Overview of China and Japan during Western arrival

1. 1C H I N A A N D J A P A N
LAND BASED POWERS-
EAST ASIA

2. RETURN OF CHINESE
RULE• Ming China
• 1368-1644

4. I-POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS
A- Emperor moved the government to Beijing
1-Forbidden city was expanded
B- Revival of the examination system
1- Stayed in place until the 20th c.
2- exams were largely unchanged
3- mobility through merit
C- Large armies
1- firearms not as advanced as the west
4

5. II- ECONOMY
• A- Commercial Activity was very strong
• merchants still had low status in society
• confined merchants to one port- Macao
• B- Technological innovation was lacking during the Ming
• Many inventions from earlier Chinese times were adapted
and improved by Europeans
• Gunpowder and movable type printing
• Chinese did not adapt the improved technology and
therefore would lag behind
5

6. Chinese trading “Junks”

7. Chinese trading “Junks”

8. III- TRADE AND CULTURE
• A- Voyages of Zheng He (1405)
• Abruptly stopped by new Ming Emperor
• Need money for defense
• Confucian ideals/isolation
8

9. TRADE AND CULTURE
B- Trade Contacts with Westerners
limited to only the Dutch and Portuguese
C- Christian Missionaries
-16th C- Jesuits led the way in China; tried to
create a Christian society
-never succeeded in mass conversions
D- Results of Jesuits in China
- their writings stimulated an interest in China in
Europe- increased the demand for Chinese
products in Europe
9

10. 10
Portuguese = Main exchange
agent in East Asian region

11. 11
Spanish “Manila Galleons”
Spanish transport of silver from the Americas “New Spain” to Asia

12. 12
Spanish “Manila Galleons”
Spanish transport of silver from the Americas “New Spain” to Asia

13. 13
Ming then Qing Dynasties

14. Rise of the Manchus (Qing
Dynasty)

15. RISE OF THE MANCHUS (QING DYNASTY)
• 1644-1911
Manchurians from the north seized Ming lands
Created the Qing (pure) Dynasty
Not Han Chinese, but “barbarians” from the north
Had adopted many of the Chinese customs and attitudes

16. I- POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
A- Separation between Manchus and Chinese
-highest political posts were filled by Manchus
-Confucian scholar-gentry were left in most
positions of the bureaucracy
- no intermarriage between Manchus and
Chinese
- Chinese men forced to shave the front of their
heads and grow a queue
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Review text Questions

17. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• B- Two influential rulers
• Kangxi who ruled from 1661-1722
• Qianlong who rule from 1736-1795
• Both brought prosperity and relative stability to China
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18. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CHARACTERISTICS
• A- population growth
• New food crops from America by way of Philippines
• Maize, sweet potatoes and peanuts
• Result of growth- trade and commerce increased
• B- Silver in China
• American silver was traded for Chinese luxury goods
• Chinese workers produced silk, porcelain, tea
• Unlike in the Muslim empires, the new silver supply
helped the Chinese economy
18

19. Population growth during
Ming & Qing Era
- Introduction of
New World crops:
corn, sweet potatoes
- Increased rice
harvests

20. 21
Canton System
European trade restricted to port at Canton

21. 22
Canton System
European trade restricted to port at Canton (Guangzhou)
• The Canton System of regulating foreign trade with China operated for roughly 150 years from the late 17th
century until war with England brought it abruptly to a halt in 1842. The system itself was restrictive by
design, keeping foreigners confined to a small commercial district in Canton known as the Factories and
prohibiting direct contact between foreigners and the Chinese.
Results:
• Creation of foreign enclaves to control trade
• Imperial policy of controlling foreign influences and trade
• Increase in European demand for Chinese goods (tea, porcelain)
Canton = foreign/European enclave from which Europeans could trade with
China.
enclave = a part of a country entirely surrounded by foreign territory
(Canton)
What do you think? How did the Canton System represent the culture and traditions of China?

22. Tokugawa Shogunate 1603-
1868

23. Emergence of Tokugawa
-End of 1500s – Japan nears anarchy
-Ashikaga Shogunate declines; clan wars begin
-3 Lords emerge to fight for control
-Tokugawa emerges and claims Shogunate in 1603
Tokugawa Ieyasu

24. GREAT PEACE
• Feudal wars stopped
• Unites the daimyo
• New capital at Edo (Tokyo)…
• More centralized: Shogun’s twin responsibilities
Ruling figure & in charge of own domain 1/4 of
Japan
• Samurai take on administrative duties
• Confucianism reemerges to dominate bureaucratic
and intellectual life.
= National unification
Emperor in Kyoto

25. EXISTING ELITES
• Daimyo = feudal land lords
• Loyalty to Shogun
• Acquire great wealth; cultural and economic influence
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26. 27
Economic Changes
-Rise in commerce and
manufacturing
-Banking and common
currency
-Rise of merchant class
-Regional sea trade

27. 28
Initial period of openness with West
- curiosity about the world
- Gunpowder tech. introduced by Portuguese
- used by Shogun to defeat rivals
- Shogunate would limit production

28. 29
-Presence of Christian missionaries
-efforts led by Jesuits; Francis Xavier
-most conversions in southern islands

29. Japan Emerges as an “External Society”
• Self Imposed Isolation
1612:
1644:
Expelling of Christian
Missionaries
Christianity banned
- triggered closing
of trade relations
with the west

30. • Only Dutch Merchants were permitted
• Dutch did little to spread Christianity
• Only Nagasaki Harbor
• Japanese merchants confined to cities and
China
Commercial Isolation

31. 32
Cultural Isolation
- Western books were banned
- Restricted travel abroad
- Rejected idea: “New technology is always
good technology”
Travel

32. WHY ISOLATION?
• Fear of outside ideas
•Samurai Culture = warrior dominance
•Island Geography
•Shinto beliefs
- uniquely Japanese

33. 34
Voyages of St. Francis Xavier

34. 35
Kabuki Theatre
Japanese Culture