Professional Documents
Culture Documents
China at its height Chinese Society and Culture Tokugawa Japan and Korea
Objectives: 1. Summarize how China opened its doors to Europeans but closed those doors when it observed the effect of Western ideas on Chinese society 2. Discuss how Chinese art and culture ourished between 1500 and 1800
Ming rulers used a centralized bureaucracy staffed with ofcials chosen by the civil service examination system nationwide school system New crops were introduced and the Grand Canal was renovatedshipping grain from southern to northern China
Yong Le also sent a series of naval voyages into the Indian Ocean and Africa *Zheng He led seven voyages from 14051433 The largest ship was over 440 feet long (Columbus Santa Maria was only 75 ft) The emperor was fascinated by the giraffes and other oddities from Africa
After Yong Les death, the voyages were halted because the new emperor adopted an isolationist policy Zheng Hes eet had the ability to reach the Americas but never did because of new policies from the government
Christian missionaries (Jesuits in particular) began to proselytize in China Clocks and other western inventions impressed Chinese ofcialsmaking them more receptive to Western ideas Reports from China made European increasingly interested in the culture and region
The Ming dynasty gradually declined after weak rulers led a period of government corruption in the 16th century High taxes, low crop yields, and a major epidemic led to peasant unrest All of these events led to peasant revolts led by Li Zicheng In 1644, the rebells occupied the capital of *Beijingthe last Ming emperor committed suicide
The *Manchus, a farming and hunting people who lived northeast of the Great Wall in *Manchuria, took this opportunity and overthrew the Ming dynasty The Manchus declared the creation of a new dynasty called the *Qing, meaning purethey reigned from 1644 to 1911
The Chinese resisted the new rulersrebels seized the island of *Taiwan off the coast of China To make the rebels easy to identify, the government ordered all men to adopt Manchu dress and hairstylesshaved foreheads and a braided hair in a pigtail called a *queue Lose your hair or lose your head The Qing ourished under a series of strong early rulers
Qing Adaptations
The Qing maintained the Ming political system but faced one major problem: Manchu ethical and cultural difference The Qing tried to preserve their distinct identity within Chinese society Manchus organized into separate military units called *banners The Qing brought Chinese into the imperial administration80% of lower posts were lled by the Chinese
*Kangxi (1661-1722) He was tolerant of Christians and several hundred ofcials became Catholics some 300,000 ordinary Chinese converted as well His successor began to suppress Christian activities throughout China
Reign of Kangxi
Westerners in China
Qianlong (1736 to 1795) fell under the inuence of destructive elements at court Growing pressure on the land because of population growth led to economic hardship Unhappy peasants launched a revolt known as the *White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) which weakened the Qing dynasty
Objectives: 1. Summarize how China opened its doors to Europeans but closed those doors when it observed the effect of Western ideas on Chinese society 2. Discuss how Chinese art and culture ourished between 1500 and 1800
Objectives: 1. Describe the rapid increase in population that led to rural land shortages 2. Summarize Chinese society and its organization around the family 3. Relate how architecture, decorative arts, and literature ourished during this period
Economic Changes
Between 1500 and 1800, China remained mostly an agricultural society85% Increase in population80 mil in 1390 to 300 million in the 1700s A long period of peace and improvements in food supplies led to this increase a faster growing species of rice from SE Asia By the 18th century, almost all the land was farmed and shortage of land led to unrest and revolts
A steady growth in manufacturing and increased trade between provincesexpanded their trade in silk, porcelain, and cotton goods China did not develop the kind of *commercial capitalism that emerged in Europeall trade and manufacturing remained under the rm control
Daily Life
The Chinese Family
Chinese society was organized around the family All family members were expected to sacrice their individual desires for the benet of the family as a whole The ideal family unit in Qing China was the extended family three or four generations The *clan system consisted of dozens, even hundreds, of related families
Lotus Feet, Footbinding, and fashion Bound feet were a status symbol making a women more attractive and more likely to be married YOUR BOOK IS WRONG Footbinding did NOT reduce mobility, women could indeed walk, and they did NOT need to be carried Body modication, beauty, and the other Cinderella?
Western Examples?
Cultural Developments
The Chinese Novel
This new form of literature developed at this time The Golden Lotus, the rst realistic social novel, depicts the corrupt life of a wealthy landlord The Dream of the Red Chamber by *Cao Xuegin tells of the tragic love between two young people caught in the nancial and moral disintegration of a powerful Chinese clan
Objectives: 1. Describe the rapid increase in population that led to rural land shortages 2. Summarize Chinese society and its organization around the family 3. Relate how architecture, decorative arts, and literature ourished during this period
Objectives: 1. Identify the three powerful political gures who unied Japan 2. Describe how between 1500 and 1800, Japan experienced many peasant uprisings 3. Explain why Korea could not withstand invasions by the Japanese and Manchus
At the end of the 15th century, Japan was in chaos The centralized power of the shogunate had collapsed. *Daimyo, heads of noble families, controlled their own lands and warred with their neighbors *Oda Nobunaga seized the imperial capital of *Kyoto and placed the reigning shogun under his control *Toyotomi Hideyoshi, daimyo of *Edo, also made movements to unify Japan
Europeans in Japan
The Portuguese traders landed on the islands of Japan in 1543 The Japanese were fascinated by tobacco, clocks, eyeglasses, and other European goods The Daimyo were interested in buying all types of European weaponsthese weapons helped unify Japan
Jesuits were welcome until they started destroying Shinto and Buddhist shrines In reaction, the Tokugawa expelled all missionaries and Japanese Christians Dutch ships were only permitted to dock once a year at Nagasaki
Tokugawa Rule
The state was divided into about 250 territories called *hands, or domains each ruled by a daimyo The shogunate controlled the daimyo by a *hostage system The samurai who had served the daimyo gradually ceased to be a warrior class
Tokugawa Culture
Literature Works of Ihara Saikaku Five Women Who Loved Love tells of a search for love by ve women of the merchant class Exquisite poetry was written in the 17th century by Japanese poets *Matsuo Basho
The theater in Kabuki was established emphasized action, music, and dramatic gestures The government forbade women to appear on stagemale actors had to impersonate female characters Nobles competed to erect the most magnicent mansions with lavish and beautiful furnishings Japanese art was enriched by ideas from other cultures; The Japanese studied Western medicine, astronomy, language, and even painting styles
The Yi dynasty in *Korea, founded in the 14th century, remained in power during the Tokugawa Era, The Yi patterned their society after the Chinese They practiced isolationismbeing called the Hermit Kingdom A Japanese force under Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea in the 16th century In the 1630s, a Manchu army invaded northern Korea and forced the Yi dynasty to submit to China
Objectives: 1. Identify the three powerful political gures who unied Japan 2. Describe how between 1500 and 1800, Japan experienced many peasant uprisings 3. Explain why Korea could not withstand invasions by the Japanese and Manchus