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Early Ming China: 1368-1500

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

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Early Ming China: 1368-1500

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  1. Early Ming China: 1368-1500

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Ming China • Food crop importation is key to hedging famine amongst HUGE population growth

  10. 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

  11. 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)

  12. 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

  13. 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.

  14. Zheng He

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. Elsewhere in Asia… 1200-1500

  18. 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.

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

  20. 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.

  21. Korean Military Technology • Patrol ships with mounted cannons • Gunpowder arrow-launchers • Armored ships

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