Transcript Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change

Asian Transitions in an Age of Global
Change
Chapter 22
Asian Trading World and the Europeans
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Vasco da Gama
Caravel ships Asian Sea Trading
Network
• Arab zone – glass,
carpets, and tapestry
• India – cotton
• China – paper,
porcelain, and silks
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Red Sea/Persian Gulf
Straits of Malacca
Calicut
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Asian divisions
allowed the success of
da Gama
Ormuz
Goa
Malacca
Factories – point
where spices and
other goods were
stored prior to
shipment to Europe
Dutch and English Trading Empire
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Dutch and English fleets took advantage of
Portuguese weakness in Asia in order to develop
their own trading empires.
COMMERCE
Fortified towns
Factories
Warships on patrol
Monopolies of products
***the Dutch even destroyed spices on islands
they did not control and went so far as to remove
or kill people who produced spices without Dutch
control
The Dutch Trading Empire
The Jesuits Move into Asia
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Francis Xavier
Robert di Nobili
Early attempts to convert
the untouchables made the
Jesuits off limits to the
Indian elite.
Di Nobili adopted Indian
culture – language,
clothes, and diet in order
to attract the Indian elite –
but the elite refused to
worship with the lower
castes. Did he convert
them or they he?
Voyages of Francis Xavier
MING CHINA
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In 1368 – Zhu
Yuanzhang came from
poverty to take
advantage of the
weakness of the
Mongol rule in order
to establish himself as
the emperor HONGWU
– the first of the Ming
dynasty.
“De-Mongolization”
Let’s Revive the Scholar-Gentry!!! (again)
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Despite his person reservations, Hongwu began the reestablishment of the civil service examination system and the rise
of the shco9lar gentry.
The examinations became even more important to the Chinese
bureaucracy – and would continue to do so until the end of the
Qing dynasty in 1911.
The examination system became even more complex and
bureaucratized.
Hongwu tried to end the corruption that the end of the Mongol
rule was known for – and to increase the power of the emperor:
• Position of chief minister abolished
• Bureaucrats guilty of corruption or incompetence were publicly
humiliated
• Emperors’ wives were to come from humble families
• The power of the eunuchs were to be limited
• Censorship – even of the works of Mencius and the examinations
Ming Prosperity
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Great commercial boom –
corn, sweet potatoes, and
peanuts.
Massive population growth
Silk, tea, lacquer-ware for
export to the west
Macao and Canton – only
places westerners were
officially allowed to do
business in China.
Printing, novels, ceramics
– all became even more
important symbols of
Chinese art/culture.
The Voyages of Zhenghe
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1405-1423 –
admiral Zhenghe
led a series of Ming
expeditions
throughout Asia
and Africa.
Exploration AND
promotion
The Ming Begin to Look Inward – Mistake?
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1390 – the Ming began to limit Chinese overseas
commerce
The number and size of ships were severely
limited
Yet, Ming emperors were fascinated with the
Jesuits – Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall for
example – as the Jesuits astonished the Chinese
elite with their science and technology.
While the Franciscans and Dominicans tried to
convert and work among the poor – the Jesuits
worked among the elite – BUT most of the elite
were wary of the “barbarians” as the Europeans
were called.
The End of the Ming – the Dynastic Cycle comes ‘round a
gain
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Retreat from overseas
contact was a mistake
Rampant corruption
Eunuch control of the
Forbidden City
Infrastructure breakdown
Floods-droughts-famines
Peasants turned to
banditry
Pirate attacks
Chongzhen – the last Ming
emperor committed suicide
1644
Japan
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Civil wars and power
struggles among the daimyo
meant that Japan was ruled
by one emperor – BUT that
rule and centralization was in
name only.
1573 – NOBUNAGA –
defeated the last Ashikaga
shogun and tried to unite all
the daimyo – but was killed in
1582.
Nobunaga’s general
TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI –
continued the attempt at
unification – through alliances
and military victories.
By 1590, Hideyoshi was the
military commander of Japan.
Japan and the Outside World
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Hideyoshi had dreamed of a Japan that
would rule Korea, China – perhaps even
India – but he died after failed moves
against Korea.
His vassal Tokugawa Ieyasu assumed
control and in 1603 was granted the title
shogun by the emperor – TOKUGAWA
SHOGUNATE
The capital was moved to the city of EDO
(now called Tokyo).
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In the early days, Nobunaga used Christianity and Christian
missionaries as tools to counter balance the power of the Buddhist
monks – BUT Hideyoshi and others – saw the Europeans –
especially the Jesuits – as threats to Japanese power and society.
Hideyoshi ordered the Christian missionaries to leave Japan – but
few did at first
1614 – Christianity officially banned – missionaries who did not
leave were killed – converts forced to renounce or be imprisoned
or killed. Christianity went underground.
1616 – foreign traders limited to only a select number of ports
1630s – Japanese forbidden to trade or sail overseas
1640s – only a small number of Dutch and Chinese allowed in
Nagasaki Bay – on the island of Deshima – to trade
Western books banned – exportation of gold and silver limited
Foreigners could only live in select areas
Even thought looked inward as the School of National Learning –
promoted a Japanese centric approach to all thought and learning.