The Ming Dynasty In 1368 the Mongols were overthrown by Ming Hong Wu who formed the Ming Dynasty which would last until Under Ming he would: 1. expand China’s boundaries 2. strengthened the Great Wall 3. make peace with nomadic tribes 4. establish a strong government with officials chosen by the civil service system 5. establish a nationwide school system 6. introduce new crops 7. improve manufacturing 8. created the Grand Canal which would allow easy access of northern and southern China. Ming Hong Wu

The Voyages of Zheng He After Ming’s death in 1398 he was replaced by his son Yong Le. Yong built large monuments, strengthened the Great Wall, expanded Chinese rule, built the Imperial City in Beijing, and eventually moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Probably his greatest feat was sending Zheng He out on a massive sea expedition.

The Voyages of Zheng He He embarked on a total of seven voyages. The most important aspects of his journeys were the trading of new goods and discovery of new markets as well as the new ideas and views of the rest of the world that he returned with Shortly after the death of Yong Le’s the voyages were halted.

First Contacts With The West In 1514 the Portuguese arrived in China, the first contact since Marco Polo. At first the Chinese were unimpressed or concerned with the new arrivals as they were seen as an unusual form of a barbarian. This was short lived as they soon angered the Chinese with their behavior to the point of being expelled from Guangzhou. At first trade was at a minimum as the most important aspect of contact was the sharing of ideas. The idea of Christianity was also spread during this period. Missionaries established missions, brought new technology, and focused on education which impressed Chinese officials and made them more receptive to Western ideas. Christian missionaries were impressed with Chinese architecture, the printing and availability of books, and the teaching of Confucianism. Marco Polo

Fall of the Ming Dynasty After a period of great growth and prosperity the Ming Dynasty began to decline for the following reasons; 1. Internal power struggle-Resulted in weak leaders who were easily overthrown. 2. Government Corruption-Led to high taxes. 3. Poor crop yields-This was due to poor weather 4. Health epidemic-cut population & tax base 5. Peasant revolts-Ming Dynasty defeated by the Manchu's. The Manchu's declared a new dynasty, the Qing which would remain in power until The Ming Dynasty Tombs

The Qing Dynasty Not all were happy with the emergence of the Manchu as they seized the island of Taiwan (Formosa) The Manchu government prepared to attack & in an effort to identify the rebels they required all men to dress in the Manchu style which consisted of shaved foreheads & a braided pigtail called a queue Those that refused were assumed to be rebels & executed Eventually the Manchu leaders were accepted & flourished as they corrected social ills as well as restored peace & prosperity

Qing Adaptations The Qing retained the Ming political system but faced a major issue in that they, Manchu's, were ethnically & culturally different than the Ming This issue was dealt with in two ways 1. The Qing tried to maintain their identity, they made up only 2% of the population, by being legally defined as distinct from everyone else in China. Manchu received large land holdings & revenues from the treasury. Military units were separated with the Manchu units being called banners. 2. They dealt with ethnic differences by allowing the Chinese to be part of the imperial administration by giving them some 80% of the lower posts with the majority of the top posts going to the Manchu’s. The sharing of power gained much support for the Manchu.

Reign of Kangxi Kangxi was perhaps the greatest ruler of the Ming & Qing dynasties He ruled from 1661 to 1722 & was a person with great character & political skill It was under Kangxi that Christian ministers achieved their greatest success as he was very tolerant of their work Several hundred officials converted as well as did some 300,000 ordinary Chinese After the death of Kangxi his successors tried to limit Christian activities

Europeans in China Another great leader of this period was Qianlong who would rule from 1736 to 1795 It was under his rule that China expanded to its greatest physical size as well as experienced great prosperity It was under his reign that the first signs of decay would appear, cracks included; 1. Corrupt officials 2. High taxes which led to revolt 3. Population growth which led to exerted pressure on the land 4. Cost of putting down the rebels

Europeans in China It was also during this period that European trade had begun to expand At first the Chinese government sold trade privileges to the Europeans attempting to limit contact The Qing isolated European traders to a small island & allowed them to deal with a limited number of licensed Chinese traders between the months of October through March As time passed pressure to increase access to more Chinese markets increased Emperor Qianlong would resist saying China had no need for British manufactures