Chapter 26: Traditions and Change in East Asia

Yellow = Important
Green = Good example
Blue = Connector

Ming Dynasty “Brilliant”

- Founded by Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
- Extensive use of mandarins, imperial officials who traveled throughout the land and
oversaw the implementation of government policies
- Notable Ruler: Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424)
- Launched naval expeditions
- Moved capital to Beijing
- Mongol forces massacred several Chinese armies in the 1440s, captured Ming
Emperor in 1449
- Great Wall was rebuilt to reinforce the North
- Set out to eradicate Mongols and other foreign influences to create a stable, reminiscent
of the past Chinese society
- Abandoned Mongol names and dresses
- Focused on Confucianism
- Civil service exam restored
- Decline
- Pirates and smugglers operated freely along the East Coast
- Ineffective naval and coastal defense allowed pirates to cause chaos
- Inept imperial government
- Gluttonous emperor
- Wanli (1572-1620)
- Eunuchs won favor with emperors through concubine procurement, then used
their position to enrich themselves (corruption)
- Collapse
- Famines struck (the early 17th century)
- 1630s Peasant Revoluts
- Manchu forces invaded from the North
- Rebel forces captured Beijing in 1644
- Manchu allied with pro-Ming and recovered Beijing, displacing the Ming Dynasty

Qing Dynasty “Pure”

- Manchu dynasty (ironic)
- Pastoral nomads
- Unified Manchu tribes, promoted/spread a code of laws and organised a powerful
tribe
- Founded by Nurhaci (r. 1616-1626)
- Established due to Manchu military prowess and Chinese support (as the Ming
emperors were too corrupt and gluttonous)
 - Kangxi (r. 1661-1722)
- Confucian scholar and enlightened ruler
- Organised food control and irrigation projects
- Conquered Taiwan, Mongolia, extended into Central Asia and imposed
protectorate over Tibet
- Qianlong (r.1736-1795)
- Kangxi’s grandson
- Expansion into Xinjiang
- Made Vietnam, Burma and Nepal vassal states of the Qing
- Imperial treasury was so big that he cancelled taxes on multiple occasions

Common developments
- Son of Heaven
- Way of consolidating and legitimising power
- Allowed the emperor to have an extremely lavish lifestyle
- Minor offense -> severe punishment
- Civil service exam
- Extremely intensive and difficult training; exam itself was brutal, as examinees
are locked up for three days and amde to write essays
- The financial, social and employment rewards (as a scholar-bureaucrat) made it
all worth it
- Encouraged the serious pursuit of education for all
- Guaranteed Confucianism would be at the heart of Chinese education
- New food crops from America allowed previously uncultivatable land to be used,
increasing agricultural production and population growth
- Global trade brought enormous wealth
- Increased trade, manufacturing and urban growth
- Filial piety was still very important
- Women under men
- Foot binding became exceptionally popular
- Marriage was contracted
- Strengthening patriarchal authority
- After Zheng He and Yongle, Ming government withdrew support for expensive maritime
expeditions and restricted foreign trade/interactions
- Qing authorities closely supervised the activities of foreign merchants in China
- Government policies discouraged large scale commercial ventures by Chinese
merchants
- Still traded, especially in Manila and Batavia
- Ventured to the Phillipines, Borneo, Sumatra, Malaya, Thailand, etc.
- Technological innovations slowed and they adopted European tech and arms
- THEME: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STABILITY OVER TECH INNOVATIONS
- More workers = lower cost
- Led to a loss of technological ground by the Chinese
- Hierachy:
 - Emperor + Family
- Scholar-Bureaucrats + Gentry
- Distinctive clothing and privileges
- Land was a major source of income
- Peasants, artisans or workers, and merchants
- Merchants looked at as social parasites
- Armed forces
- Looked as a wretched by necessary evil
- Beggars, slaves, whores, beggars
- Zhu Xi, twelth-century scholar helped dev. Neo-Confucianism and ensured that
education revolved around it
- Yongle Encyclopedia -> Chinese philosophical, literary and historical texts
- Kangxi’s Collection of Books -> printed and distributed by emperor
- Qianlong’s Complete Library of the Four Treasures -> too large to publish but deposited
in 7 libraries
- Rise of popular novels like 三国演义，西游记， and the Dream of the Red Chamber
- Jesuits came to China
- Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), immersed in Chinese culture and Confucianism,
opened the door for Jesuits
- Wrote “The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven”, attempting to connect
Confucius and Jesus
- Jesuit mission ended due to squabble with Francisan and Dominican
order
- Did not attract a lot of converts but led to cross-cultural exchange