Download - Ming and tokugawa intro 2011
Ming China and Tokugawa Japan
Empires that chose ISOLATION
MING CHINA
1368-1644
“New” Dynasty in China – the Ming
In 1400, MING CHINA had . . . a stable government and
bureaucracy (after overthrowing the last Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty)
Reinstated their education system for scholar-officials and a highly centralized government
more wealth, resources, & productivity in ag. than most empires
In 1400, MING CHINA had . . . been using
gunpowder, the compass, maps, and moveable print
larger armies than W. Europe & good shipbuilding technology
favorable terms for international trade
Ming China expanded its power
Ming Emperor Yongle sent several gov.-sponsored expeditions in the early 1400s.
Hundreds of ships and thousands of men made diplomatic “contacts” and trade connections from China to East Africa.
Voyages of the Chinese, 1405-1433
Ming rulers chose internal development over trade and expansion
By the late 1400s, Chinese officials destroyed the journals about the voyages.
Trade with Europeans was limited. The Chinese rulers placed emphasis on
border security, building campaigns, and agricultural production for China.
MING CHINA did NOT have . . .
momentum toward expansion, technological innovation, or scientific progress
armies as well-trained or as deadly as the armies of Europe or the Islamic empires
The same motives as Europe for their early maritime voyages
Tokugawa Japan
1600-1867
In 1600, Japan had
Recently been “unified.”
(Tokugawa family ruled Japan into the 1800s)
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Casa
In 1600s, Japan had
a long tradition of the warrior - elites
adopted some of the weapons of Europeans – and begun to manufacture their own.
By the late 1600s, the Tokugawa rulers imposed isolation by. . .
severely limiting European trade goods & outlawing Christian missionaries.
Limiting Japanese travel
Banning Western books
Creating an education system that promoted Japanese identity
Keeping an eye on the “hairy barbarians”
For the next centuries, the Japanese elite kept contact with developments in Europe through trade contacts with the Dutch.
Japan did NOT have
many natural resources
success in invading Korea or China