Meanwhile, in Asia… Early Modern Asia – Ming China and Japan

Unlike the Europeans European growth and expansion had a lot to do with making contacts around the world In Asia, development and growth came from inside- they did not expand too far outside of Asia and they did not consider Europeans a threat

Asian Trading Network

Control goes to the Portuguese Portugal quickly learned choke points- points where geography funneled trade into narrow areas Identify the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Straits of Malacca No central control Military force absent from commercial exchanges

How did the Europeans take over? Asian resistance to Portuguese control Poor military discipline Corruption in the Portuguese monarchy Shipping losses – overloading, poor design Dutch capture Indonesian ports, England settles in India, Spain takes the Philippines

Ming China Hongwu Emperor (the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty) – rid China of traces of Mongols – names changed, buildings sacked, records destroyed Re-revival of the scholar-gentry – what philosophy? Emphasis on manufacturing and expansion of social works projects – dams, dykes, irrigation Zheng He’s voyages and the end of expansion

Fall of Ming Incompetent rulers (political) Public works projects fell into disrepair, and floods, famine and drought occurred (environmental and social) Peasants got desperate – eating tree bark, goose excrement, selling children into slavery, cannibalism Landlords built estates and took advantage of peasant labor (political decentralization) Peasants rebelled (social) Renewed assaults by nomads beyond the wall (external) As Jurchens scaled the wall of the Forbidden City, the last Ming Eperor, Chongzhen, committed suicide by hanging

Japan Political pattern – decentralized daimyo rule and constant civil wars Oda Nobunaga unified much of Japan, but was ultimately killed in battle Tokugawa Ieyasu took control and worked on consolidation Moved the capital to Edo, later renamed Tokyo Demanded daimyos to pledge honor and allegiance

Japan and the West Along with a daimyo civil war, the Japanese had to deal with: Portuguese traders Christian missionaries Potential European military expeditions In response, Japan became isolated Missionaries and merchants might negatively impact the Japanese social order Christian missionaries and converts persecuted All ships forbidden to sail outside Japan Exports greatly restricted

Big Picture China and Japan rejected global dominance to preserve their cultures and countries Japan recognized that Europe might become a threat and isolated themselves, while China underestimated their strength and were later subjected to imperialism European expansionism was possible because of mercantilism, while China and Japan culturally expanded on their own

Multiple Choice Which of the following characterized the Asian trading system as the first Europeans encountered it? (A)The Indian Ocean trade was monopolized by Hindu merchants (B)The Indian Ocean trade was dominated by Muslim merchants (C)The trade is slaves was the principal cargo traversing the Indian Ocean (D)The Indian Ocean trade was highly militarized

Multiple Choice What circumstances prevented the Portuguese from establishing a monopoly over the Asian spice trade? (A) The Mughal and Ottoman navies were too strong (B) French traders offered too much competition (C) Portugal was a small nation and lacked the ships and manpower needed to overcome Asian and European rivals (D) Access to the most profitable spices was controlled by the Chinese

What Asian society witnessed the largest percentage of its population converted to Christianity? (A) China (B) India (C) Japan (D) Philippines

The raw material with the broadest demand and highest price was (A) silk from China in the Middle East (B) cottons from India to the Middle East (C) bulk items, usually foodstuffs, exchanged among each of the main zones (D) spices from the East Indies

Following the defeat and expulsion of the Mongols from China, (A) Chinese manufacturing expanded further. (B) peasants were granted equality with the scholar-gentry and noble classes (C) China converted to Buddhism (D) the civil service exam system of the Mongols ended

In the 17 th century, the Japanese dealt with the startling arrival of the Europeans to East Asia by (A) allying with the Portuguese against the other Europeans (B) permitting the Jesuits to convert the Japanese to Christianity (C) permitting the Europeans to establish control over Japan’s foreign trade (D) self-imposed isolated and forbidding most contact with Europeans