1. China in the Middle Ages
Chapter 12

2. Section 4 The Ming Dynasty
China’s Ming rulers strengthened government and brought peace and prosperity . They supported trading voyages to other parts of Asia and to East Africa.
Ming Dynasty China 1368–1644
With a total of 16 emperors, the Ming Dynasty lasted 276 years, from 1368 to 1644.
Zhu Yuanzhang, Ming Emperor Taizu, carried out a comprehensive reform of previous political, military and other systems. Zhu grasped the political, military and judicial powers that pushed the feudal centralization to a high level. In the early Ming, the nation's economy soon recovered and progressed to its highest level. Zhu's achievements made him one of the most outstanding statesmen in Chinese history, along with Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Zhu changed his name upon becoming emperor to Hong Wu, meaning “Military Emperor”.

3. Zheng He traveled to parts of Asia and Africa
Reading Strategy
Complete a chart like this one to show cause and effect links in China’s early trade voyages.
Cause
Zheng He traveled to parts of Asia and Africa
Traded goods and spread culture
Merchants in China grew rich
This graphic organizer is used to identify cause and effect relationships among events that happened in China during the Middle Ages.
Chinese officials did not like the wealth or new ideas
The emperor ended the voyages

4. The Rise of Ming
After Kublai Khan’s death in 1294, the Yuan dynasty began to lose control.
Mongol groups in Mongolia broke away.
Chinese groups wanted their own dynasty.
Rebellions drove the Mongols out of power.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang led a successful rebellion and became emperor of China.
Born 1328 A.D.,  Emperor of China A.D. The Ming dynasty ( A.D.) was the last native Chinese Dynasty.   Bracketed in history by alien dynasties -- the Yuan of the Mongols and the Qing (Ch'ing) of the Manchus -- the Ming dynasty was purely Chinese, and its period of rule brought economic and social stability as well as cultural development..
The founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang (Chu Yüan-chang), also known by his reign name "Hung-wu", came from a poor peasant family.  He was orphaned at the age of 16 and then entered a Buddhist monastery, but left it in 1352 to join a band of rebels, of which he became leader.   By 1382 he had ended Mongol rule and unified all China.   His reign was marked by the consolidation of imperial power, agrarian reconstruction, and intimidation of the landed and scholarly elite, a reflection of his commoner roots.

5. The Rise of Ming He renamed himself Hong Wu.
He established Nanjing as the capital and founded the Ming dynasty.
Hong Wu was a cruel leader who killed many officials for treason, or disloyalty to the government.
Yong Le was Hong Wu’s son who became emperor after Hong Wu’s death.
Nanjing is the site in China that during World War II, the Japanese military is said to have masacared over 300,000 people.

6. The Rise of Ming
Yong Le moved the capital to Beijing, where he built an area of palaces and government buildings known as the Imperial City.
The Forbidden City was in the center of the Imperial City.
Only top officials could enter the Forbidden City.
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 buildings. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Devine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world wide.

7. Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces. Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.
Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow by a special process. However, there is one exception. Wenyuange, the royal library, has a black roof. The reason is that it was believed black represented water then and could extinguish fire.
Nowadays, the Forbidden City, or the Palace Museum is open to tourists from home and abroad. Splendid painted decoration on these royal architectural wonders, the grand and deluxe halls, with their surprisingly magnificent treasures will certainly satisfy 'modern civilians'.

8. The Rise of Ming
The Ming government restored the civil service examinations and occasionally carried out a census, or a count of people, so they could collect taxes accurately.
China’s economy grew under the leadership of the early Ming emperors, increasing farming and trade.

9. The Rise of Ming Restored civil service exams Carried out a census
Ming Reforms
Rebuilt farms and canals
Planted new forests & built new roads
This graphic organizer is designed to outline the different reforms that the Ming dynasty initiated.
Imported new types of rice
Supported the silk industry & encouraged farmers to grow cotton & weave cloth

10. The Rise of Ming
The Ming emperors supported farmers, artisans and merchants.
Writers produced novels, or long fictional stories, and Chinese people watched dramas on stage.
Ming rulers repaired and expanded the Grand Canal so that goods could be shipped from southern to northern China. They also imported new types of rice that grew faster and encouraged farmers to grow cotton and weave cloth.
People in China began writing about 1500 BC, more than a thousand years later than people in West Asia or Egypt, but earlier than anyone in Europe or Africa. The earliest writing that we know of from China was on animal bones, which are called "oracle bones" because they were used to tell the future. The writing on these oracle bones is the same writing that people use in modern China, just in an earlier version. The signs they used came from pictures, like Egyptian hieroglyphs or Sumerian cuneiform.
People in early China also wrote on strips of bamboo wood. Later on, people wrote on silk cloth, and then, about 100 BC, they invented paper to write on.
The earliest Chinese literature that we know of is from the Han Dynasty.
One of the most famous novels of early China is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which was written about 1330 AD, during the Yuan Dynasty, by a man named Luo Guanzhong.

11. The Rise of Ming Review How did the Ming rulers support farmers?
Ming rulers repaired and expanded the Grand Canal so that goods could be shipped from southern to northern China. They also imported new types of rice that grew faster and encouraged farmers to grow cotton and weave cloth.

12. The Rise of Ming Review What was the Forbidden City?
The Forbidden City was the very center of the Imperial City where China’s Emperors lived.

13. China Explores the World
Ming emperors built a large fleet of ships to discover areas outside of China.
Emperor Yong Le sent the fleet on seven overseas voyages from 1405 to 1431.
Zheng He, a Muslim and court official, led these expeditions.
He took his fleet of ships to India, Arabia, Asia, and East Africa, where he traded goods with other peoples.
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, that is, early in the 15th century, China was, in economic progress, an advanced country in the world. At the orders of the then emperor, Cheng Zu, whose name was Zhu Di, a vast fleet set sail in July, 1405 from Liujia Harbour near Suzhou on a distant voyage. The purpose was to establish relations with foreign countries, to expand trade contacts and to look for treasures to satisfy the desire of the sovereign for luxuries. The man who was given charge of the fleet was Zheng He, a eunuch also known as San Bao. Under his command was a vast fleet of 62 ships manned by more than 27, 800 men, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, officers and soldiers , artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On board the ships were large quantities of cargo that could be broken down into over 40 different categories, including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silver ware, copper utensils, iron implements, cotton goods, mercury, umbrellas and straw mats. The fleet sailed a-long the coast of Fujian, down south to Zhancheng and, after crossing the South China Sea, reached such places as Java and Sri Lanka. On the way back, it sailed along the west coast of India and triumphantly returned to the home port in Emperor Cheng Zu was very pleased with Zheng He's extraordinary feats as an envoy in making visits to various foreign countries. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He had, over a period of 28 years, eight times been ordered to act as envoy to countries lying to the west of China. Each time he had under his command a big fleet and a staff of more than 20,000 men. His fleets had sailed in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. They had gone further south to Java in today's Indonesia. Sailing then in a northwest direction, they had visited Yemen, Iran and the Holy City of Islam Mecca and further west to today's Somalia in East Africa. In all, he had made calls at more than 30 countries and territories. All this had taken place about half a century before the famous European sailor Columbus's voyage to America. For this reason, Zhen He's expeditions could rightfully be called "an unprecedented feat in the history of navigation of mankind. "

14. China Explores the World
On each voyage Zheng He was acting as the envoy and commercial representative of the Ming court. No matter what country he visited, he called on the ruler of the land, presenting to him valuable gifts in token of China's sincere desire to develop friendly relations and inviting the host sovereign to send emissaries to China. Wherever he was, he made a careful study of the customs and habits of local residents. Showing them due respect, he bartered or dealt with them through consultation and negotiation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. In this way, he obtained large quantities of pearls and precious stones, coral, ivory and dyestuffs for the Chinese emperor. He also brought back several kinds of rare and precious animals such as giraffe, lion, ostrich and leopard. In ancient India, Chinese sailors made a good impression on the local people by observing local trading customs and practices such as clapping hands to clinch a deal in full view of others and never going back on it. When he visited Sri Lanka on his third voyage, Zheng He offered a quantity of gold and silver Buddhist ceremonial vessels and silk-knit religious pennants to local temples on whose ground steles were set up to mark the occasion of his visit. Wherever he went, he was warmly received. At Zhancheng, the king of the land, in full royal regalia, came in person on elephantback with 500 cavalrymen to meet him at the wharf and then take him back to the palace. On the way they were greeted by local inhabitants who blew trumpets made of coconut shells and performed national dances at a solemn and joyous ceremony. Even today, people in Somalia and Tanzania look upon Ming China unearthed today as a symbol of the traditional friendship between their own country and China. In Thailand today, there are places named after Zheng He's childhood name Sanbao (three treasures) such as Sanbao Harbour and Sanbao Pagoda. Malacca of Malaysia is known also as the City of Sanbao. At Java in Indonesia, there is the Sanbao Temple. In Calicut (Kozhikode today) of India, there is an inscribed tablet set up in Zheng He's memory. In China itself, Zheng He's voyages are now household tales.

15. China Explores the World
The countries Zheng He had visited later sent their emissaries and trade representatives to China from time to time. In 1419 when Zheng He was sailing back on his fifth voyage, 17 countries sent their envoys to China, including Philippines and Malaysia. While in China, these foreign emissaries were shown great hospitality by Emperor Chengzu of Ming. The voyages by Zheng He strengthened the friendly relations between China and other countries in Asia and Africa and gave an impetus to cultural and economic exchange between them.
On his first voyage overseas, the largest ship in the fleet had a length of 440 Chinese feet and a width of 180. Manned by more then 200 sailors and able to accommodate 1, 000 passengers, it was equipped with nine masts which flew 12 big sails. This was probably the largest sea-going vessel of the day. Other vessels might not be of the same size but on an average each one was able to carry aboard four to five hundred passengers. Many of the navigational problems encountered were solved in a rational , scientific way. For instance, the way fresh water was collected and stored, the stability of the hull and its buoyancy, the making of sea charts and the use of navigational apparatuses like the compass. This accounted for the fact that in spite of terrible storms, this fleet of friendship had ploughed the waves day and night in full sail. It is generally believed that Zheng He had the largest, most advanced fleet in the world in the 15th century. On each of his 8 voyages, Zheng He kept a detailed logbook and made many nautical charts which were later collected in what was called Zheng He's Nautical Charts, which was the first of its kind in the world. From this we can say that China in those days probably led the world in the technology of ship-building and the science of navigation.
This graphic demonstrates the difference between Christopher Columbus’s ship (foreground) and Zheng’s ship.

16. China Explores the World
Chinese officials complained about the cost of the trips.
They disapproved of new ideas brought from the outside world and the growing wealth of merchants involved in trade.
The merchants contradicted Confucius’s teaching by placing their loyalty to themselves above that of society.
The voyages ended after Zheng He’s death.
As these explorers began sharing information of their extensive travels with the Chinese people, they were revered and honored by the people. What do emperors like less than their loyal subjects honoring and revering other people. Not much.
The Emperors stopped all future voyages. Then they dismantled the boats and forbade any other ships to be built. In time, shipbuilding technology was forgotten.

17. China Explores the World
In 1514, a fleet from Portugal arrived in China.
It carried the first Europeans to sail to China, and the first direct contact between China and Europe since Marco Polo.
The Portuguese wanted to trade with the Chinese, and they wanted the Chinese to become Christians.
Jorge Averez is believed to have been the first Portuguese to set foot in Southern China.

18. China Explores the World
The Chinese thought the Europeans were barbarians, or uncivilized people.
The Chinese eventually let the Europeans set up a trading post in China, and European ideas were introduced to the Chinese.
Jesuit missionaries, a special group of Roman Catholic priests, arrived in China to convince the Chinese to become Christians.
Jorge Averez’s visit was followed by the establishment of a number of Portuguese trading centers in the area, which were eventually consolidated in Macau.
China in the 1500s experiences a decline in the central power of the Ming dynasty; the conquering Manchus reassert strong central control under the Qing (Manchu) dynasty ( ) and extend Chinese territory to the North and West (Chinese Turkestan, Outer Mongolia, and Tibet)
The interaction between the Asian and European countries is complicated a) by the evolving political situations in both China and Japan, and b) by the competitive economic and colonial ambitions of the Western nations and by the activities of and disagreements among the Christian missionary groups who accompany them — the Jesuits arrive first with the Portuguese, followed by the Dominicans and Franciscans who arrive with the Spanish, and later the Protestant sects under the British, Germans, and Americans

19. China Explores the World
The Ming dynasty fell after rulers weakened.
The Manchus attacked in northern China and captured Beijing.
Ming emperors held too much power in their own hands. Ming rulers became weak and greedy officials took over the country. They taxed the peasants heavily, and the peasants revolted. Law and order disappeared leaving the country open to an attack by the Manchus.
Emperor Kangxi came to power in a turbulent time. His people, the Manchu, had come down from the hills to defend the Ming dynasty in but once they rid China of its attackers, they refused to leave. Under Kangxi and his successors, the size of China doubled with Taiwan, Mongolia, Tibet, and part of Central Asia brought into the empire. They consolidated the bureaucracy, opened ports to foreign trade, and declared the beginning of a new era: the Ch’ing, or “pure,” dynasty.
Kangxi’s people, the Manchu, were non-Chinese from the northeast who believed they had an ancient right to rule the nation. The warrior Nurhaci had created a state, outside the Great Wall and beyond the ruling Ming’s influence. When his state became strong enough by the turn of the seventeenth century, he renounced loyalty to the Ming and planned his conquest of Beijing.
When warlords from the north sacked Beijing in 1644, the Ming generals turned to Nurhaci’s son in desperation. His warriors answered the call: they crossed the wall into China, defeated the rebel forces, and freed the country from the scourge of bandits.
But the victors were not content to return leadership to the Ming, and instead set up their own dynasty. Nurhaci’s six-year-old grandson was placed on the throne.
They granted all surrendering military leaders noble rank and reassured the gentry of their social status, winning over many influential Chinese. But every Chinese man, regardless of his social position, was required to shave his head except for one plait, to demonstrate his obedience. Anyone who did not comply within ten days was executed.

20. China Explores the World
Review
What caused the loss of shipbuilding technology?
The Ming emperors stopped the sea voyages Zheng He had authorized. Then they dismantled the boats and forbade any other ships to be built. In time, shipbuilding technology was forgotten.

21. China Explores the World
Review
What caused the Ming Dynasty to decline and fall?
Ming emperors held too much power in their own hands. Ming rulers became weak, and greedy officials took over the country. They taxed the peasants heavily, and the peasants revolted. Law and order disappeared leaving the country open to an attack by the Manchus.

22. Review
What was the purpose of the Forbidden City and where was it located?
The Forbidden City was home to China’s emperors and was located in Beijing.

23. Review
How did the Chinese react to the arrival of Portuguese traders in 1514?
The Chinese thought they were barbarians and at first refused to trade with them.

24. Review
Why did Emperor Yong Le send Zheng He on his voyages? How did Zheng He’s voyages benefit China?
Zheng was sent on voyages to show off China’s power and open trade between China and other countries; benefits to China were that Chinese traders settled in Southeast Asia and India where they traded goods and spread Chinese culture. China’s wealth grew.

25. Review How did Ming rulers make China’s government strong?
The Ming rulers restored civil service exams; carried out census to collect taxes; rebuilt farms and canals; planted new forests; built new roads; imported new types of rice; supported the silk industry; and encouraged farmers to start growing cotton.

26. Review What did the Ming rulers accomplish?
The Ming rulers made the government strong; made agriculture thrive; advanced Chinese culture; sent a fleet of ships to other lands; and expanded trade.

27. disloyalty to the government
Review
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian
disloyalty to the government
f. treason

28. a count of the number of people
Review
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian
a count of the number of people
g. census

29. Review long fictional story A. Nanjing B. Portugal C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

30. Review uncivilized person A. Nanjing B. Portugal C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

31. Review
capital of China under the Ming dynasty; this city was located in southern China
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

32. Review
a country in Europe on the Iberian Peninsula that wanted to trade with China in the 1500s; the people from this country also wanted the Chinese to become Christians
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

33. Review
rebel leader and founder of the Ming dynasty; he became emperor of China in 1368 and ruled for 30 years; he reunited the country after the Mongols were driven out; he was also known as Hong Wu
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

34. Review
son of Hong Wu; he succeeded his father as emperor of China; he moved the capital north to Beijing in 1421; there he also built the Forbidden City, home to China's emperors for more than 500 years
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian

35. Review
born Ma He, this Chinese Muslim and navigator traveled on seven overseas voyages across the Indian Ocean from 1405 to 1431; his voyages opened the door for trade among China, India, and Africa
A. Nanjing
B. Portugal
C. Zhu Yuanzhang
D. Yong Le
Zheng He
treason
census
novel
barbarian