East Asian in 1500

Key terms

• Ming 明 (1368–1644): compared to Europe
• Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 aka Hongwu 洪武 Hung-wu (1328–1398)
• Empress Ma 馬皇后 (1332 – 1382)
• Yongle [Yung-lo] 永樂 (b. 1360, r. 1402-1424) -- rebellion, usurper(?), son of Hongwu by "lesser" wife
• Chosŏn (Joseon) 朝鮮 dynasty (1392–1897)
• Ashikaga shogunate 足利将軍　(1336–1573)
• Warring States (Japanese) period (1467 to 1582/1590/1600/1603)
• Wakō 倭寇 piracy
• Tributary relations
• Single Chinese emperor 天皇・天子 invested with "mandate of heaven" 天命
• Invests subordinate foreign kings 国王
• Trade relations are reward for recognition of emperor
• Recurring practice/structure in East Asian politics - well documented from at least Han dynasty

Ming Dynasty

Foundations 

• Red Turban revolt
• Millenarian and anti-Mongol
• Associated with Maitreya/MilePusa/Miroku  弥勒菩薩
• Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 aka Hongwu 洪武 (1328–1398)
• Takes Nanjing 南京 1356
• Declares new dynasty 明 Ming 1368
• Takes Khanbaliq 大都 aka Beijing 北京 1368
• Yunnan conquered in 1382
• Zhu Yuanzhang policies 
• Consolidation through marriage politics
• Primary wife is Empress Ma, daughter of Red Turban leader
• Consorts are Korean, Mongols, etc. 
• Maritime Prohibition (Haijin 海禁) 1371
• Response to Piracy
• Initially, some destruction of port facilities
• But ban is leaky, erratically enforced, and counter-productive
• Violent purges: 100,000+ executed
• Yongle [Yung-lo] 永樂 (b. 1360, r. 1402-1424) -- "second foundation"
• Intellectual orthodoxy
• Commissions official editions and encyclopedias
• 1415 - Great Compendium of the Five Classics and the Four Books
• 1417 - Great Compendium of the Philosophy of Human Nature
• Distributed across country and internationally
• Cement Zhu Xi - Song orthodoxy
• Implicitly, emperor is as a sage ruler, a teacher of his people, and a patron of learning
• Expansion of empire
• Conquest of Annam (Vietnam) -- client state from early 1400s  
• Naval Voyages - Seven Expeditions, 1405-1433
• Zheng He (鄭和) 1371-1435
• Born Ma Sanbao to Chinese Muslim family - Ma means Mohammed
• Father was hajji
• Zheng diverted last voyages for haji
• Born Kunming 昆明 in Yunnan -- how far from Beijing?
• Eunuch - castrated after capture in youth
• Massive fleets with 20+ ships and 20,000+ men
• Purposes
• Glory of Yongle: ambition and legitimacy
• Supplant smuggling with official missions -- ongoing Chinese demand for imports, e.g. silver, spices and exports e.g. silk, ceramics AND first expedition captures major pirate
• Expand imperial authority
• At least 30 countries send emmissaries and tribute
• First expedition returns (1407) with ambassadors from Calicut, Semudera, Quilon, and Malacca
• Third voyage captures king of Ceylon (1411), takes him back to Nanjing as prisoner, later released
• Fourth expedition returns with emissaries from 18 states including Mogadishu and Malindi ... and giraffe
• Fifth expedition reaches East African coast, returns home African envoys, comes back with lions, leopards, dromedary camels, ostriches, zebras, rhinoceroses, and antelopes
• Sixth voyage returns ambassadors and Hormuz, Dhufar, Aden, Mogadishu and Brava
• Qilin/kirin 麒麟: body of a deer, hooves of a horse, tail of an ox, head of a wolf, and horns

Key Institutions/Practices

• Two capitals Beijing 北京 and Nanjing 南京

• Three tiers: Provincial, urban, Beijing
• Focus on classical learning
• Pass rates are 2% to 9%
• Helps limit size of administration -- total perhaps 15,000 salaried officials 
• Is that GOOD or BAD?

• Chosŏn (Joseon) 朝鮮 dynasty becomes model tributary state
• Korean kings understand Ming investitute as legitimizing rather than denigrating
• Chosŏn throne is loyal to Ming even after its fall
• Japan
  • Ming dynasty searches for a Japanese "king" -- someone to take responsibility to supressing piracy
  • BUT there is no strong central authority in Japan - both shoguns and emperors are weak and internally divided
    • Ashikaga Yoshimitsu accepts investiture in order to get trading privileges
    • So does weaker branch on imperial line -- "northern court"
  • Japan identity as independent and unique, e.g. Mongols

Ming China in the World Economy

• Ming China is huge
• Approx 80 million in 1400 — 23% of world
• Approx 100 million in 1500 — 26% of world
• Approx 150 million in 1550 — 30% of world
• Approx 200 million in 1600 — 33% of world
• China is technological advanced — world leader in production of:
• ceramics
• textiles
• China is prosperous — millions of consumers for
• clothing as fashion
• luxurious furnishings
• popular literature: Monkey's Journey to the West -- in 20th C animation from 32:30 and 37:00,The Plum in the Golden Vase
• Ming dynasty needs cash for this growing economy -- more people with more disposable income
• BUT - early Ming attempts at paper money fail and lead to rampant inflation
• Ming monetizes its economy with silver -- Ming is a silver guzzler from both Japan and New World
• New World silver into Spain in:
• 1570s is about 100,000 kg per year
• 1610s is about 200,000 kg per year
• 1650s is about 40,000 kg per year
• Silver imports into Ming China:
• 1630s is about 57,000 kg per year from Manila (80% is smuggling)
• late 1500s is about 6,000 to 30,000 kg per year from Macao
• late 1500s is about 30,000 kg per year from Japan — about 30% carried by Dutch East Indian company
• Huge volume of Chinese ceramics in Lisbon, Chinese silks in Nagasaki
• Prices of gold and silver begin to move together for first time in history
• Bad map of this global intergration
• Good map of this global intergration
• Reduced access to New World silver in 1600s is one contributing factor in Ming decline — WHY?