1. Tradition and Change in East Asia
Chapter 26
The Qianlong Emperor (reigned )
Tradition and Change in East Asia

2. China’s Long History
Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 BC (in traditional histories, but existence has not been reliably confirmed by modern scholarship)
Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 BC
Zhou Dynasty 1045–256 BC
Qin Dynasty 221 BC–206 BC
Han Dynasty 206 BC–220 AD
Jin Dynasty 265–420 AD
Southern and Northern Dynasties 420–589 AD
Sui Dynasty 581–618 AD
Tang Dynasty 618–907 AD
Song Dynasty 960–1279 AD
Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368 AD
Ming Dynasty 1368–1644 AD
Qing Dynasty 1644–1911 AD

3. The Ming Dynasty ( )
Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to power after Mongol Yuan dynasty driven out
Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r )
Used traveling officials called mandarins and large number of eunuchs to maintain control
Emperor Yongle (r ) experiments with sea expeditions under Admiral Zheng He, moves capital north to Beijing to deter Mongol attacks
Hongwu Emperor
Yongle Emperor, also known as Zhu Di

4. Ming China,

5. The Great Wall
Origins before fourth century B.C.E., with ruins from Qin dynasty in third century B.C.E.
The current wall dates from the Ming period, mostly rebuilt in the fifteenth to sixteenth century
1,550 miles, and between 33 and 49 feet high
As many as 25,000 guard towers were constructed
Barracks for housing soldiers
Protected against Mongol raids, and later Manchu raids

6. The Great Wall of China

7. Eradicating the Mongol Past
Ming emperors encourage abandonment of Mongol names, dress
Support study of Confucian classics
Restoration of old form of government bureaucracy with the renewal of the civil service examinations

8. Ming Decline
In the sixteenth century, maritime pirates harm coastal trade and hurt China economically
The Ming navy and government are unable to respond effectively
Emperors secluded in Forbidden City, the palace compound in Beijing, and increasingly lose touch with the outside
Hedonists: Many emperors begin top pursue their own pleasure rather than to state affairs
Emperor Wanli (r ): In the last twenty years of his rule, he abandons governance, leaving it to the imperial eunuchs. He ignores the increasing threat of Manchu raids from the north.

9. Ming Collapse
Famine, peasant rebellions become more frequent in the early seventeenth century
Chinese peasant rebels take Beijing in 1644; the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, commits suicide
A Ming general fighting the rebels makes an alliance with Manchu fighters, who enter from the north and retake city
Manchus refuse to allow reestablishment of Ming dynasty
Establish Qing (“Pure”) Dynasty, installing Shunzhi as ruler of China
Shunzhi Emperor, the first Qing emperor to reign over China (1644 – 1661)

10. The Qing Empire,

11. The Qing Dynasty ( )
Manchus originally pastoral nomads, north of Great Wall
Chieftain Nurhaci (r ) unifies tribes into state, develops laws, and strong military
Establishes control over Korea, Mongolia, China
War with remaining Ming loyalists last until 1680
Support from many Chinese who were fed up with
Ming corruption
Manchus forbid intermarriage with Han Chinese and the study of Manchu language by non-Manchus; force Manchu hairstyles on Han men as sign of loyalty

12. Emperor Kangxi (r )
Consolidates Qing rule, defeating last Ming resistance
Confucian scholar, poet
Military Conquests: island of Taiwan, Tibet, skirmished with the Russian empire to establish western border, and crushed a Mongol revolt
Persuaded Ming scholar-bureaucrats to support the Qing

13. Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-1795) Grandson of Kangxi
Rule was the height of the power and prestige of the Qing dynasty
Great prosperity, tax collection cancelled on several occasions
Pacified the western frontier—
Mongols, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, etc.—but failed to conquer Burma and Vietnam to the south, but made them “vassal states”
Stepped down from the throne in 1795 so as not to reign longer than his grandfather, Kangxi, out of filial respect
Young Qianlong at the beginning of his reign (1737) painted by the Italian Jesuit, Giuseppe Castiglione.

14. The “Son of Heaven”
Ming, Qing emperors were considered quasi-divine, with the title “Son of Heaven”
Hundreds of concubines and thousands of eunuch servants served within the “Forbidden City” in Beijing
Clothing designs and name characters of the emperors were forbidden to rest of population
The kowtow: three bows, nine head-knocks (British ambassador in 1793 refuses to perform)

15. The Forbidden City
Hall of Heavenly Purity, which served as the emperor’s quarters and then the audience hall during the Qing Dynasty
Forbidden City as viewed from a hill to the north

16. The Forbidden City
Map of the inner Beijing city walls, including the Forbidden City

17. The Scholar-Bureaucrats
Ran government on a day-to-day basis
Graduates from intense civil service examinations
Open only to men
Curriculum: Confucian classics, calligraphy, poetry, essay writing
Also: history, literature

18. The Civil Service Examinations
First used in the Sui dynasty in 605 C.E., used in a limited way in the Tang ( ), and used on a broader scale during the Song ( )
District, provincial, and metropolitan levels
Only 300 allowed to pass at highest level
Multiple attempts common
Students expected to bring bedding, chamber pots for three-day uninterrupted examinations
Students searched for printed materials before entering private cells

19. Examination System and Society
Ferocious competition
Qing dynasty: One million degree holders compete for 20,000 government positions
Remainder turn to teaching, tutoring positions
Some corruption, cheating
Advantage for wealthy classes: hiring private tutors, etc.
But open to all males, tremendous opportunity for social mobility

20. The Patriarchal Family
Filial piety understood as duty of child to parent on the familial level, and then the individual to emperor on the societal and political level
Eldest son favored; birth order accords status in families
Clan-based authority groups augment government services

21. Gender Relations Males receive preferential status
Economic factor: girls join husband’s family
Infanticide of girls common
Widows strongly encouraged not to remarry
Chaste widows honored with ceremonial arches celebrating their devotion to dead husbands
Men control divorce
Grounds: from infidelity to talking too much

22. Foot Binding Origins in Song dynasty (960-1279 CE)
Linen strips bind and deform female child’s feet
Perceived aesthetic value
Statement of social status and/or expectations
Commoners might bind feet of especially pretty girls to enhance marriage prospects

23. Binding Feet

24. Population Growth and Economic Development
Only 11 percent of China was arable
Intense, garden-style agriculture necessary
American food crops introduced in seventeenth century
Maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts
Rebellion and war reduce population in seventeenth century
Deaths offset by nutrition from American crops

25. Chinese Population Growth

26. Foreign Trade Silk, porcelain, tea, lacquerware desired by Europeans
Chinese in turn import relatively little
Spices, animal skins, woolen textiles, but mostly silver
European traders pay for Chinese goods with silver bullion from Americas
After Emperor Yongle’s early maritime expeditions ( ), Ming dynasty abandons large-scale maritime trade plans

27. Foreign Trade Red lacquer chest from the Ming Dynasty
Porcelain jar from the Ming Dynasty
Dried Chinese
oolong tea leaves

28. Trade in Southeast Asia
Chinese merchants continue to be active in southeast Asia, especially Manila
Extensive dealings with Dutch VOC with the silk trade until the wars between Ming and Manchus disrupt it
Chinese warlord and Ming loyalist, Koxinga, destroys VOC trading station on Formosa (now Taiwan) in 1662, and hopes to use Formosa as a base to restore the Ming (Koxinga also tries to conquer the Philippines)

29. Government and Technology
During Tang and Song dynasties (seventh to thirteenth century), China is a world leader in technology
Moveable-type printing, explosive gunpowder weapons, magnetic compass for navigation, etc.
Stagnates during Ming and Qing dynasties
European cannons purchased, based on early Chinese invention of gunpowder
Government suppressed technological advancement, fearing social instability would result
Government policy favors mass employment over labor-saving technologies (labor remains inexpensive due to large population)

30. Classes in Chinese Society
Privileged classes
Scholar-bureaucrats, gentry
Distinctive clothing with ranks
Immunity from some legal proceedings, taxes, labor service
Working classes
Peasants, artisans/workers, merchants
Confucian doctrine gives greatest status to peasants
Merchant activity not actively supported
Lower classes
Military, beggars, slaves

31. Neo-Confucianism
Version of Confucian thought promoted by Zhu Xi ( C.E.)
Confucian morality with Buddhist logic
Education at various levels promoted
Hanlin Academy in Beijing dictates official interpretation of the Confucian classics, and thus sets standards of evaluation of imperial exams
Provincial schools
Compilation of massive Yongle Encyclopedia during early Ming ( )
Development of popular novels as well: Dream of the Red Chamber (published 1791), a hugely popular romance

32. Christianity in China
Nestorian and Roman Catholic Christians had presence in China
Disappeared with plague and social
chaos of fourteenth century
Jesuits try to bring Christianity
back under Matteo Ricci ( ), attempt to convert
Ming Emperor Wanli
Mastered Chinese before first visit in 1601
Brought western mechanical technology
Prisms, harpsichords, clocks
Matteo Ricci

33. Confucianism and Christianity
Jesuits argued that Christianity was consistent with Confucianism
Differences due to neo-Confucian distortions
Yet few converts in China
Approximately 200,000 mid-eighteenth century, about 0.08 percent of population
Christian absolutism difficult for Chinese to accept
Franciscans and Dominicans convince pope that Jesuits were compromising Christianity by allowing converts to maintain Chinese traditions (e.g. ancestor worship)

34. Confucianism and Christianity
In 1715, Pope Clement XI banned “Chinese Rites” allowing ancestor worship.
In 1721, Emperor Kangxi bans Christian preaching in China. He decrees:
“Reading this proclamation [Pope Clement’s], I have concluded that the Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have never seen a document which contains so much nonsense.”

35. The Unification of Japan
Shoguns rule Japan, twelfth to sixteenth century
Large landholders with private armies
Emperor merely a figurehead
Constant civil war: sixteenth century sengoku, “country at war”
Tokugawa Ieyasu (r )
establishes military government
Bakufu: “tent government”
Establishes Tokugawa dynasty
( )
Tokugawa Ieyasu

36. Tokugawa Japan,

37. Control of Daimyo (“Great Names”)
Approximately 260 powerful territorial lords
Independent militaries, judiciaries, schools, foreign relations, etc.
From capital Edo (Tokyo), shogun requires “alternate attendance”: daimyo forced to spend every other year at court
Controlled marriage, socializing of daimyo families
Beginning 1630s, shoguns restrict foreign relations
Travel, import of books forbidden
Policy strictly maintained for 200 years

38. Economic Growth in Japan
End of civil conflict contributes to prosperity
New crop strains and irrigation systems improve agricultural production
Yet population growth moderate, unlike many other places in the world
Contraception, late marriage, abortion
Infanticide: “thinning out the rice shoots”; typical method was to smother a baby’s mouth and nose with wet paper

39. Population Growth

40. Social Change
End of civil disturbances create massive unemployment of daimyo, samurai warriors
Encouraged to join bureaucracy, scholarship
Many declined to poverty, creating a source of social instability
Wealthy urban merchant classes develop from trade activity; they become dominant in society

41. Neo-Confucianism in Japan
Chinese cultural influence extends through Tokugawa period
Chinese language essential to curriculum
Zhu Xi and neo-Confucianism remains popular
“Native learning” also popular in eighteenth century
Folk traditions
Shintoism: worship of spirits, called kami

42. Floating Worlds (ukiyo)
New merchant class develops a new urban culture expressed in entertainment and pleasure industries
Ihara Saikaku ( ), The Life of a Man Who Lived for Love: novel that describes the mores of the new urban merchant class; about a member of this new class’s sexual adventures from age 8 to 61.
Marked contrast to solemn bakufu leadership
Kabuki theatre, men playing women’s roles
Bunraku puppet theatre
Geisha districts

43. Floating Worlds (ukiyo)
Kabuki actor dressed as a samurai character
Traditional Geisha make-up and hairstyle
Bunraku puppet

44. Christianity in Japan Jesuit Francis Xavier in Japan, 1549
Remarkable success among daimyo
Daimyo also hoping to establish trade relations with Europeans
Government backlash
Fear of foreign intrusion
Confucians, Buddhists resent Christian absolutism
Anti-Christian campaign restricts Christianity, executes staunch Christians
Sometimes by crucifixion

45. Persecution of Catholics
Twenty-six Christians crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 during the shogun’s crackdown

46. Dutch Learning
Dutch presence at Nagasaki principal route for Japanese understanding of the world
Before ban on foreign books lifted (1720), Japanese scholars study Dutch to approach European science, medicine, and art
Dutch ship approaching the Dutch island trading post on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor