Transcript Chapter 27 Tradition and Change in East Asia

Chapter 27 – Day 1 Aim: How did East Asia experience
both tradition and change during the Ming and Qing
Dynasties? Do Now: Pair/Share 1) What threatened
the Ming Dynasty? 2) How did they try to protect
themselves?
• Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty
comes to power after
Mongol Yuan dynasty
driven out
• Founded by Emperor
Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
• Used traveling officials
called Mandarins & large
number of eunuchs to
maintain control
• Emperor Yongle (r. 14031424) experiments with
sea expeditions, moves
capital north to Beijing –
WHY?
• To deter Mongol attacks
The Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644)
The Great Wall
• Origins before
4th century BCE,
ruins from Qin
dynasty in 3rd
century BCE
• Rebuilt under
Ming rule, 15th16th centuries
• 1,550 miles, 3349 feet high
• Guard towers
• Room for
housing soldiers
• Admiral Zheng He - From 1405 to 1433 Emperor sent a Muslim
eunuch to lead Ming’s fleets across the Indian Ocean
• In 1435 court scholars convinced the emperor that voyages
wasteful, encouraged foreign ideas, and ruin China
• Emperor ended naval explorations and destroyed records of
voyages
• What if the Chinese had continued exploring??? Result?
Eradicating the Mongol
Past – HOW?
• Ming emperors
encourage abandonment
of Mongol names, dress
• Support study of
Confucian classics
• Civil service
examinations renewed
Ming Decline
•16th century maritime pirates
harm coastal trade
•Navy, government unable to
respond effectively
•Emperors secluded in
Forbidden City, palace
compound in Beijing
– Hedonists
– Emperor Wanli (r. 15721620) abandons imperial
activity to eunuchs
Ming Collapses
• Famine, peasant
rebellions in early 17th
century
• Rebels take Beijing in
1644 (from Manchuria)
• Manchu fighters enter
from the north and
retake city
• Manchus refuse to
allow reestablishment
of Ming dynasty
• Establish Qing (“Pure”)
Dynasty
Qing Empire, 1644-1911 – Observations???
The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
• Manchus originally pastoral
nomads, north of Great
Wall
• Establishes control over
Korea, Mongolia, China
– War with Ming loyalists to
1680
– Support from many Chinese,
fed up with Ming corruption
• Manchus forbid
intermarriage, study of
Manchu language by
Chinese, force Manchu
hairstyles as sign of loyalty
Emperor Kangxi (r. 16611722)
• Confucian scholar, poet
• Military conquests: island
of Taiwan, Tibet, central
Asia
• Grandson Emperor
Qianlong (r. 1736-1795)
expands territory
– Height of Qing dynasty
– Great prosperity, tax
collection cancelled on
several occasions
The “Son of Heaven”
• Ming, Qing Emperors
considered quasi-divine
• Hundreds of concubines,
thousands of eunuch
servants
• Clothing designs, name
characters forbidden to
rest of population
• The kowtow: three bows,
nine head-knocks sign of
obedience, respect
The Scholar-Bureaucrats
• Ran government on a
day-to-day basis
• Graduates from intense
civil service examinations
(see article on Chinese
cram schools on website)
– Open only to men
– Curriculum: Confucian
classics, calligraphy,
poetry, essay writing
– Also: history,
literature
The Civil Service Examinations – Why so
important?
• District, provincial, and
metropolitan levels
• Only 300 allowed to pass
at highest level
– Multiple attempts common
• Ferocious competition
• Qing dynasty: 1 million
degree holders compete for
20,000 government
positions
– Remainder turn to teaching,
tutoring positions
• Students expected to bring
bedding, chamber pots for • Some corruption, cheating
three-day uninterrupted
• Advantage for wealthy
examinations
classes: hiring private
– Students searched for
tutors, etc.
printed materials before
• But open to all,
entering private cells
tremendous opportunity
for social mobility -HOW?
1. Which of the following is not true of the
Manchus?
A) They were nomads.
B) They came from Manchuria.
C) They rejected Confucian principles in favor of
a Mongol-style tribal council.
D) They established the Qing dynasty.
E) all of the above are true
2. Which of the following is true of China's civil
service system?
A) It was a flexible system that focused on
studying cutting edge scientific texts.
B) It was not very competitive.
C) It ensured that the most progressive men
available governed China.
D) It guaranteed the central place of
Confucianism in Chinese education.
E) It none of the above
Assessment
• Create a
multiple
choice
question
based on
previous
material
• Exchange
question with
neighbor
• Share
question/
answer with
class