1. China Rejects European Outreach
Chapter 19: Section 2

2. You Decide How to Take Notes:
Suggestions:
PERSIA notes
Having your paper in 2
columns (one for Ming and
one for Qing)

3. China Rejects European
Outreach
 Main Idea: Advances under the Ming and Qing
dynasties left China self-contained and
uninterested in European contact
 Why it matters now? China’s independence from
the West continues today, even as it forges new
economic ties with the outside world

4. Setting the Stage
 Europeans made
profits in the Indian
Ocean Trade
 Europeans were
looking for additional
sources of wealth 
China
 By the times that
westerners arrived in
the 1500’s, China had
driven out the Mongols
and were united under
the Ming Dynasty

5. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
 1514: Portuguese
arrived in China
 Tributes paid to China:
Korea and Southeast
Asia
 Chinese expected the
Europeans to pay
tribute as well
 Ming rulers would not
allow Europeans to
destroy the peace that
they fought to get from
the Mongols

6. The Rise of the Ming
 Hongwu= son of a
peasant, commanded the
rebel army that drove the
Mongols out of China
(1368), first emperor of
the Ming Dynasty
 1. Hongwu tried to restore




China’s land and destroy
traces of Mongol past
2. Encouraged: rice
production, improved
irrigation, fish farming,
commercial crops (cotton
and sugar cane)
3. respected traditions
(Confucian standards)
4. Restored civil service
tests
5. Ruthless tyrant (began

7. Yonglo
 Power struggle after
Hongwu’s death
 = son of Hongwu,
continued his father’s
policies, moved royal
court to Beijing
 Curiosity of the outside
world
 He launched the first of
seven voyages of
exploration
 Zheng He= Chinese

8. Voyages of Zheng
He
 Voyages were remarkable
because…
 Distance traveled
 Size of fleet (40-300 ships)
 Size of the ships themselves (440
feet “treasure ships”)
 First voyages  Southeast Asia
and India
 Later voyages  Arabia and
eastern Africa
 Why? Wanted to impress the
world with the power and splendor
of Ming China, distributed gifts as
he went
 Result: 16 countries started to pay
tribute to Ming, increase of travel
to China

9. Ming Relations with Foreign
Countries
 Ming’s trade policy in




1500s: ISOLATION
Only used 3 seaports
Merchants would smuggle
things out to Europe
(Europeans paid for it with
silver discovered in
Americas)
DEMAND for Chinese
goods INCREASED
Manufacturing and
commerce increased

10. China’s Industry:
 China did NOT
become industrial for 2
reasons:
 1. Idea of commerce
offended China’s
Confucian beliefs
 2. China’s economic
policies traditionally
favored agriculture

11. Foreign Missionaries:
 With European traders
came Christian
missionaries
 Missionaries brought
Christianity AND
inventions like clock
and the prism
 Matteo Ricci= Italian
Jesuit
missionary, gained
favor in the Ming court
by his intelligence and
his ability to speak and
write Chinese

12. Qing Dynasty
 After 200 years, Ming weakened
 Why? Ineffective rulers, corrupt
officials, government out of
money, peasants were
starving, rebellions followed
 Manchus (from Manchuria)
invaded China, Ming could not
repel the invasion
 Manchus took a Chinese name
for they dynasty (like the
Mongols did- Yuan Dyansty) 
Qing
 Qing Dynasty brought in
Taiwan, Central Asia, Mongolia

13. China under the Qing Dynasty
 Many Chinese resisted
control from a nonChinese dynasty
 Manchus forced Chinese
to wear hair in pigtails as
a form of submission (this
is just funny, you can’t
make this stuff up)
 What did they do?
 Upheld Chinese
Confucian beliefs
 Made frontier and borders
safe
 Slowly gained respect by

14. Kangxi
 = became
emperor in 1661,
ruled for 60 years
 Reduced
government
(decentralized)
expenses and
lowered taxes
 Liked the Jesuits
(informed him on
their latest
developments in
science, medicine
and mathematics
in Europe)

15. Qian-long
 = Kangxi’s
grandson, 17361795, China reached its
greatest size and
prosperity
 Problems he faced:
nomads at
borders, Christian
missionaries, European
merchants

16. Manchus: Policy of Isolation
 If others wanted to trade
with China, they had to
follow their rules
 Dutch, masters of the Indian
Ocean Trade, paid tribute to
China, performed “kowtow”
ritual
 “Kowtow”= kneeling in front
of emperor and touch their
head to the ground 9 times
 Dutch returned home with:
porcelain, silk, TEA (China’s
highly prized new trade item,
made up 80% of shipments
to Europe)

17. Britain and China
 Britain wanted to trade with
China, didn’t like Chinese
trade restrictions
 1793, British invasion led by
Lord George
Macarney, delivered a letter
from King George 3 to Qianlong
 What did the letter say? Asked
for a better trade
arrangement, Chinese needed
to accept British goods
 Macarney refused to kowtow

18. Letter from Qian-long to King George
 “…There is nothing we
lack, as your principal envoy
and others have themselves
observed. We have never set
much store on strange or
ingenious objects, nor do we
need any more of your
country’s manufactures.”

19. Korea under the Manchus
 Korea had adopted China’s
technology, culture, and it’s
policy of isolation
 Korea had been conquered by
Manchus, had to pay tribute
 When Qing Dynasty was
established, Korea’s
relationship with China did not
change, if anything, it grew
stronger (Korea was China’s
“little brother”)
 Korea nationalism increased
with Manchus invasion

20. Daily Life in Ming and Qing
 Devotion to agriculture (rice production)
 Population doubled (reached 300 million in 1800)

21. Family and the Role of Women
 Most farmed the
land (just like their
ancestors did for
centuries)
 AdvancementsIrrigation, fertilizer,
food production,
nutrition and diet,
families and
populations
exploded
 New Crops- corn,
sweet potatoes
(brought by

22. Son vs. Daughters
 Favored sons over
daughters
 Only son could carry on vital
religious rituals
 Son raised his own families
under his parent’s roof
 Many female infants were
killed
 Women: worked in
fields, raised
children, managed finances
 Most women were secluded
in the homes, few found jobs
outside like midwives or
textile workers

23. Cultural Developments
 Conservative China was
effected by: Manchu
invasion, Europeans,
population growth
 Art- traditional style (valued
technique over creativity)
 Pottery- technical styles,
porcelain
 Drama- popular in rural
areas where literacy rates
were low, were plays that
presented Chinese history
and cultural heroes
 Purpose of plays: 1.
entertain 2. created