiles▪ Tea▪ Fine ceramics

Balance of trade was VERY MUCH in China’s favor Arab, Asian, and now European traders arrive at Macao

and Canton These are the only two places where Europeans were allowed to

do business in Ming China

Ming China

Merchants make lots of money in this trade Taxes paid to

scholar-gentry (bribes, too)

Merchants invested more in land

Ming prosperity was reflected in the fine arts

Development of Chinese literature (the Novel)

Ming China

• Between 1405 and 1423 China launched a series of impressive expeditions at Sea– During Yunglo’s reign

• Went to Southeast Asian kingdoms, Persia, southern Arabia, East Africa

Ming China

• Zhenghe’s expeditions– 62 ships (4 for De Gama, 3 for Columbus)– 28,000 sailors, merchants, soldiers– 400 foot long, 190 foot wide ships– China had the capacity to expand at least a

century before the Europeans rounded the Cape of Good Hope.

Zheng He

Ming China

• After 1400, China aims to LIMIT China’s overseas commerce– Ming war fleet dramatically declines

• As the Chinese shut themselves in, the Europeans were irresistibly drawn to the Middle Kingdom for converts.– Some scholars show interest in Christianity, but

never took a real hold on the court, or the people.

Ming China-Decline• Highly centralized, absolutist structure developed by Hongwu

and continued by Yunglo could not be continued.– Official corruption– Isolation of weak rulers– Public works projects fall into disrepair.– Floods, droughts, famine afflict the land

• Increased foreign threats, mostly by the Manchu• The last emperor of the Ming, Chongzhen, commits suicide as

the walls of the Forbidden City are scaled by rebels…the Dynasty ends in 1644.

Elsewhere in Asia…

1200-1500

Korea, Mongols, and Koryo

• Leaders initially resisted Mongol invasions but gave up in 1258 when king of Koryo surrendered and joined his family to the Mongols by marriage.

• Koryo kings fell under the influence of the Mongols.

Profit

• Korea profited from exchange with the Yuan in which new technologies were introduced. Some examples include:– Cotton– Astronomy– Gunpowder– Calendar making– Celestial clocks

Collapse and Rise

• Koryo collapsed shortly after the fall of the Yuan.

• Replaced by Yi dynasty.• Yi reestablished local identity and restored the

status of Confucian scholarship.• Maintained Mongol administrative practices

and institutions.

Korean Military Technology

• Patrol ships with mounted cannons• Gunpowder arrow-launchers• Armored ships