Chapter 26 Class Notes Who Influenced China? • Outsiders came from a vast network of roads & sea lanes – Merchants from the south – Missionaries from India – Nomads from the north Chinese Influence • China influenced , , Vietnam, Mongolia, Tibet, & Southeast Asia Strong Dynasty establishes peace and prosperity; it is said to have the Mandate of Heaven. New dynasty gains In time, the dynasty power, restores declines and peace and order, and becomes corrupt; claims to have taxes are raised; Mandate of Heaven. power weakens. Dynastic Cycle

Dynasty is in China Disasters such as overthrown through floods, famines, rebellion and peasant revolts, and bloodshed; new invasions occur. dynasty emerges. Old dynasty is seen as losing Mandate of Heaven; rebellion is justified. The Ming Dynasty

 Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to power after Mongol Yuan dynasty driven out  Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)  Used traveling officials called Mandarins and large number of eunuchs to maintain control Early Ming China • Hungwu’s son Yung-lo continues to improve China – Moved capital back to Peking – Restored civil service examination system – Encouraged trade with Japan, Southeast Asia, & India

• Zeng Ho – Led a massive naval expedition to India, the Persian Gulf, & East Africa Ming Society & Culture in the 16th Century • European visitors were impressed with Ming China – Courtesy & respect for the law – Bustling markets, paved roads, examination system – Justice • The best governed country in the world • The Ming artistic achievement – Their greatest artistic achievement was porcelain Silk Production Silk Paintings

Problems with the Ming Dynasty

• Ming Emperors build a welfare state – Emperors saw rich Mongols as foreigners & elite Chinese as traitors • They heavily taxed them to support poor Chinese peasants • Government corruption and inefficiency caused by powerful eunuchs Ming holds on to bad traditions

• Excess of court eunuchs • Foot binding • Concubines • Widow suicides Economic & social events signaled the decline of the Ming • Coastal cities and trade disrupted by pirates, 1520s--1560s • Influx of foreign goods disrupted the economy and led to inflation • The population doubled to 150 million in less than 200 years – Unrest resulted in the cities – Famines and peasant rebellions during the and 1640s Military events also signaled the end of the Ming

• Corruption, conservatism, and bureaucratic waste • Doubled in size by 1600 but poorly led & badly equipped • Manchu invaders with peasant support led to final Ming collapse, 1644 European Influence in China • Europeans influenced the Chinese through the port city of Macao – Portuguese ships & traders brought artillery, Jesuits, & Western ideas The Manchu Dynasty Replaces the Ming The Qing Dynasty

• The Manchus (1644-1911), invaders from Manchuria to the northeast – Overwhelmed the Chinese forces; proclaimed the Qing dynasty, 1644 – Originally pastoral nomads, organized powerful military force – Captured Korea and Mongolia first, then China – Remained an ethnic elite; forbade intermarriage with Chinese • Kangxi (1661-1722) and his reign – Confucian scholar; effective, enlightened ruler – Conquered Taiwan; extended to Mongolia, central Asia, and Tibet • Qianlong (1736-1795) and his reign – A sophisticated and learned ruler, poet, and artist – Vietnam, Burma, and Nepal made vassal states of China – Under his rule, China was peaceful, prosperous, and powerful

LETTER TO KING GEORGE III- 1793 Emperor Qian-long

In the 15th century, the Chinese government withdrew from contact with the rest of the world. Eventually, China resumed limited trading with other countries. By the late 18th century it still traded with the West through one port in southeastern China. In 1793, Lord Macartney, an English nobleman, managed to gain an audience with the Chinese emperor Qian-long. Macartney brought a request from King George III for increased trade between Britain and China. Qian-long refused and gave his reasons in the following letter to the king.

THINK THROUGH HISTORY: Recognizing Bias What is Emperor Qian-long’s view of the West? What clues in the letter reveal his attitude?

You [George III], O King, live beyond the confines of many seas. Nevertheless, impelled by your humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilization, you have dispatched a mission respectfully bearing your memorial. . . . I have perused your memorial: the earnest terms in which it is couched reveal a respectful humility on your part which is highly praiseworthy. In consideration of the fact that your ambassador and his deputy have come a long way with your memorial and tribute, I have shown them high favor and have allowed them to be introduced into my presence. To manifest my indulgence, I have entertained them at a banquet and made them numerous gifts.… As to your entreaty to send one of your nationals to be accredited to my Celestial Court1 and to be in control of your country’s trade with China, this request is contrary to all usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained.... If you assert that your reverence for our Celestial Dynasty fills you with a desire to acquire our civilization, our ceremonies and code of laws differ so completely from your own that even if your envoy were able to acquire the rudiments of our civilization, you could not possibly transplant our manners and customs to your alien soil. Therefore, however adept the envoy might become, nothing would be gained thereby. Swaying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and to fulfill the duties of the State: strange and costly objects do not interest me. If I have commanded that the tribute offerings sent by you, O King, are to be accepted, this was solely in consideration for the spirit which prompted you to dispatch them from afar. Our dynasty’s majestic virtue has penetrated into every country under heaven, and kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. As your ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures.

Source: Excerpt from China and Foreign Powers: An Historical Review of Their Relations, edited by Sir Frederick Whyte (London: Oxford University Press, 1927), p. 39. Letter to King George III

1. Celestial Court: Qian-long’s seat of government The son of heaven and the scholar-bureaucrats

• Emperor considered "the son of heaven" • Heavenly powers and an obligation to maintain order on the earth • Privileged life, awesome authority, and paramount power • Governance of the empire fell to civil servants, called scholar-bureaucrats • Schooled in Confucian texts, calligraphy • Had to pass rigorous examinations with strict quotas The Examination System

• Civil service exam intensely competitive; few chosen for government positions • Others could become local teachers or tutors • System created a meritocracy with best students running the country • Wealthy families had some advantages over poor families • Confucian curriculum fostered common values The History of Confucianism

• By the end of the Zhou Dynasty (500BC), China was in chaos • Confucius was a scholar who lived during this time – Believed that creating a harmonious society was the only way to save China – Believed China could restore order by organizing around 5 basic relationships • Ruler and Subject • Father & Son • Husband & Wife • Older Brother & Younger Brother • Friend & Friend – In the first 4 relationships, the first should take care of and protect, the second should be loyal to – Children should practice Filial Piety • Respect for parents and elders • Duke of Lu appointed Confucius minister of Justice – Almost overnight crime disappeared • Tried to educate all government officials – Created a bureaucracy • trained civil servants or government officials • Teachings are considered an Ethical System – Foundation of Chinese government & Social Order The History of Buddhism • Around 560BC a Hindu Prince from Nepal named Siddhartha Guatama began to question why people suffer • At first Siddhartha believed that the only way to end suffering was to deprive himself of everything – He meditated under a fig tree for 7 weeks before coming up with The Four Noble Truths • Truth #1- Life is suffering • Truth #2- Suffering is caused by desire • Truth #3- The way to end suffering is to end desire • Truth #4- The way to end desire is to follow the Eightfold Path – Right Views- Right Resolve – Right Speech- Right Conduct – Right Livelihood- Right Effort – Right Mindfulness- Right Concentration • After this epiphany Siddhartha reached Enlightenment and became known as the Buddha – Buddha means Enlightened one – Enlightenment means wisdom • From then on, the Buddha preached to people that way to Nirvana was through his teachings – Nirvana is a release from suffering and pain (the same as Moksha in Hinduism) History of Neo-Confucianism

• Although Buddhism did not last in India it flourished in China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia • Those societies were also using the Confucian ethical system • During the Song Dynasty, Chinese scholar Zhu Xi created Neo-Confucianism – Combined the moral, ethical, and political values of Confucianism with logic, discipline, and promise of an afterlife of Buddhism • Neo-Confucianism’s self-discipline and respect for authority appealed to Ming and Manchu Emperors who encouraged it to maintain stability in their country Japan: From Feudal Conflicts to the Shogunate

• Daimyo controlled Japan in the 15th century – Daimyo were feudal lords

The End of Central Power

• Fighting off Mongol invasions in the late 1200s weakened the Japanese central government • 100 years of civil war weakened the daimyo in the 1500s • Civil war encouraged contact with China, Korea & Europe – The Daimyo needed money, supplies, and firearms • Japan traded with the Portuguese for firearms – This resulted in Jesuit missionaries converting 300,000 Japanese to Christianity The

• By the late 1500s Oda Nobunaga and controlled most of Japan • In the became the Shogun of Japan • The Japanese Emperor held no real power in the Tokugawa Government – Technically the shogun was a subject of the Emperor • The Emperor only symbolized national unity • The Tokugawa Government kept tight control of the Daimyo – All were required to attend court – Relatives of the Daimyo were kept as hostages when they left Economic & Social Changes

• The merchant class rose in status in Tokugawa Japan • The Daimyo, Samurai, peasants, and aristocratic women fell in status under the Tokugawa Shogunate • The Neo-Confucian code used in Tokugawa Japan led to the declining status of women – They were thought to be inferior and untrustworthy wards of husbands & fathers • The Act of Seclusion was put into law in 1635 – Anyone who left Japan would face death upon return – Only Dutch & Chinese merchants were allowed to trade and only in the port city of • Christians in Tokugawa Japan were persecuted – The Christian religion was eliminated in Japan The Seclusion of Japan

For nearly a century Japan, with approximately 500,000 Catholics by the early 1600s, was the most spectacular success story in Asia for European missionaries. Why did so many convert? Some undoubtedly were attracted by the Christian message of salvation, but others hoped to gain economic or political advantage. The daimyo of Omura seems to have converted in the hope of attracting more trade to his port city of Nagasaki, and Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) the general who unified approximately half of Japan, encouraged Christian missionaries to undermine the political influence of the powerful and wealthy Buddhist monasteries. Nobunaga's tolerance of missionary activity was the main reason for the many converts in the region around , Japan's imperial city.

Although the dynamics of Japanese politics at first favored the European missionary effort, when those dynamics changed, Christianity was persecuted and finally crushed. Nobunaga's successor, Hideyoshi (15 36-1598), launched the antiforeign, anti-Christian policy that culminated in the Tokugawa exclusion . Hideyoshi distrusted Europeans' motives after the Spaniards conquered the and came to question the loyalty of certain daimyo who had converted. In 1597 he ordered the execution by crucifixion of nine Catholic missionaries and seventeen Japanese converts. In their single-minded pursuit of stability and order, the early Tokugawa also feared the subversive potential of Christianity and quickly moved to obliterate it, even at the expense of isolating Japan and ending a century of promising commercial contacts with China, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Japan's isolation policy was fully implemented by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Ievasu and shogun from 1623 to 1641. He issued edicts that essentially closed Japan to all foreigners and prevented Japanese from leaving. The first of the following two documents, the most famous of Iemitsu's edicts, is directed to the two commissioners of Nagasaki, a port city in southern Japan and a center of Christianity; the second deals with the continuing missionary efforts of Portuguese Jesuits, who refused to abandon their activities despite the regime's persecution.

QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS

1. According to the of 1635, what steps are to be taken to suppress Christianity?

2. How are commercial dealings with foreigners to be handled before they are ended altogether?

3. In what ways did the 1635 edict affect the shogun's Japanese subjects?

4. Does trade or Christianity seem to have been the greater threat to Japan, according to the 1635 edict?

5. What were the reasons for the promulgation of the 1639 edict? How did it differ from the 1635 edict?

CLOSED COUNTRY EDICT OF 1635

1. Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for foreign countries. 2. No Japanese is permitted to go abroad. If there is anyone who attempts to do so secretly, he must be executed. The ship so involved must be impounded and its owner arrested, and the matter must be reported to the higher authority. 3. If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing there, he must be put to death. 4. If there is any place where the teachings of the [Catholic] priests is practiced, the two of you must order a thorough investigation. 5. Any informer revealing the whereabouts of the followers of the priests must be rewarded accordingly. If anyone reveals the whereabouts of a high ranking priest, he must be given one hundred pieces of-silver. For those of lower ranks, depending on the deed, the reward must be set accordingly. 6. If a foreign ship has an objection (to the measures adopted) and it becomes necessary to report the matter to Edo,1 you may ask the Omura2 domain to provide ships to guard the foreign ship. . . . 3 7. If there are any Southern Barbarians who propagate the teachings of the priests, or otherwise commit crimes, they may be incarcerated in the prison. . . . 8. All incoming ships must be carefully searched for the followers of the priests. 9. No single trading city shall be permitted to purchase all the merchandise brought by foreign ships. 4 10. Samurai are not permitted to purchase any goods originating from foreign ships directly from Chinese merchants in Nagasaki. 11. After a list of merchandise brought by foreign ships is sent to Edo, as before you may order that commercial dealings may take place without waiting for a reply from Edo. 5 12. After settling the price, all white yarns brought by foreign ships shall be allocated to the five trading cities6 and other quarters as stipulated. 13. After settling the price of white yarns, other merchandise [brought by foreign ships] may be traded freely between the [licensed] dealers. However, in view of the fact that Chinese ships are small and cannot bring large consignments, you may issue orders of sale at your discretion. Additionally, payment for goods purchased must be made within twenty days after the price is set. 14. The date of departure homeward of foreign ships shall not be later than the twentieth day of the ninth month. Any ships arriving in Japan later than usual shall depart within fifty days of their arrival. As to the departure of Chinese ships, you may use your discretion to order their departure after the departure of the Portuguese galeota.7 15. The goods brought by foreign ships which remained unsold may not be deposited or accepted for deposit. 16. The arrival in Nagasaki of representatives of the five trading cities shall not be later than the fifth day of the seventh month. Anyone arriving later than that date shall lose the quota assigned to his city. 8 17. Ships arriving in Hirado must sell their raw silk at the price set in Nagasaki, and are not permitted to engage in business transactions until after the price is established in Nagasaki.

You are hereby required to act in accordance with the Provisions set above. It is so ordered.

1 Modern Tokyo, the seat of the Tokugawa government. 2 The area around the city of Nagasaki. 3 Westerners. 4 Members of Japan's military aristocracy. 5 Raw silk. 6 The cities of Kyoto, Edo, Osaka, Sakai, and Nagasaki. 7 A galleon, an oceangoing Portuguese ship. 8 A small island in southwest Japan, not far from Nagasaki.