1. Asia in Transition

2. Bonds of Commerce: The Asian Sea Trading Network, c.1500
Asian sea trading network broken out into 3 zones:
Arab zone anchored on the glass, carpet, and tapestry making Islamic heartlands
India with cotton textiles dominated the central portions of the system
China- paper, porcelain, silk – formed the eastern pole
Raw materials- highest prices paid for spices from Indonesia (Ceylon)

4. 2 characteristics that made European domination possible:
No central command of the system
Military force was usually absent from commercial exchanges within it

5. Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut
Portuguese had little to trade with the Asians, so they had to resort to take by force what they couldn’t get by trade
Europeans had superior weaponry and ships to do this
1502 da Gama returned to Asian waters and forced ports on the African and Indian coasts (Egyptian-Indian attack was defeated) and turned them into tribute ports to a Portuguese regime
1507 Europeans strove to capture towns and build fortresses at a number of strategic ports: Ormuz, Goa, Malacca
Ships and naval stations became key components of the empire
Portuguese monopoly and licensing system was intended to give Portugal sizable control of the network

6. Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires
By the end of the 16th century they were losing their foothold
Dutch war fleet superior and in early 17th century captured critical Portuguese port at Malacca and built new port in 1620 at Batavia (on Java)
Dutch strategy was to control key spices, like cinnamon and pepper, and not the whole network as the Portuguese had tried to do
English tried to get this but didn’t and were forced to concentrate on India
Dutch trading empire similar to Portuguese (fortified towns and factories, monopoly of products). They also uprooted competition
Ultimately, they found it more successful to peacefully integrate into the system, so they adopted more peaceful trading patterns
British would copy this model in India

7. Going Ashore: European Tribute Systems in Asia
European ships and guns superior and allowed them to dominate the seas but once inland they couldn’t defeat the native forces and often reduced to kowtowing or humbling themselves in front of more powerful leaders
Spanish failure at Mindanao demonstrates the limits of European power
Tribute systems they did set up were similar to the Spanish systems in New world- European overlords let indigenous people live in their own settlements and they didn’t interfere as long as their leaders met the tribute quota

8. Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia
Missionary zeal of Roman Catholicism of the Spanish and Portuguese (not the Protestant Dutch and English)
Missionaries surprised at Hinduism, Islam’s strength
From 1540s missionaries in India successful – Francis Xavier- ministered to the poor and untouchables and was able to win converts
Robert di Nobili tried to convert the upper-caste Hindus but was unsuccessful
Christianity relatively successful in the Philippines (but the Philippines didn’t have the Muslim and Buddhist exposure). Many converted because they had no choice- not because they understood Christianity
Much of pre-conquest life in Asia was maintained

9. Ming China: A Global Mission Refused
Zhu Yuanzhang- founder of Ming dynasty declares himself Hongwu (emperor). He had very humble beginnings
His goal was to rid China of any traces of Mongol influence

10. Another Scholar-Gentry Revival
Zhu suspicious of scholar-gentry but knew he needed their cooperation, so he reinstated the examination system and scholars were appointed to high government posts
During Ming era examination system routinized and made more complex

11. Reform: Hongwu’s Efforts to Root Out Abuses in Court Politics
Got rid of position of chief minister and transferred those powers to himself in order to put a check on scholar-gentry’s power
Public beatings for corruption and misdeeds
Emperor’s wives must come from humble family origins
Got rid of Mencius’s writings

12. A Return to Scholar-Gentry Social Dominance
Introduced measures to improve the lot of common people
Growing power of rural landlord families
Continued subordination of youths to elders and women to men- women and youth forced underground
Plight of women still grim- spent lives trying to be part of the court

13. An Age of Growth: Agriculture, Population, Commerce, and the Arts
First decades- buoyant economic growth, population boom, contacts with other civilizations (maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts from Spanish and Portuguese in New World)
Renewal of commercial growth. China had goods everyone wanted and they ended up with a lot of silver. Macao and Canton- only ports officially allowed to trade- merchants, of course, reaped largest benefits
Fine art
Literature- full development of the Chinese novel The Water Margin, Monkey and The Golden Lotus

14. An Age of Expansion: The Zhenghe Expeditions
Under Yonglo (3rd Ming emperor) series of expeditions admiral Zhenghe led seven major expeditions

15. Chinese Retreat and the Arrival of the Europeans
1390 first imperial edict limiting Chinese overseas commerce
Ming war fleet declined
Christian missionaries meanwhile infiltrated Chinese coastal areas
Need to impress Chinese with scientific knowledge- educated Jesuit scholars like Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall were sent to spend time in Beijing

16. Ming Decline and the Chinese Predicament
By late 1500s Ming retreat from overseas expeditions
Incompetent rulers in last two centuries
Desperate peasant population, which was taken advantage of
Foreign threats by nomadic peoples from beyond the Great Wall
Japanese pirate attacks in 16th century
1644 dynasty toppled by rebels within it

17. Fending off the West: Japan’s Reunification and the First Challenge
By 16th century daimyo stalemate and recurring civil war so entrenched that it too three military leaders to restore unity
Nobunaga- 1st leader- first daimyo to use extensive use of firearms that the Japanese had begun to acquire from the Portuguese in 1540s
When Nobunaga died, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his ablest general, took over
By 1590 he was the military master of Japan but had grander visions of taking over other parts of Asia and invaded Korea twice in 1592 and 1597 but to no avail
Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and began the Tokugawa Shogunate-1603
Capital at Edo

19. Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868)
Elimination of Christianity (which had been adopted by Nobunaga)
1639- Closed Country Policy
Social Order based on Confucian principles
4 Hereditary classes: samurai, peasants, artisans, merchants
Daimyo on top
Castles (defense) shift to commercial centers where merchants slowly become more important than samurai
Population growth
Cultural creativity- kabuki theater, wrestling, gambling

20. Dealing with the European Challenge
From 1543 onward had to deal with Europeans
Initial curiosity about firearms (muskets) from Portuguese
Missionary success (partly because Nobunaga saw Buddhist orders as threat to his own power, so he protected them)
By early 1580s many converts but new religion threatened social order

21. Japan’s self-imposed Isolation
Late 1580s restriction on foreign activities
Christians kicked out, people told to convert, faith was banned in 1614
1616 foreign traders confined to handful of cities and in 1630s all Japanese ships forbidden to sail overseas
Deshima- island in Nagasaki Bay where trade was still allowed
By mid-17th century isolation complete
School of National Learning – laid emphasis on Japan’s unique historical experience