China and Japan’s Reaction to Western Exploration

The Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) 1368 Hongwu became the first Chinese emperor of the Ming Dynasty He had many goals including: Restoring agricultural land Increasing China’s prosperity Erasing traces of the Mongols His reforms included: Increased the imperial administration by restoring merit-based civil service exams Used respected traditions and institutions to promote stability, such as the return to Confucianism He became a tyrant Power struggle after his death

Yonglo (Hongwu’s son) Very curious about the world and in 1405 he begins exploring the world with all voyages led by Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim admiral He showed Chinese superiority everywhere he went by distributing gifts, which led other nations to pay tribute to the Chinese 1433, after 7th expedition, the Chinese withdraw into isolation

Ming Relations with Foreign Countries Official trade policies of the 1500s reflected isolation with the government controlling all trade through a few official ports BUT merchants traded anyway as European demand for silk and ceramics was very high Manufacturing and commerce increased but China did not industrialize Commerce was against Confucian beliefs Chinese policies favored agriculture

The Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911) Manchus (people of Manchuria) 1644 Manchus invade a weakened China and take the Chinese name Qing Kangxi (1654- 1722) 1661- he became ruler and ruled for about 60 years He supported the intellectuals and lowered taxes Quian- long (1735- 1795) China reached its greatest size and prosperity under him

Trade with China All Europeans wanted to trade with China but they had to comply with China’s demands Dutch Accepted China’s rules of paying tribute and doing a kowtow British Wanted to trade but wouldn’t comply with all the restrictions

Daily Life in Ming and Qing China Development of agriculture pays off and rice production increases leading to a population boom (by 1800 the population is about 300 million!) Most families farmed land Sons were favored over daughters leading to increase in infant mortality Men dominated the household Footbinding continued because of women’s inferior status

Japan 1467 civil war shatters Japan’s feudal system and the country drives deeper into chaos Central rule ended taking power away from the shoguns and to territorial lords 1467-1568- Sengoku or Warring States period Powerful Samurai, known as daimyo, took control of old feudal estates and the daimyo became lords of a new type of feudalism in Japan

Japanese Leaders Oda Nobunaga Defeated rivals and seized Kyoto in 1568 Unable to unify Japan Committed suicide in 1582 Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nobunaga’s best general) Wanted to destroy the rest of the daimyo that remained hostile By 1590 controlled most of the country 1592 invaded Korea 1598 died and troops withdraw from Korea

Tokugawa Ieyasu Completes the unification of Japan 1600 defeated rivals in the battle of Sekigahara and becomes sole ruler three years later Moved capital to Edo (later renamed Tokyo) Alternate attendance policy Tokugawa Shogunate Would continue through 1867 and Japan would experience more than two centuries of stability, prosperity, and isolationism

Contact between Europe and Japan 1543 Portuguese sailors wash up on shore and want to get in on Japan’s trade with China and Southeast Asia Europeans introduce firearms to the Japanese 1549 Christian missionaries begin arriving in Japan 1612- Japan bans Christianity and focused on ridding the country of foreigners 1637 peasants rebellion in the south, which led to persecution of all Christians and push to rid entire Japan of Christians Closed Country Policy 1639 Japan’s borders are sealed For almost 200 years Japan developed a self- sufficient country, free from European attempts to colonize or to establish their presence

Discussion Question How was the treatment of Europeans different in Japan and China? How was it similar?