Transcript China from the Ming to the Early Qing Dynasty

China from the Ming through
the Early Qing Dynasty
SSWH4:d.
Time and Geography
Ming China, 1358-1644
• Began with overthrow of hated Mongols
who ruled China for 100 years
• Last pure Chinese dynasty – lasted 300
years
• Generally effective government
• Sharp rise in population and food supply
– New area of rice cultivation
– New crops from Americas
ECONOMIC
Economic Progress under the Ming
•
Commercial activity steadily increased
– Merchants socially inferior, but wealthy
– Commercial contact with Europeans began
•
Portuguese in Macao
The old south gate
of the ancient city
of Dali, Yunnan
Economic Progress under the Ming
•
Urbanization and
Technology
•
•
Enormous increase in
urban population
Failed to make leap into
Industrial Revolution
– Little emphasis on
accumulation of material
goods
– Engineers, inventors
never prominent
– Confucianism did not
admire capitalism
Ming Chinese Canon
POLITICAL
Ming Political System
• Government headed by powerful, but not divine,
emperor ruling by Mandate of Heaven
– Highly trained bureaucracy
– China divided into 15 provinces
– Occupations were hereditary: peasants, soldiers,
workers
– Palace eunuchs were dedicated servants
The Ming Dynasty had a
highly trained bureaucracy
Ming Political System
Shenwumen Gate
of Forbidden
City, Beijing
• Beijing again became capital with Forbidden
City at center, a complex of palaces, offices,
living quarters
The Gate of
Supreme
Harmony in 1900.
Bureaucracy by Examination
• Exams were basis for
entry and success in
bureaucracy
• Based in
Confucianism
• Only tiny minority
successful at gaining
office
The decoration of two cranes on his chest is
a "rank badge" that indicates he was a civil
official of the first rank.
Bureaucracy by Examination
• Strongly influenced
education
– Very narrow curriculum
– Discouraged imagination,
individuality
• Created cohesive
governing class with few
differences in
philosophy
Candidates who had taken the civil service examinations would crowd
around the wall where the results were posted; detail from a handscroll
in ink and color on silk, by Qiu Ying (1494–1552)
Dealing with Foreigners
Great wall of
China
• Mongols
– Huge army constantly ready to keep them out,
maintained Great Wall
– Two incursions, but both forced back
ECONOMIC
Dealing with Foreigners
• Japanese
– Hostility toward
pirates, smugglers
– Cultural, commercial
interchange
– Basically, China
believed it needed
little from outside
Dealing with Foreigners
• Maritime Expeditions
– Government-sponsored fleets
went to East Indies, African
coast
– Made no attempt to colonize,
set up trade network
– Advanced seamanship, ship
design, equipment
Ming dynasty war junk from Zheng Ruozeng's Chouhai
tubian (1562)
Dealing with Foreigners
Map of the Macau
Peninsula in 1639.
• Westerners
– Few trading enterprises with Portuguese, Dutch,
occasional missionaries
– Portuguese expelled for bad conduct, confined to Macao
RELIGIOUS
Dealing with Foreigners
• Westerners
– Missionaries tried hard to adapt doctrines to Chinese
culture
– Matteo Ricci, Jesuit’s most famous missionary, established
Christian presence for a century
Matteo Ricci
POLITICAL
Manzhou Invaders – Qing Dynasty
• Ming went into decline in 17th C
–
–
–
–
Ineffective emperors
Huge costs of officials
Peasant rebellions
Administrative apparatus ceased to function
• Manzhou came from Manchuria
– Admired Chinese culture
– Gradually won support of mandarin class
– When last Ming emperor died, Manzhou set up last
imperial dynasty in China
Qing Government
Location of Qing dynasty
• Transition was relatively peaceful
– China reached its largest size
– Government positions filled by two people, one
Chinese, one Qing
– Strong reformers at first
Qing Government
Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor in Court Dress
• Kangxi
– Contemporary of Louis XIV of France
– Improved waterways
– Active in economic policy making
Qing Government
• Qianlong, grandson of Kangxi
– Eradicated Mongol raiders
– Treated Korea as voluntary satellite of China
– Both he and Kangxi tried to keep Qing and Chinese separate
The Qianlong Emperor in court dress.
AESTHETIC
Qing Culture and Economy
• No break in fundamental cultural styles:
philosophy, history, calligraphy, poetry, painting
• Literature – new form – the novel
– Dream of the Red Chamber is best known
– Most authors are unknown
• Fine arts
– Porcelain extremely artistic, in high demand by
Europeans
– Scroll and screen painting popular
– More people than ever were enjoying arts and
education
Dream of the Red Chamber:
INTELLECTUAL
Qing Culture and Economy
• China lost lead in
science and technology
– More interested in
sensitivity to beauty
– Downgraded quantitative
sciences and technical
advances
Qing dynasty warrior
Progress and Problems
• Progress
– Improvements in agriculture, engineering
– Upsurge in internal trade
• Problems
–
–
–
–
Not enough work for expanding population
Nearly all usable land was already in production
Trade was narrowly focused on luxuries
Began to experience massive famines and endemic
poverty
Discussion Questions
1. Generally speaking, changes from one
imperial dynasty to another may have meant
few changes for most of the population. Was
this also true in the transition from the Ming to
the Manzhou? Were the various social
classes in China better off under the Ming or
the Manzhou? How? Why?
2. How would you compare the contemporaries
Kangxi of China and Louis XIV of France?
What similarities do you see; what differences?
Which do you think did the best job of ruling
and why?