1. Aim: How did interactions
between the countries of East
Asia and between Europe
affect the culture and
policies of China and Japan?

2. OVERVIEW
Ming (1368-
1644)
-recovery from Yuan
dynasty
-militarily active and
politically dynamic
-conquered neighbors
and explored lands
-cultural power,
literary masterpieces
-revival of
Confucianism
-1st European contact
-1600s-rapid decline
because of gov
decentralization,
invaders, revolts, and
famines
-Manchus from
Manchuria took
Beijing End of Ming
and beginning of Qing
Qing (1644-1911)
-Manchus (skilled
warriors with long
braids and shaved
foreheads) continued
conquests and added
to tributary system
-full scale trade with
Europeans was
regulated by state
-1750-trade restricted
to port of Canton
-1724-Christianity
banned
-Emperors Kangxi and
Qianlong
-poverty, decline in
advancements
open to European
and American
influence
CHINA
JAPAN
-after 1185, shoguns
governed Japan
-late 1300s-1400s:
decentralization,
feudalism
-Era of
Independent Lords
(independent
states ruled by
daimyo)
-political weakness
allowed foreigners
and their beliefs to
gain influence
-1560-
1615:reunification
of Japan (Oda
Nobunaga,
Toyotomi
Hideyosehi,
Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Tokugawa
Shogunate (1603-
1868)
-Great Peace/Pax
Tokugawa
-Ieyasu centraliized
country and moved
capital to Edo
-social stratification
increased
-women lived under
restrictions
-late 1500s: Portuguese,
Spanish, Dutch traders
and missionaries
-increase in Christianity
-persecution of Christians
and restriction of foreign
access-only allowed
trade at port of Nagasaki
(isolation)
-oppressive rule resorted
and kept peace,
economic growth

3. Background
-After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 906, China was separated
until the 1200s when they were conquered by the Mongols.
-Genghis Khan and his descendants had captured almost all of
western and northern China by 1234.
-After his death, his grandsons began to divide the Mongol
empire.
-Kublai Khan, “the Great Khan of the Mongols”, moved the
capital from Mongolia to Beijing and proclaimed the Yuan
Empire (1271-1368). He also conquered the rest of China and the
rest of the Song state.

5. -He and the Mongol leaders adapted themselves to Chinese
ways: Buddhism, civil service exams and made Mandarin
Chinese the official language UNIFICATION
-Kublai Khan made Yuan rich and powerful: successful military
campaigns, made neighbors pay tribute, resisted Mongol
attacks from other states, rebuilt bureaucracy and economy,
repaired roads and canals, built new cities, restored trade
with the West and helped the Silk Road emerge again.
-After the death of Kublai Khan, China suffered from
population loss because of the Bubonic Plague/ Black
Death economic decline civil war rebellion decline of
the Yuan fall of the Yuan empire in 1368

6. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
-Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming dynasty and took the
name Hongwu (1368-1403) when he became emperor
-Hongwu and his son Yongle (1403-1424) recentralized the
country and repaired damage from the wars of the 1300s (after
Kublai Khan’s death). Population increased and the economy
recovered.
-to restore imperial legitimacy, Yongle built the Forbidden City
in the capital of Beijing- served as imperial residence and seat
of gov. (this would later cause problems in the 16th century)
-Ming rulers expanded China’s borders and maintained a
tributary system where they made other countries make
regular monetary payments to avoid punishment.
-alliances with kingdoms in Vietnam (Annam and Chamba) and
Korea (Yi)
-large navy and army intimidation

7. -(1405-1433) explorer Zheng He made 7 long voyages
to Southeast Asia, India, Middle East and East Africa.
He expanded trade, increased outside knowledge,
and even forced 50 states and cities to pay tribute.
-after Yongle’s death, Ming rulers lost interest in
exploration and naval expansion

8. Ming Art and Culture
-Chinese art, religion, and literature exerted influence on
countries such as Korea, Vietnam, and Japan
-foot binding (began in late Tang dynasty: 618-906) spread
to majority of the population
-Confucianism (philosophy) was restored: Buddhism
(religion)
-classical Chinese literature (Journey to the West), new form
of writing
-artisans produced exquisite glassware, ceramics, and
porcelain
-scroll paintings-depicted landscapes on vertical rolls of silk
and paper

9. First Contact with Europeans
-Portuguese traders and captains established
commercial ties with the Ming
-Spanish and Dutch arrived later
-China was too large and powerful for Europeans to
conquer, so instead, they established embassies and
trading houses there
-Catholic (Jesuit) missionaries
(Matteo Ricci-early Italian
Christian missionary in China)

10. Ming China in the late 16th and
early 17th Centuries
-sudden influx of precious metal (silver from Spanish and Portuguese)
inflation economic breakdown
-1520s-1560s: pirates and smugglers disruption of coastal communities
and interior regions, weakened navy
-gov stayed in the Forbidden City in Beijing, weak rulers anger of the
people and decentralization of gov
-population grew famine, gov was unable to help
-1644- rebel forces captured capital at Beijing  Manchu nomads (Ming
allies from the north) helped crush the rebels and recover Beijing, but
refused to restore Ming rule displaced the Ming dynasty Qing
Dynasty

11. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
-main concern: maintain stability
-promoted Chinese ways, favored Chinese political and
cultural traditions (civil service exams)
-ruling elites were schooled in Chinese language and
Confucian thought
-to preserve their own identity, they outlawed intermarriage
between Manchus and Chinese, forbade Chinese to travel to
Manchuria and learn their language, created ethnically based
system of social stratification (Chinese had to wear certain
clothing, tie hair in long braids and men had to shave the front
of their heads)-
“lose your hair or lose your head”

12. -empire included Manchuria and northern China; skilled warlords
continued conquests and by 1683, they took over southern China and
island of Formosa (Taiwan) as well.
-added Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam and most of Central
Asia to tributary system
-North: had contact with Russia
-Kangxi (1661-1722)- Confucian scholar who conquered Taiwan,
extended to Mongolia, and Central Asia and Tibet (expanded Chinese
influence). He issued the Sacred Edict (rules and laws that would
create harmony).
-Qianlong (1736-1795)- made Vietnam, Burma, and Nepal his vassal
states, cancelled tax collections and paid less attention to imperial
affairs gave responsibilities to eunuchs faced difficulties-(last
good leader)

13. Population Growth and
Economic Development
-agricultural society: had to use intensive techniques because only small part of
china’s land was suitable for planting
-traditional food crops=rice, wheat, millet
-mid17th century- Spanish introduced American food crops (maize, sweet
potatoes, peanuts) increase in food supply increase in population=limited
resources labor force at low cost
-global trade prosperity: produced silk, lacquer ware and tea for consumers
in Indian ocean basin, Central Asia, and Europe
-imported spices form Maluku, exotic products (birds, animal skins) from
tropical regions and woolen textiles from Europe
-exchanged silk and porcelain for American silver in Manila
-commercial ties with Portuguese
-Foreign trade was regulated by the state-only allowed to trade in port of
Canton (1750s)-one of the busiest and most cosmopolitan trading centers
-policy of trade protection-more exports than imports to maintain balance of
trade

14. Christianity in China
-7th century-Nestorian Christians established churches and monasteries in
china but didn’t convert many people because of plague
-Jesuit Movement: Matteo Ricci (17th and 18th centuries)-goal: make China a
Christian country. He conversed and studied with Confucian scholars
success , brought over the mechanical clock that impressed the Chinese.
-missionaries sent from Europe tried to convert the Chinese by saying
Christianity was similar to Chinese culture
-arguments between Jesuits and members of Franciscan and Dominican
orders end of Roman Catholic missions in China
-Macartney Mission-permanent mission in Beijing to convert Chinese to
Christianity, wanted to open trade to China and establish safe living
conditions for British in China. Emperor Qianlong objected because he
believed it wasn’t necessary, since China was the “center of the world” and
Europeans were seen as barbarians mission failed
-suspicion of outside influences banned Christianity in 1724

15. Japanese Feudalism (12th-17th
century)
1. Emperor-figurehead
2. Shogun-”temporary” leader-held real power (12th-17th
centuries)
3. Daimyo-wanted to gain power, had connections to
Europeans
4. Samurai-loyal to daimyo
5. Ronin-unemployed samurai
6. Peasants/ Artisans- 90% of population-provided food
and supplies
7. Merchants-had no skill
*feudalism-a political system
developed because of divided
geography

16. -Japan was governed after 1185 by military rulers-
shoguns: preserved order and kept Japan unified in the
late 1200s and early 1300s
-1300s -1400s: decentralization became a problem
during Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573)
-Japan was becoming more feudal: independent sates
ruled by daimyo who belonged to samurai elite
-1460s-Era of Independent Lords-shoguns were weak,
civil war between daimyos, samurai who lost/left their
masters (ronin) became mercenaries or turned to theft
-economy suffered crime increased
Problems

17. Arrival of the Europeans
-1540s- Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch traders and Catholic missionaries
(Jesuit Francis Xavier) arrived in Japan.
-Christianity spread because of the shoguns’ weakness
-Europeans introduced gunpowder weapons

18. Reunification of Japan
-reunification took more than 50 years (1560-1615)
-Oda Nobunaga-one of the first
Japanese generals to use gunpowder
weapons, conquered east and central Japan
-Toyotomi Hideyoshi-politician who centralized
power from his capital of Osaka and restored
order (when he died, civil war broke out again)
-Tokugawa Ieyasu-commander who appointed
himself shogun in 1603 and unified all of Japan
in 1615 . (tokugawa shoguns would rule Japan
for 2 ½ centuries.

19. Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-
1868)
-era of Great Peace (Pax Tokugawa)
-Ieyasu centralized country, established new capital at city of
Edo
-emperor remained figurehead
-increased social stratification-impossible for a person to move
from one class to another
-Ieyasu emphasized Confucianism.
-ordinary citizens forbidden to own weapons, samurai retained
privilege of owning swords-wanted to keep the number of
guns in Japan as small as possible
-women lived under increase restrictions-had to obey husbands
or face death, little authority, less education (girl children
were less valued-sold into prostitution or put to death)

20. Japanese Isolationism
-Christianity became popular  fear of foreign ideas
(religious ideas), and uncontrolled importation of
gunpowder weaponry
-Nobunaga and Hideyoshi started to restrict foreign
access to Japan and even persecuted Christians
-Tokugawa shoguns continued policy of
isolationism-Christianity was discouraged
-Closed Country Edict of 1635-acts of exclusion
(only allowed to trade in port of Nagasaki)
-Japan isolated until the 1850s

21. Japan: Economics, Society, and Culture
-population grew rapidly, rice and grain production doubled
-became urbanized
-shoguns built network of roads and canals
-economic growth: produced lacquer ware, pottery, steel, and
weapons
-1600s-1700s: merchant class became wealthy and powerful
Peace no use for samurai-became ronin (code of Bushido lost
importance)
Kabuki theater-acrobatics, swordplay, city life scenes
-woodblock printing (ukiyo-e painting)

22. ESSAY QUESTIONS
• Choose TWO of the areas listed below and analyze how each area’s
relationship to global trade patterns changed from 1750 to the
present. Be sure to describe each area’s involvement in global
patterns around 1750 as your starting point.
Latin America
East Asia
Eastern Europe
South and Southeast Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
The Middle East
North America