Unit 3_ East Asia (1250-1750).docx

Unit 3: East Asia (1250-1750) Lesson 1: The Manchu Qing Dynasty (1230s) Mongols in China Conquered by Mongols in 1230s and originally ruled by Ogodei Established the Yuan Dynasty Kublia Khan created na oppressive tax-farming system instead of the traditional fixed-rate method of taxation Also broug...

Unit 3: East Asia (1250-1750) Lesson 1: The Manchu Qing Dynasty (1230s) Mongols in China Conquered by Mongols in 1230s and originally ruled by Ogodei Established the Yuan Dynasty Kublia Khan created na oppressive tax-farming system instead of the traditional fixed-rate method of taxation Also brought benefits: secure trade routes, exchange of experts between east and west, transmission of skills, ideas information Made beijing their capital Eastern terminus of caravan routes Began the forbidden city Established social hierarchy where Mongols were at the top, followed by central asians, middle easterners, northern chinese, and finally southern chinese Cosmoploitan Yuan Dynasty Some confucian scholars were in the government, but they were displaced by mongols who appointed merchants and outsiders into government positions For example: a muslim govenor from central asia was placed in charge of a chinese province Persian, arab, and uighur administrators staffed the offices of taxation and finance Muslim scholars worked at calendar-making and astronomy Economy in the Yuan merchants (previously despised by confucian elites) were a privileged group under mongol rule Civil service exam lost importance Eite families had new jobs and opporutintues since government positions were no longer available to them Merchant and business class boomed thanks to this Agricultural base was damaged by war, over taxation, and passage of armies Tried to use paper money but there was little faith in the system Fall of the Yuan Dynasty 1340s, fights among Mongol princes broke out In 1368, chinese leader Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu emperor) destroyed the Yuan empire and the ming dynasty took control of china Many mongols and muslims, jews and christians remained in china Many other mongols returned to mongolia and welcomed back refugees from Yuan collapse Ming did not dominate all the mongols, but participated with remaining tribes using the tribute system Some become a continued threat along the ming borders Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Chinese culture and cvilization was disrupted by a century of mongol rule Population reduced from plague Early years of ming dynasty = rid of all signs of mongols Promoted confucian learning based on models from the han, tang, and song dynasties (going back to the old ways) Emperor yongol (reigned: 1402-1422) looked to put together all previous writing on history, geography, ethics, government and more China was looking to its past for inspiration and guidance Ming China (1368-1500) In the beginning, moved capital to Nanjing (“southern capital”) on the Yangzi river Used confucanism to confirm/validate his rule In the beginning, ended all relations with central asia and the middle east (sounds like they are going back to isolation) Put in strict limits on imports and foreign visitors Silver replaced paper money (not a good choice) Emperor yongole moved back the capital again to beijing Added to forbidden palace, making it what it is today The forbidden city was constructed in 1420 by the Ming dynasty Political power in ming dynasty Reestablished the civil service exam system that was disliked under mongol rule Created a highly centralized government Power was in the hands of emperor while a cadre of eunuchs (castrated men) loyal to the emperor had great authority Restored millions of acres of land to cultivation of crops Built canals, resovopirs, and irrigation works and planting a billion trees to reforest china Under yongol, the economy rebounded and international and domestic trade flourished = population growth During the 15h century, china recovered and was the best-governeed and most prosperous of the world’s major civilizations Ming dynasty porcelain Created “Ming ware” a blue-on-white style developed in the 1400s from indian, central asian, and middle eastern motifs Also known for furniture, lacquered screens (the things people change behind), and silk Ming china and maritime expeditions Chinese sailors and traders had been a major presence in the south china sea and in southeast asian port cities Emperor yongle launched a big fleet in 1405 which were in 7 expeditions in 28 years Captained by muslim eunuch zheng he 300 ships and crew of 27,000 Visited ports in southeast asia, indonesia, india, arabia, and east africa Wanted to put distant people into the chinese tribute system where they presented tribute, performed the required rituals of submission, and received gifts in return as well as titiles and trading oppottuinttes