Lecture 19—East Asia in the Late Traditional Era

East Asia in Global Perspective

1.  Some historians have tied the rise of capitalism to Protestantism, such as Max Weber. But East Asian family ethics emphasized many similar values of thrift, working hard and conserving your resources for later use. So that is not enough to explain the absence of Asian capitalism (on the European scale at least.)

2.  Was the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century crucial to European Industrialism? Asia had no similar trend, but had made many inventions over the years; they just failed to have the revolutionary effects they did in Europe.

3.  However, in Europe, technicians and inventers were rewarded. Or at least those who ripped them off were rewarded, in some cases. Whereas in China and Japan, wealth and honors were reserved for the aristocracy, the land owners, and the literary scholars and artists.

4.  Bureaucracy reflects the rise of educated meritocracy; it complemented technical innovation in Europe by helping to make businesses and government run more smoothly. Yet in Asia, they became an obstacle to modernity perhaps due to overlapping with the landed aristocracy too much, or perhaps because they were tied to philosophy and ethics which heavily attacked wealth accumulation, trade, and innovation, looking to tradition for guidance.

5.  Chinese culture was a closed system, viewing other nations as inferior, looking instead to its own past for guidance.

6.  The Japanese, by contrast, were much more open to outside ideas, first from China, later from the West, until the Tokugawa Shogunate tried to shut out destabilizing outside influences.

Late Imperial China (Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties)

Ming-Qing Culture: Despite different origins, the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled over China in much the same way, creating a common culture which extends from the fourtheenth to the twentieth century with some variation.

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): Founded by a peasant monk, the Ming Dynasty emerged out of the popular revolts which overthrew Mongol rule in China. They set the model for society and government in the post-Mongol era.

Land and People: China's population grew from 60-90 million in 1368 to 120 million by 1644. By the 1830s, it rose to 410 million. Better agricultural techniques now spread, along with better strains of rice. New lands were opened to agriculture, also.

North China: North China had dropped from 52 million to 11 million under Mongol rule. Migration into North China after 1368 lasted for centuries, leading to its recovery.

South and Southwest China: Immigrants moved in from the Yangzi river basin. This led at times to revolts and military conflict.

Yangzi Basin: Densely populated, this was the rice basket of China, sending many young people to repopulate other areas too. Over time, though, it became more a source of cash crops, like silk and cotton, and had to import food.

China's Third Commercial Revolution: The Mongols had weakened Chinese commerce and the early Ming tended to enmesh it in the tribute system and to operate government monopolies which weakened internal commerce. Growing population and agriculture and a loosening of controls led to a rise in commerce and trade from 1500 to 1800. By 1800, China was the most commercialized non-industrial nation on Earth. A rising international demand for Chinese goods brought gold and silver into the country in large amounts, facilitating commerce. Banks arose to facilitate trade with international branches in Singapore, Russia, adn Japan. Prices inflated due to the precious metal influx, especially land, but so did trade and prosperity. The Single Whip reform consolidated old taxes in the form of goods (grain, labor service, etc) into a single cash payment. Farmers sold their grains and vegetables at market to get cash to pay with, boosting trade. Market towns boomed, linking regional political and trade centers to local markets. By the Qing dynasty, there was a strong traffic in staples as well as luxuries. Seven or eight regional economies existed, with some interaction at the national and international level.

Women and the Commercial Revolution: Women had fairly restricted lives, expected to spend their whole life obeying men, from their grandfather up to and including their own sons. The spreading practice of foot-binding made physical movement difficult. (The Manchus tried to ban the practice and failed.) However, as trade grew, more and more women became producers at home, growing crops or making crafts for sale. This gave women more power in family affairs to some degree, though women's property rights declined. And more wealthy folk now patronized teahouses, brothels, and the like.

Political System: Government was much like that under the Song or Yuan dynasties (the 10th to 14th centuries AD), but made more effective. "The sources of strength of the perfected Ming-Qing system were the spread of education, Confucianism ideology, stronger emperors, better government finances, more competent officials ad a larger gentry class with an expanded role in local society." (Heritage, p. 534)

Role of Confucianism: Education was more frequent and strongly based on Confucian ideals. Confucian society was based on the family with the father at the head, and on the five primary relationships: ruler to subject, parent to child, elder to younger brother, husband to wife, and older to younger friend. Certain duties and rituals were expected in each relationship. The state was the family writ large, with the Emperor as head of the state-family. Neo-Confucianism was the dominant philosophy; it had some internal debate, but other idea systems had been largely suppressed.

Emperor: Emperors ruled directly, without the council of earlier times. Emperors had despotic levels of power and their own private secret police. The Qing were less harsh than the Ming to wayward officials due to their own status as outsiders dependent on a Chinese dominated administration. The Forbidden Palace, a vast complex home to thousands in Beijing, served as the symbol of Imperial leadership and as its base of operations.

Bureaucracy: The same structure of ministries existed in Ming-Qing times as in earlier eras, but was now larger and better paid. Government finances remained high until the very last years of the Ming, then recovered under the Qing. Indeed, in the 18th century, Qing rulers froze the land tax at its current revenue level and assigned fixed quotas. This led to trouble later when productivity and prices continued to rise but government revenues did not. Competition to enter the Bureaucracy was fierce and revolved around mastery of Confucian art and literature. One had to pass competitive exams to get a posting; higher scores meant better jobs.

The Exam System: The first hurdle was the county examination. If you passed, you gained the ritual garb of a scholar and member of the gentry. You were now exempt from state labor service. About half a million passed this each year after years of hard study. Once every three years, each province held an examination. Only one in a hundred students passed this. Finally, once every three years was the metropolitan exam, passed by only 90 people out of all of China. The very highest posts were open to them.

Gentry Class: The gentry class stood inbetween the peasantry and the high officials. District magistrates, always appointed to districts where they had no relatives, had to cooperate with the local wealthy landowner elite, the gentry, in order to effectively govern districts of 100,000 or more people. Further, the gentry supplied most of the candidates for the government exams. The gentry were city-dwelling landowners, cultured, educated, and independently wealthy from their land. They were often overly exploitive of their tenants.

Pattern of Manchu Rule: In 1644, the Ming dynasty collapsed in a welter of invasion, civil war, and peasant uprising. The supply of silver had ebbed, hurting the economy, the last three emperors were too indolent, the Little Ice Age was ravaging agriculture and the army lost its loyalty. At the same time, the Manchus, a non-Chinese group strongly influenced by Chinese culture, were rising as a military power. They now stepped in and took over, presenting themselves (accurately) as fellow Confucians, able to defend the traditional order. Some Ming officials and generals supported them.

The New Order: The Manchu took over at the top of Chinese society, forming their own organizations to keep power. The military was kept dominated by Manchu soldiers and officers. Manchu units got their own lands and were forbidden to marry into Chinese families, their children were raised to speak Manchu and footbinding was strictly prohibited.

Dyarchy: Key posts were staffed by one Manchu and one Chinese forming a double hierarchy. The lower levels of government were Chinese-dominated.

The Kangxi Emperor (1661-1722): He was crowned at seven and began ruling in his own name at thirteen. He was a very hardworking man and a patron of scholars, including a 5,000 volume encyclopedia and a history of the Ming dynasty. He also studied European science and opened ports to foreign trade. He improved the waterways and was a model emperor, though one who carefully maintained policies to keep the Manchu from being assimilated.

The Qianlong Emperor (1736-1795): He was another hard working and conscientious emperor. He conducted public works and patronized scholars: His Four Treatises, an attempt to compile all classical Chinese literature (3,450 works total), "put 15,000 copyists to work for 15 years." (Heritage, p. 539.) Another 2,300 volumes were suppressed. An able general, he led a series of expeditions against enemies on the borders. Chinese Turkestan was taken over and renamed Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia and Tibet (under the Dalai Lama) were dominated by China. The Burmese, Nepalese, and Gurkhas were forced to submit. However, his internvention in Vietnam was a failure. He brought millions of square miles and many non-Han Chinese peoples under his rule. But it was also hugely expensive and the army declined in quality in his last years. Further, he himself grew lax in his final years, leading to government corruption. He left too much power in the hands of a minister named Heshen, who proceeded to embezzle heavily; when Heshen was finally forced to commit suicide, he had the equivalent of 15 years of national income in his personal treasury. The White Lotus Rebellion of Qianlong's late years was a sign of trouble to come.

Ming-Qing Foreign Relations:

Ming: The Ming dynasty conducted aggressive foreign relations, conquering some neighbors and forcing others into submission. The borders were managed on a regular basis by the tribute system in which bordering kingdoms submitted to the Emperor in return for recognition of special status and the giving of gifts by the Emperor. Ambassadors were housed well and allowed to conduct private trade. Some Central Asian merchants invented imaginary kingdoms in order to gain this privilege.

Zheng He's Expeditions (1405-33 AD): The Third Ming emperor sent out naval expeditions (1405-33 AD) across the Indian Ocean all the way to Africa, commanded by the Moslem eunuch Zheng He. They were intended to enroll foreign monarchs in the tribute system. The fall of Zheng He from grace and their cost led to their abandonment, however.

The Mongols: They were the biggest threat; the Chinese played them against each other. In the 1430s and 1550s, they posed a major threat.

Japanese And Chinese Pirates: In the thirteenth century, Japanese warlords began raiding China. By the sixteenth century, they raided all the way down the Chinese coast. The Ming were unable to stop this effectively.

Qing Foreign Relations: The main threat to the Qing was from the North and Northwest. Russia was pushing east across Siberia and into the lands of the Golden Horde. By the 1660s, they reached northern Manchuria, building forts. Victory over the Russians in the 1680s led to the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689). The Russians had to abandon their outposts, but were allowed to trade in China. In the Northwest, many non-Chinese peoples were forced into submission, and China continues to claim these lands today.

Contacts With the West:

Jesuits: Jesuit missionaries were the first to arrive, taking on native guard to teach Catholic doctrine. They studied Confucian thought to debate it and used their technical skills to gain influence in the Ming government. They continued this under the Qing. They attacked Buddhism and Taoism, but argued Confucianism a rational philosophy compatible with Christianity. A few high court officials converted. The Catholic Church eventually decided the Jesuits were assimilating too much, but this led to the Emperor expelling Catholics.

Trade: The Portuguese were the first to arrive. In the early 18th century, outsiders were restricted to trading through "Canton" (Guangzhou). The British East India company set up a China / India/Britain Triangle Trade.

Ming-Qing Culture: Producers of culture were now much more numerous than under previous dynasties. Books were much more common and literacy increased. Chinese culture had begun to turn inward under the Song and this acclerated under the Yuan. This reflected a closed system of ideals which brought great stability but stifled innovation in the process. The Manchus especially clamped down on deviancy to try and keep their legitimacy. This period most highly esteemed the traditional cultural arts: painting, calligraphy, poetry, and philosophy. The Ming became noted for their pottery as well. Modern Chinese see the invention of the Novel as the great accomplishment of this age.