Transcript Ming and Qing Dynasties

Ming and Qing Dynasties
Mandate of Heaven
The right to rule is granted by Heaven.
There is only one Heaven therefore there can be only one ruler.
The right to rule is based on the virtue of the ruler.
The right to rule is not limited to one dynasty.
Last 3 Dynasties (Beijing)
• Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
– Mongolian
– north of China proper
• Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
– Han Chinese
• Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
– Manchu
– northeast of China proper
Confucian culture
• modern concept of political nation state
• Chinese defined by Confucian culture
• Civil service exam (605-1905)
– social mobility
– reward diligence, discipline, and willpower, but
not talent or innovation
• law of avoidance
• “sum of social relationships”
Social hierarchy and mobility
• scholar-officials, farmers, artisans, and
merchants
• scholar-official-landlord
– learning, political power, and economic wealth
• local elite (gentry) and lineage
• lack of work ethic
– literati’s long gown
– foot-binding for women
Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644)
China’s Tributary System
• Traditional system for managing foreign
relations
• The ``Central Kingdom” worldview
• Ming dynasty had the most extensive
tributary system
– tributes from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast
Asia, and even West Asia and Africa
Zheng He’s fleet (1405 - 1433)
• Over 300 ships & 20,000 men
• trade and commerce
• Southeast Asia, South Asia,
West Asia, and East Africa
Zheng He’s expeditions
European Ships Seek Out China
• High Grade Blue and
White Porcelain
(“China”
• Silk
• Cotton
• Tea
• Literature and Art
flourished
Ming Collapse
• “Little Ice Age”- Agricultural distress and
famine
• Ming did not want to advance the
economy
• Corruption rampant
Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912)
• Ming dynasty fell in 1644 amid peasant
uprisings, Japanese invasion, and Manchu
invasion
• Manchu and Han Chinese
Ming and Qing Emperors
Kangxi: child Emperor in 1662, died in 1722.
His rule was highlighted by expansion and
great stability
Tea and Diplomacy
• Controlled trade:
Europeans could only
trade at Canton
• English had not found a
product to sell to China
(fearful after loss of
American colonies) a
good market to sell into!
(Lots of people!)
• Silver paid for tea an
other goods- why?
Situation:
• Macartney Mission: GB’s desire to trade
with the Qing
• China and Macartney unfamiliar with
customs
• On Emperor Qianlong’s 80th birthday
Macartney refuse to kowtow, but bowed on
one knee, was he would to George III
• Qianlong welcomed him, but refuse to
alter the Canton trading arrangement
(frustration with the Qing)
Emperor & Macartney (1793)
Population and Social Stress
• Under the Qing, China’s population grows
3x its size in 1500 (350million in the late
1700s, 2x population of all of Europe)
• Problems of population growth?
• 2x the size of the Ming, but the same
number of officials