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The Rise of the Ming
A.
How Did the Ming Dynasty Begin?
1.
2.
Kublai Khan died in 1294 and a series of weak rulers
followed him.
a.
Mongol groups in Mongolia to the north broke away from the
Yuan dynasty.
b.
Many of the Chinese resented Mongol controls and wanted
their own dynasty.
A series of rebellions finally drove out the Mongols and in
1368 a rebel leader named Zhu Yuanzhang became
emperor.
a.
He united the country and set up his capital at Nanjing in
southern China.
b.
There, he founded the Ming, or “Brilliant,” dynasty.
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Ch 4 Sec 4 The Ming Dynasty
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The Rise of the Ming
3.
4.
Zhu changed his name to Hong Wu, meaning “Military
Emperor”.
a.
He was a cruel leader who trusted no one and killed officials
he suspected of treason, or disloyalty to the government.
b.
He ruled for 30 years and when he died his son Yong Le
became emperor.
In 1421 Yong Le moved the capital north to Beijing and
built a large area of palaces and government buildings
known as the Imperial City.
a.
The center of the Imperial City was known as the Forbidden
City because only top officials could enter.
b.
The Forbidden City had beautiful gardens and many palaces
with thousands of rooms.
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Left: Hong Wu
Right: Yong Le
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Chinese Imperial Palace
Ch 4 Sec 4 The Ming Dynasty
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Forbidden City
Ch 4 Sec 4 The Ming Dynasty
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Ch 4 Sec 4 The Ming Dynasty
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The Rise of the Ming
B.
How Did the Ming Reform China?
1.
2.
Ming emperors made all the decisions but they still needed
officials to carry out their orders.
a.
The restored the civil service examinations and made the tests
even harder.
b.
Every few years Ming officials compiled a census, or a count of
the number of people, to help them collect taxes more
accurately.
In the early years of the Ming dynasty China’s economy
began to grow.
a.
Hong Wu ordered many of the canals and farms destroyed by
the Mongols to be rebuilt and ordered people to move to the
new farms.
b.
He also ordered new forests to be planted and new roads to
be paved.
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The Rise of the Ming
3.
4.
Agriculture thrived on the new lands and the Grand Canal
was repaired so that rice and other goods could be shipped
from northern to southern China.
a.
They imported new types of rice from southeast Asia that
grew faster.
b.
This helped to feed the growing number of people living in the
cities.
The Ming also supported the silk industry and encouraged
farmers to start growing cotton and weaving cloth.
a.
For the first time, cotton became the cloth worn by most
Chinese.
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The Rise of the Ming
C.
Chinese Culture
1.
Chinese culture also advanced under the Ming.
a.
As merchants and artisans grew wealthier, they wanted to
learn more and be entertained.
b.
Writers produced many novels, or long fictional stories.
c.
They also enjoyed seeing dramas on stage.
Ch 4 Sec 4 The Ming Dynasty
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China Explores the World
A.
Who Was Zheng He?
1.
Early Ming emperors were curious about the world outside
of China and they wanted the rest of the world to know
about China.
a.
2.
They built a large fleet of ships to travel along China’s coast
but they could sail the open sea if desired.
From 1405 to 1431, Emperor Yong Le sent the fleet on
seven oversea voyages.
a.
He wanted to trade with other kingdoms, show off China’s
power, and demand that weaker kingdoms pay tribute.
b.
The leader of these journeys was a Chinese Muslim and court
official named Zheng He.
c.
His first fleet had 62 large ships, 250 smaller ships, and almost
2,800 men.
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China Explores the World
d.
B.
The largest ship was over 440 feet long making it more than
five times as long as the Santa Maria that Christopher
Columbus sailed 90 years later.
Where Did Zheng He Travel?
1.
2.
Zheng He took his first fleet to southeast Asia.
a.
In later voyages, he reached India, sailed up the Persian Gulf
to Arabia, and even landed in East Africa.
b.
In these areas he traded Chinese goods, like silk, paper and
porcelain for black silver, spices, wood and other goods.
c.
When he was in Africa he bought giraffes and other animals
for the emperor’s zoo.
As a result of these voyages, Chinese merchants settled in
Southeast Asia and India where they traded goods and
spread Chinese culture.
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China Explores the World
3.
Despite the benefits of the voyages many Chinese officials
complained that the trips cost too much.
a.
They also thought it was bad for China to be exposed to the
new ideas from the outside world.
4.
Confucius taught that people should place loyalty to society
ahead of their own desires and to the Chinese officials,
China’s merchants were disobeying this by working to gain
money for themselves.
5.
After Zheng He’s death in 1433, the Confucian officials
persuaded the new emperor to stop the voyages.
a.
The boats were taken apart and no more were allowed to be
built.
b.
China’s trade with other countries declined and within 50
years, the shipbuilding technology was forgotten.
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China Explores the World
C.
The Europeans Arrive in China
1.
In 1514 a fleet from Portugal arrived off the coast of China
and it was the first time Europeans had ever sailed to China
and the first direct contact between China and Europe since
Marco Polo.
2.
The Portuguese wanted China to trade with them and they
wanted to convert the Chinese to Christianity.
a.
3.
The Chinese were not impressed and thought the Europeans
were barbarians, or uncivilized people.
At first they refused to trade with the Portuguese, but by
1600, they had allowed Portugal to set up a trading post at
the port of Macao in southern China.
a.
Goods were carried on ships from between Macao and Japan
but remained limited.
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China Explores the World
4.
D.
Ideas from Europe did reach China.
a.
Christian missionaries traveled to China on European ships.
b.
Many of the missionaries were Jesuits, a special group of
Roman Catholic priests who were highly educated.
c.
Their scientific knowledge impressed the Chinese.
d.
To get China to accept European ideas, the Jesuits brought
them clocks, eyeglasses, and scientific instruments.
e.
Although they tried they were unable to convert many Chinese
to Christianity.
Why Did the Ming Dynasty Fall?
1.
After a long era of prosperity and growth, the Ming dynasty
began to decline.
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China Explores the World
a.
The emperors had too much control and the officials had little
desire to make improvements.
b.
Over time Ming rulers themselves became weak and greedy
officials placed heavy taxes on the peasants, who began to
revolt.
c.
As law and order disappeared, a people called the Manchus
from Manchuria attacked China’s northern border.
d.
They defeated Chinese armies and captured Beijing. In 1644
they set up a new dynasty.
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