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Geography Ming China 1368- 1644

 A Ming legend tells of farmers digging along the Huang-he River finding a statue with only one eye and the inscription: "Do not despise this one-eyed statue: it will be the herald of rebellion all throughout the empire."

Ming China 1368- 1644

End of Yuan Ideological Change

 Famine, floods, rebellions all • Strong nationalist made the inscription ring true: passions the had lost the • Established the capital in in the South to

 Revolution had begun reject the Mongol capital in the North  Really ... Yuan was in decline long before the rebellions in the • Used Confucianism to 1350s justify making war to intimidate remaining  Cities were seized, leaders Mongols, central Asians, claiming to be kings – from lower and southeast Asians merchant class

Hongwu Rejection of the Mongols

• Monk, soldier, and a • Emperor directly ruled rather than use chief bandit ministers as Mongols had • Inspired by the deaths • Closed the empire to trade with Central of his parents from the Asia and Middle East famine and disease • Strict limits on imports and closed most of (blamed Mongols) the border to foreigners • Oversaw a centralized, • Stopped use of paper money (silver), which militarily strong was uneconomical empire

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Yongle Confucian Centralized Authority

 Updated Confucian code of  Capital moved to Beijing in laws written 1421.  Code regulated all aspects of  Time of greatest wealth in social affairs, for the harmony Chinese history of political, economic, military, familial, ritual,  last native Han Emperors in international, and legal Chinese history relations in the empire

 first to deal with large #s of  Civil service exam re-instated European merchants  Careful records kept (census, arriving hereditary social hierarchy) and used to control peasants  Population of about 100 and strengthenMing kingdom China 1368- 1644 million

The Chinese Naval Power

 Expeditions sailed to East Asia, Southeast

 Asia, southern India, Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, the

 Middle East and Africa.

 China the world's greatest commercial naval power in the world at the time, far superior to any Ming China 1368- 1644 European power.Ming China 1368- 1644

Admiral Zheng He (1371-1435)

 From 1405 to 1433, Emperor Chengzu sent a Muslim eunuch named Zheng He to cross the Indian Ocean.

 In 1435 court scholars convinced the emperor that the voyages were wasteful, encouraged foreign ideas, and would ruin China

 The Emperor ended Naval exploration and tribute and destroyed the records of the Ming China 1368- 1644 voyages Ming China 1368- 1644

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Tribute System

Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

Zheng He’s Armada Economy

 China continued its shift from agricultural  Seven voyages for diplomacy and trade. and rural to commercial and urban

 The armada included treasure boats (or  Porcelain production and painting (China Bao-Chuan), which are the largest wooden dishes) became VERY important ships ever built.  Commercial port cities including Beijing,  Covered 10,000 miles with a fleet of more Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, than 300 ships and crews totaling 30,000 Xian and Chengdu grew to trade with Japan men. and Europe

 Sailed from China, crossed the South China  Farming still important; especially rice and Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea and tea went as far as East Africa.  Ming China 1368- 1644 Markets andMing merchants China 1368- 1644 more important than before

Ming China

 Europe traded silver from S. America to China for porcelain

 Resold all over Europe

 Linked China to Europe via sea trade

 Also sold to Middle East along Silk Rd

Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

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Agricultural Developments Ming Industrial Development crop rotation introduced in China  textiles, paper, silk, and porcelain traded • Fields could be kept continuously in cultivation with Japan, Europe (especially Spain), India, • While still maintaining their fertility SE Asia and Indonesian islands for

Stocking the rice paddies with fish, which fertilized  firearms, and American goods such as the rice and provided peasants w/ protein . sugar, potatoes, and tobacco.

 Food production and new farming tools  In exchange for raw goods such as silver— improved nutrition for peasants and city dwellers probably half the silver mined in the  Peasants grew cash crops, such as cotton for Americas from the mid-1500's to 1800 clothing, indigo for clothing dyes, and cane. ended up in China

 Dramatic population growth(60 to 100 million), largely due to the increased food supply on account of theMing agricultural China 1368- 1644 revolution (Champa) Ming China 1368- 1644

• The Dutch imported tea from China and Tea Time other parts of Asia and started the English and European love of tea • Dutch East India Tea Company and later the British East India Tea Company become powerful and wealthy from this trade • Trading tea to China was more profitable than trading silver to China as the Spanish Ming China 1368- 1644 had done

Reforestation of China Religion/Philosophy  Hong-wu – reforestation beginning in the 1390's.

 Nanjing was reforested with 50 million trees in  Neo-Confucianism 1391; these trees became the lumber that built  Matteo Ricci the first the naval fleet put together by Yung-lo in the early1400s. Christian missionary started nearly 300  One billion trees were planted in this decade in a Catholic churches reforestation project that greatly replenished both the timber and the food supply.  Christian influence condemned in late Ming and early Qing

Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

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Social Life Ming Great Wall

 Confucianism dominates  Great Walls had been built in earlier times,

 Interaction with Japan  Most of what is seen today was either built and Europe increases or repaired by the Ming.

 Patriarchical  Brick and granite work was enlarged

 Watchtowers were redesigned  Cities provide opportunity for parties  Cannons were placed along the wall with music and drama

Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

Intellectual Life

• Literacy increased and books became cheaper because of the printing press and a stable govt

 Yongle Dadian - biggest and earliest encyclopedia in the world.

 Many inventions to China from Europe (telescope)

 Gunpowder Weapons improved Revolving cannon with 10 shots

 Toothbrush invented (pigs hair for bristles)

 Great furnaces for porcelain

Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

How to Handle Corrupt Ming Art Government Officials

• adopted the Sui and Yuan practice of  Beautiful harmonious landscape art

publicly beating incompetent or corrupt  China and sculpture important bureaucratic officials.  Drama and poetry important

• Mainly beaten on the buttocks by more than  Ming great wall through the a hundred soldiers with clubs, almost mountains is spectacular art nobody who was punished survived • Not a bad idea for today?

Ming China 1368- 1644

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Fall of Ming

 corruption of the court officials and the domination of the eunuchs.

 natural disasters like famine from “little ice age” and worst earthquake of all time in (800,000 dead) th  the rebellions that racked the country in the 17 century and

 Aggressive military expansion of the Manchus.

 By 1643 the government was bankrupt from fighting and the peasants were broke because of the constant taxes imposed to pay the armies to fight Ming China 1368- 1644

The Ming ends

 Northern Chinese Manchu slowly grew in power until they threatened the

 Ming military grew weak so Ming often used Manchu to stop the “barbarians” from taking China

 One leader, Manchu rebel , eventually decided to take China rather than protecting it. He entered Beijing in 1644

 as he did so the last Ming emperor,Chongzhen, hanged himself on a tree overlookiing the forbidden palace

Ming China 1368- 1644

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