Ming China 1368- 1644

1. Ming China 1368- 1644 Ming China 1368- 1644

2. Yuan Mandate of Heaven lost • A Ming legend tells of farmers digging along the Huang-he River finding a statue with only one eye and the inscription "Do not despise this oneeyed statue: it will be the herald of rebellion all throughout the empire.” • Famine, floods, rebellions all made the inscription ring true: the Mongols had lost the Mandate of Heaven, the t'ien ming • Revolution had begun • Hongjinjun (literally “army with red scarf in the head”) peasant army was one of the important powers in overthrowing the Yuan Emperor Ming China 1368- 1644

3. Geography Ming China 1368- 1644

4. Politics • Capital moved to Beijing in 1421. • Time of greatest wealth in Chinese history • last native Han Emperors in Chinese history. • first to deal with large #s of European merchants arriving • Population of about 100 million • Very prosporous time in China • Confucians dominat govt again Ming China 1368- 1644

5. The Forbidden City: China’s New Capital Ming China 1368- 1644

6. Ming China 1368- 1644

7. Palace for Chinese emperors Built around 1406 -1420 Made of golden bricks and marble 980 buildings and more than 8,700 rooms Buildings faced the south (holiness) and away from the north (enemies) Ceremonial buildings are arranged in groups of three (heaven) 5 major colors – black, white, red, blue, and green Forbidden city

8. Centralized authority • Emperor directly ruled rather than use chief ministers as Mongols had • New modernized and traditionally Chinese code of laws written • Civil service exam re-instated Chinese scholarship • Careful records kept (census, hereditary social hierarchy) and used to control peasants and strengthen kingdom Ming China 1368- 1644

9. Confucian Centralized authority • Updated Confucian code of laws written • The Code regulated all aspects of social affairs, for the harmony of political, economic, military, familial, ritual, international, and legal relations in the empire • Civil service exam re-instated so govt workers chosen based on Confucian knowledge and ability Ming China 1368- 1644

10. Daming Lu Law Code (The Great Ming Code) Ming China 1368- 1644

11. They carried out a census or a count of the number of people in China. The census helped officials identify the people who owed taxes. The strong government of the early Ming emperors provided peace and security. As a result, the Chinese economy began to grow.: rebuilt many canals, farms, new roads, new forests, and new crops. Ming rulers also repaired and expanded the Grand Canal. This allowed merchants to ship rice and other products between southern and northern China. Chinese traders introduced new types of rice from Southeast Asia that grew faster. More food was available to the growing number of people living in cities. The Ming also supported the silk industry. They began growing cotton and weaving cloth. Jobs of the Government

12. Chinese Naval Power • expeditions sailed to East Asia, Southeast • Asia, southern India, Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, the • Middle East and Africa. • China the world's greatest commercial naval power in the world at the time, far superior to any European power. Ming China 1368- 1644

13. Early Ming emperors wanted to know more about the world outside of China and to expand Chinese influence abroad. Ming emperors built a large fleet of ships to sail to other countries. The ships, known as junks, usually traveled along the coast of China and on the open sea. Between a.d. 1405 and a.d. 1433, Ming emperors sent the Chinese fleet on seven overseas voyages. They wanted to trade and demanded that weaker kingdoms pay tribute. The leader of these journeys was a Chinese Muslim named Zheng He. On the first voyage, nearly 28,000 men sailed on 62 large ships and 250 smaller ships. The largest ship was over 440 feet (134 m) long. That was more than five times as long as the Santa María that Christopher Columbus sailed almost 90 years later. Chinese Exploration

14. Zheng He Armada • seven voyages for diplomacy and trade. • The armada included treasure boats (or Bao-Chuan), which are the largest wooden ships ever built. • covered 10,000 miles with a fleet of more than 300 ships and crews totaling 30,000 men. • sailed from China, crossed the South China Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea and went as far as East Africa. Ming China 1368- 1644

15. Admiral Zheng He (1371-1435)‏ • From 1405 to 1433, Emperor Chengzu sent a Muslim eunuch named Zheng He to across the Indian Ocean. • In 1435 court scholars convinced the emperor that the voyages were wasteful, encouraged foreign ideas, and would ruin China • The Emperor ended Naval exploration and tribute and destroyed the records of the voyages • Confucian scholars were resistance to change. Not impressed with the outside world • Isolationism: During the 1500s, china had an isolationist policy – they did not allow foreign nations to trade – however, they did opened trade to Japan once every ten years. Led to illegal trading Ming China 1368- 1644

16. Ming China 1368- 1644

17. Ming China 1368- 1644

18. Ming China 1368- 1644

19. Ming China 1368- 1644

20. Tribute System Ming China 1368- 1644

21. Ming China 1368- 1644

22. Economy • China continued its shift from agricultural and rural to commercial and urban • Porcelain production and painting (China dishes) became VERY important • Commercial port cities including Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Xian and Chengdu grew to trade with Japan and Europe • Farming still important; especially rice and tea • Markets and merchants more important than before Ming China 1368- 1644

23. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MING DYNASTY:

24. Ming China • Europe traded silver from S. America to China for porcelain • Resold all over Europe • Linked China to Europe via sea trade • Also sold to Middle East along Silk Rd Ming China 1368- 1644

25. Agricultural Developments crop rotation introduced in China – fields could be kept continuously in cultivation – while still maintaining their fertility stocking the rice paddies with fish, which fertilized the rice and provided peasants w/ protein . • food production and new farming tools improved nutrition for peasants and city dwellers • peasants grew cash crops, such as cotton for clothing, indigo for clothing dyes, and cane. • dramatic population growth, largely due to the increased food supply on account of the agricultural revolution. Ming China 1368- 1644

26. Better Rice • Champa rice introduced from southeast Asia: • grown in a little over half the growing season • much larger harvests. • crop rotation • – fields could be kept continuously in cultivation • – while still maintaining their fertility Ming China 1368- 1644

27. Ming China 1368- 1644

28. Reforestation of China • Hong-wu (founder of Ming Dynasty) - reforestation beginning in the 1390's. • Nanjing was reforested with 50 million trees in1391; these trees became the lumber that built thnaval fleet put together by Yung-lo in the early1400's. • one billion trees were planted in this decade in a reforestation project that greatlyreplenished both the timber and the food supply. Ming China 1368- 1644

29. Ming Industrial Development • textiles, paper, silk, and porcelain traded with Japan, Europe (especially Spain), India, SE Asia and Indonesian islands for • firearms, and American goods such as sugar,potatoes, and tobacco. • In exchange for raw goods such as silver—probably half the silver mined in the Americas from the mid-1500's to 1800 ended up in China— • technological boom in every area . Ming China 1368- 1644

30. Tea Time The Dutch imported tea from China and other parts of Asia and started the English and European love of tea Dutch East India Tea Company and later the British East India Tea Company become powerful and wealthy from this trade Trading tea to China was more profitable than trading silver to China as the Spanish had done Ming China 1368- 1644

31. Religion/Philosophy • Neo-Confucianism • Matteo Ricci the first Christian missionary started nearly 300 Catholic churches • Christian influence condemned in late Ming and early Qing Ming China 1368- 1644

32. Social Life • Confucianism dominates • Interaction with Japan and Europe increases • Patriarchical • Cities provide opportunity for parties with music and drama Ming China 1368- 1644

33. Intellectual Life Literacy increased and books became cheaper because of the printing press and a stable govt • Yongle Dadian - biggest and earliest encyclopedia in the world. • Many inventions to China from Europe (telescope) • Gunpowder Weapons improved • Revolving cannon with 10 shots • Toothbrush invented (pigs hair for bristles) • Great furnaces for porcelain Ming China 1368- 1644

34. How to Handle Corrupt Government Officials • adopted the Sui and Yuan practice of publicly beating incompetent or corrupt bureaucratic officials. • Mainly beaten on the buttocks by more than a hundred soldiers with clubs, almost nobody who was punished survived Ming China 1368- 1644

35. Ming Great Wall • Great Walls had been built in earlier times, most of what is seen today was either built or repaired by the Ming. The brick and granite work was enlarged, the watch towers were redesigned and cannons were placed along the wall Ming China 1368- 1644

36. Ming China 1368- 1644

37. Art • Beautiful harmonious landscape art • China and sculpture important • Drama and poetry important • Ming great wall through the mountains is spectacular art Ming China 1368- 1644

38. The arts flourished. Newly wealthy merchants and artisans wanted entertainment and could afford to pay for printed books and trips to the theater. Rise of Chinese writers who produced novels, or long fictional stories. One of the most popular was The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It described military rivalries at the end of the Han period. Many novels of the time were written in vernacular, or everyday language. Writers avoided formal language to tell their tales. Instead they tried to make their stories sound as if they had been told aloud by storytellers. Traditional Chinese dramas had been banned during the years of Mongol rule, but under the Ming they were restored to the stage. Actors in costumes performed stories of the day using words, music, dance, and symbolic gestures. Arts and literature

39. Ming Landscape and Poetry Ming China 1368- 1644

40. In a.d.1514, ships from the European country of Portugal arrived off the coast of southern China. It was the first direct contact between China and Europe since the journeys of Marco Polo. The Portuguese wanted to trade with China and convert the Chinese to Christianity. The Chinese did not feel threatened by outsiders and looked at the Europeans as barbarians. China refused to trade with the Portuguese and wished they would go home. By a.d. 1600, however, the Portuguese had built a trading post at the port of Macao in southern China and they began to carry goods between China and Japan. Tradebetween Europe and China, however, remained limited. Eventually, Christian missionaries made the voyage to China on European merchant ships. Many of these missionaries were Jesuits, a group of Roman Catholic priests. The Jesuits were highly educated and hoped to establish Christian schools in China. Their knowledge of science impressed Chinese officials. However, the Jesuits did not convince many Chinese to accept Christianity. Europeans arrive

41. Fall of Ming • corruption of the court officials and the domination of the eunuchs. • natural disasters like famine from “little ice age” and worst earthquake of all time in Shaanxi(800,000 dead) • the rebellions that racked the country in the 17th century – high taxes on peasants • Bad harvest • – the aggressive military expansion of the Manchus. • By 1643 the government was bankrupt from fighting and the peasants were broke because of the constant taxes imposed to pay the armies to fight Ming China 1368- 1644

42. The Ming ends • Northern Chinese Manchu slowly grew in power until they threatened the Ming Dynasty • Ming military grew weak so Ming often used Manchu to stop the “barbarians” from taking China • One leader, Manchu rebel Li Zicheng, eventually decided to take China rather than protecting it. He entered Beijing in 1644 • as he did so the last Ming emperor,Chongzhen, hanged himself on a tree overlookiing the forbidden palace Ming China 1368- 1644