Download China at Its Height

China at Its Height
The Development of the Eastern
World
China and Japan
The Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty began with the
overthrow of the Mongols in China in
1368.
The Ming period lasted until 1644.
China extended its rule into Mongolia
and central Asia, and briefly reconquered Vietnam under the Ming
emperors.
The Ming Dynasty
Ming rulers ran an effective government,
using a centralized bureaucracy staffed by
officials who had taken the civil service
examination.
Ming emperors set up a nationwide school
system.
They completed the Grand Canal, on which
grain was shipped south to north in China.
The economy flourished.
The Ming dynasty began a time of
greatness in China.
Imperial City
Emperor Yong Le began
construction of the
Imperial City—known
today as the Forbidden
City—in Beijing in 1406.
The Imperial City was the
home of China’s
emperors for nearly 500
years.
The Voyages of Zheng He
Led by the court official Zheng He, China
made seven voyages of exploration
between 1405 and 1431.
On the first, almost 28,000 men sailed on
62 ships.
The fleet visited the western coast of India
and city-states of East Africa.
The voyages produced great profits, which
alarmed Confucian traditionalist who
thought trading was an unworthy activity.
After the emperor Yong Le’s death in 1424,
the voyages halted.
Arrival of Westerners
In 1514 a Portuguese fleet arrived off the
coast of China.
The emperor was unimpressed with the
Europeans, whom he considered
barbarians.
He viewed foreign rulers as “younger
brothers” of the Chinese emperor, who
was seen as the Son of Heaven.
After outraging the Chinese with their
behavior, the Portuguese were expelled
from Guangzhou (Canton) but were
allowed to occupy Macao.
Christian Missionaries
Highly educated Jesuit missionaries
made the trip to China and
impressed Chinese officials with
such devices as clocks and
eyeglasses.
The Jesuits were impressed with
Chinese architecture and the printing
of books.
More importantly, both sides
benefited from the exchange of
ideas.
The Jesuits were impressed with the
teachings of Confucius, and they
taught Christianity to the Chinese.
Fall of the Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty declined due
to a series of weak rulers,
government corruption, high
taxes, low crop yields, peasant
unrest, and a major epidemic in
the 1630s.
The suffering from the
epidemic in part caused the
peasant revolt led by Li
Zicheng in 1644.
He occupied Beijing, the
capital, and the last Ming
emperor committed suicide.
Martial Arts
The term martial arts refers to arts of
combat and self-defense.
They are a significant part of Asian
history and culture.
Chinese martial arts were highly
visible already during the Han
dynasty.
Later, in 495, a Zen Buddhist
monastery began developing
methods of physical training known
today as kung fu.
The Qing Dynasty
The Manchus, a farming
and hunting people who
lived in the area now known
as Manchuria, conquered
Beijing.
They created the Qing
(“pure”) dynasty, which
remained in power until
1911.
Manchu Rulers
The Chinese resisted the new
Manchu rulers.
Rebels seized the island of Taiwan.
To more easily identify rebels, the
government ordered all Chinese men
to adopt Manchu dress and hairstyles.
Under penalty of death, they were to
shave their foreheads and braid their
hair into a pigtail called a queue.
Qing Adaptations
The Manchus were ethnically and
culturally different from their
subject population.
The Manchus were accepted
gradually, and the Qing dynasty
flourished.
A series of strong emperors
corrected social and economic ills,
and restored peace and
prosperity.
Qing Adaptations
The Qing maintained the Ming political
system. The Manchus dealt in two ways
with the fact that they were ethnically and
culturally different from their subjects:
(1) They preserved their own identities by
having a different legal status, maintaining
large landholdings, and forming separate
Manchu military units called banners.
(2) They brought Chinese into the top ranks
of the imperial administration, so they
showed a welcome willingness to share
power.
The Reign of Kangxi
Kangxi was perhaps China’s
greatest emperor.
He ruled from 1661 to 1722.
He was highly disciplined and
diligent.
He calmed the unrest along the
frontiers and won the support of
scholars by supporting the arts and
letters.
Christian Missionaries
Kangxi was quite tolerant of
Christians.
Christian missionaries were quite
active, and hundreds of Chinese
officials became Catholics.
His successor suppressed Christianity
in China.
Problems in the Qing
The first signs of internal decay of the
dynasty appeared during the reign of
Qianlong (1736 to 1795).
Corrupt officials and high taxes led to rural
unrest.
Expanding population caused hardships to
the peasants.
A peasant revolt known as the White Lotus
Rebellion (1796 to 1804) was suppressed,
but at great financial expense.
European Traders
The Qing government sold trade
privileges to the Europeans but, to
limit contact between foreigners and
the Chinese, they confined the traders
to a small island.
Traders could stay there only for
certain months of the year.
British Trade
In 1793, a British mission led by Lord
George Macartney tried to win more
liberal trade policies.
The emperor wrote King George III
that China had no need of “your
country’s manufactures.”
Later, China would pay for this
rejection.