Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change

Chapter 22

Chapter Summary

Most Asian peoples, with the exception of the Southeast Asian islands, were only slightly affected by the arrival of the Europeans.

The West did not change India, China, and Japan early on.

The peoples of East Asia developed new political and social strengths while following a policy of isolation in response to western incursions.

Chapter Summary Continued

Vasco da Gama's voyage to India had opened the way to the east for Europeans, but it soon became clear that Europeans had little to offer Asians in exchange for their desired products.

Asians were not interested in converting to Christianity.

Asian states were too strong to be conquered by Europeans.

But, European seapower allowed control of spice exports and regulation of some parts of the Asian trading network.

The Europeans participated in the existing economic and political system rather then attempting to capture it like they did in the America’s.

The Asian Trading World

The first Portuguese arriving in India discovered that their products, other then gold, were too primitive for profitable exchange for Asian goods.

The Coming of the Europeans

Muslim traders dominated Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian commerce and Islam blocked the spread of Catholic Christianity in the area.

They also saw that political divisions divided Asians who did not understand the threat posed by the new intruders.

The Asian Sea-Trading Network,
c. 1500

The trading network stretched from the Middle East and Africa to East Asia and was divided into three main zones.

An Arab division in the west offered glass, carpet, and tapestry manufacturing.

In the center was India and its cotton textiles.

China, in the east, manufactured paper, porcelain, and silk textiles.

Secondary regions in Japan, Southeast Asia, and East Africa supplied raw materials.

Among the latter were ivory from Africa and spices from Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Slide 7

Prior to the Europeans

In the overall system profits were gained from commerce in both long distance luxury items and shorter distance bulk goods.

Most of the trade passed along safer coastal routes, converging in vital intersections at the openings of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and the Straits of Malacca.

The system had two critical characteristics: no central control and no military force.

Trading Empire

Since they did not have sufficient acceptable commodities for profitable trade to Asia, the Portuguese used force to enter the network.

Their superior ships and weaponry were unmatched except by the Chinese.

Taking advantage of the divisions between the Asians, the Portuguese won supremacy on the African and Indian coasts.

The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut

They won an important victory over an Egyptian-Indian fleet at Diu in 1509.

To ensure control, forts were constructed along the Asian coast:

Ormuz on the Persian Gulf in 1507,

Goa in western India in 1510,

Malacca on the Malayan peninsula in 1511.

The Portuguese aimed to establish a monopoly over the spice trade and, less successfully, to license all vessels trading between Malacca and Ormuz.

Slide 11

Portuguese Vulnerability

The Portuguese had limited success for some decades, but the small nation lacked the manpower and ships necessary for enforcement.

Many Portuguese ignored their government and traded independently, while rampart corruption among officials and losses of ships further hampered policies.

The Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires

Dutch and English rivals challenged the weakened Portuguese in the 17th century.

The Dutch captured Malacca and built a fort at Batavia in Java in 1620.

They decided to concentrate on the monopoly control of some spices.

The English were forced to fall back to India.

The Dutch trading empire resembled the Portuguese, but they had better armed ships and controlled their monopoly with ruthless efficiency.

The Dutch and The English

The Dutch discovered that the greatest long-run profits came from peacefully exploiting the established system.

When the spice trade declined, they relied on fees charged for transporting products from one Asian place to another.

They also bought Asian products and sold them within the system.

The English later adopted Dutch techniques.

Going Ashore

Europeans were able to control Asian seas, but not inland territories.

The vast Asian armies offset European technological and organizational advantages.

Thus Europeans accepted the power of Asian rulers in return for permission to trade.

Only in a few regions did war occur.

The Portuguese and Dutch conquered coastal areas of Sri Lanka to control cinnamon.

In Java the Dutch expanded from their base at Batavia to dominate coffee production.

By the mid-18th century they were the paramount power in Java.

The Spanish in the Philippines conquered the northern islands, but failed in the Islamic south.

The European Tribute Systems in Asia

The Europeans established tribute regimes resembling the Spanish system in the New World.

Indigenous peoples lived under their own leaders and paid tribute in products produced by coerced labor under the direction of local elites.

Spreading the Faith

The Protestant Dutch and English were not much interested in winning converts.

Catholic Portugal and Spain were, but success in Asia was minimal.

The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia

The world religions of Islam and Hinduism were difficult foes.

Italian Jesuit Robert Di Nobli during the 1660s unsuccessfully attempted to win converts among upper-caste members through study of Sanskrit and Indian culture.

General conversion occurred only in isolated regions like the northern Philippines.

Once conquered the government turned indigenous peoples over to missionary orders.

Converted Filipino leaders led their peoples into European ways, but traditional beliefs remained strong within the converts' to Christianity.

Modest Returns

By 1700, following two centuries of involvement, Europeans had made only a minimal impact on the peoples of south and southeast Asia.

Important new trade routes linking Europe, the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, and the Americas had opened.

The Europeans also had established commercial centers, such as Goa, Calcutta, and Batavia, and introduced the concept of sea warfare into a once peaceful commercial world.

The Early Impact of Europeans in Maritime Asia

Still, the Asian system survived and Europeans decided to accept rather than destroy existing arrangements.

Because of the long contacts between Europe and Asia, the level of exchanges did not match the New World Colombian exchange, although American food plants introduced by Europeans were important.

European ideas, did not impress the Asians and as a result had minimal impact.

Ming China

The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) ruled over the earth's most populous state.

China possessed vast internal resources and advanced technology.

Its bureaucracy remained the best organized in the world and its military was formidable.

A Global Mission Refused

The return to the examination system ensured the presence a numerous educated elite.

The dynasty emerged when Zhou Yuanzhang, a military commander of peasant origins, joined in the revolts against the Mongols and became the first Ming emperor, with the name of Hongwu, in 1368.

Hongwu strove to drive out all Mongol influences and drove the remaining nomads beyond the Great Wall.

Another Scholar-Gentry Revival

The poorly educated Hongwu was suspicious of the scholar-gentry, but he realized that their cooperation was necessary for reviving Chinese civilization.

They were given high government posts and imperial academies and regional colleges were restored.

The civil service exam was reinstated and expanded.

The Scholar-Gentry

Although family connections remained important, the examination system played a greater role than ever before in determining entry to public service.

The highly competitive examination system became more routine and complex, allowing talented individuals to become eligible for the highest posts.

Reform

Hongwu sought to limit the influence of the scholar-gentry and to check other abuses at the court.

He abolished the post of chief minister and transferred to himself the considerable powers of the office.

Officials failing in their tasks were publicly and harshly beaten.

Hongwu's Efforts to Root Out Abuses in Court Politics

Other reforms included choosing imperial wives from humble families, limiting the number of eunuchs, and banishing all rivals for the throne to provincial estates.

Writings displeasing to the ruler were censored.

However, Later rulers of the dynasty would let these changes lapse.

A Return to Scholar-Gentry Social Dominance

Hongwu sought to improve the lives of the peasantry by helping agriculture, opening new and untaxed lands, lowering forced labor demands, and promoting handicraft industries to supplement household incomes.

The beneficial effects of the measures were offset by the growing power of rural landlords allied with the imperial bureaucracy.

Scholar-Gentry Social Dominance

Peasants were forced to become tenants or landless laborers.

The Ming period continued the subordination of women to men, and youths to elders.

Exceedingly harsh laws forced obedience.

Opponents, including women, had to go underground to improve their situations.

Imperial women continued to be influential, especially with weak emperors.

Woman and the Court

Outside the court, women were confined to the household; their status hinged on bearing male children.

Upper class women might be taught reading and writing by their parents, but they were barred from official positions.

Non-elite women worked in many occupations, but the main way to gain independence was to become a prostitute or entertainer.

An Age of Growth

The early Ming period was one of buoyant economic growth and unprecedented contacts with overseas civilizations.

The commercial boom and population increase of late Song times continued.

The arrival of American food crops allowed cultivation in marginal agricultural areas.

By 1800 they were over 300 million Chinese.

Agriculture, Population, Commerce

Chinese manufactures were in demand throughout Asia and Europe, and Europeans were allowed to come to Macao and Canton to do business.

Merchants gained significant profits, a portion of them passing to the state as taxes and bribes.

Much of the wealth went into land, the best source of social status.

The Arts

The fine arts found generous patrons.

Painters focused on improving established patterns.

Major innovation came in literature, assisted by an increase in availability of books through the spread of woodblock printing, with the full development of the novel.

An Age of Expansion

Under Emperor Yunglo the Ming sent a series of expeditions between 1405 and 1423 to Southeast Asia, Persia, Arabia, and East Africa under command of Zhenghe.

The huge fleets of large ships demonstrated a Chinese potential for global expansion unmatched by other contemporary nations.

Slide 34

The Zhenghe Expeditions

But the Chinese were ambivalent about the value of the voyages.

Few tangible returns resulted from the costly ventures.

National resources, it was argued, were better spent in defending Chinese borders.

The voyages were abandoned in the early 1430s.

Europe and China Compared

Why did the Chinese, unlike Europeans, withdraw from overseas expansion?

The small nation-states of Europe, aggressively competing with their neighbors, made more efficient use of their resources.

European technological innovations gave them an advantage in animal and machine power that helped overcome overall Chinese superiority.

One answer to the differing approaches can be seen in the attitudes of the groups in each society favoring expansion.

There was wide support in general European society for increasing national and individual wealth through successful expansion.

Christian leaders sought new converts.

Means and Motive in Overseas Expansion

Zhenghe’s voyages were the result of an emperor’s curiosity and desire for personal greatness.

Merchants, profiting from existing commerce, were not really interested in this new trade.

The scholar-gentry opposed the expeditions as a danger to their position and as a waste of national resources.

Chinese Retreat

The Chinese after the end of the Zhenghe expeditions developed a policy of isolation.

In 1390 the first decree limiting overseas commerce appeared and the navy was allowed to decline.

Europeans naturally were drawn to China.

Missionaries sought access to the court.

The Arrival of the Europeans

Franciscans and Dominicans worked to gain converts among the masses.

The Jesuits followed the Di Nobili precedent from India in trying to win the court elite.

Scientific and technical knowledge were the keys to success at the court. Jesuits like Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall displayed such learning, but they won few converts among the hostile scholar-gentry who considered them mere barbarians.

Ming Decline

By the late 1500s the dynasty was in decline.

Inferior imperial leadership allowed increasing corruption and hastened administrative decay.

The failure of public works projects, especially on the Yellow River, caused starvation and rebellion.

Exploitation by landlords increased the social discomfort.

The Chinese Predicament

The dynasty fell in 1644 before Chinese rebels.

A political vacuum followed that ended when northern nomads, the Jurchens, or Manchus, seized control.

Their leader, Nurhaci, established the last of the imperial dynasties, the Qing.

Fending Off the West

During the 16th century an innovative and fierce leader, Nobunaga, one of the first daimyos to make extensive use of firearms, rose to the forefront among the contesting lords.

He deposed the last Ashikaga shogun in 1573, but was killed in 1582 before finishing his conquests.

Nobunaga's general Toyotomo Hideyoshi continued the struggle and became master of Japan by 1590.

Hideyoshi then launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea.

He died in 1598.

Tokugawa Ieyasu won out in the ensuing contest for succession.

In 1603 the emperor appointed him shogun.

Slide 43

Japan's Reunification and the First Challenge

The Tokugawas continued in power for two and one-half centuries.

Ieyasu, who ruled from Edo (Tokyo) directly controlled central Honshu and placed the remaining daimyos under his authority.

Outlying daimyos over time also were brought under Tokugawa rule.

The long period of civil wars had ended and political unity restored.

Dealing with the European Challenge

European traders and missionaries had visited Japan in increasing numbers since 1543.

The traders exchanged Asian and European goods, the latter including firearms, clocks, and printing presses, for Japanese silver, copper, and artisan products.

The firearms, which the Japanese soon manufactured themselves, revolutionized local warfare.

Roman Catholic missionaries arrived during Nobunaga's campaigns.

He protected them as a counterforce to his Buddhist opponents.

Japan and Europe

The Jesuits by the 1580s claimed hundreds of thousands of converts.

Hideyoshi was less tolerant of Christianity.

The Buddhists had been crushed and he feared that converts would give primary loyalty to their religion.

Hideyoshi also feared that Europeans might try to conquer Japan.

Japan's Self-Imposed Isolation

Official measures to restrict foreign influence were ordered from the late 1580s.

Christian missionaries were ordered to leave; persecution of Christians were underway during the mid-1590s.

Christianity was officially banned in 1614.

Continued persecution provoked unsuccessful rebellions and drove the few remaining Christians underground.

Isolation

Ieyasu and his successors broadened the campaign to isolate Japan from outside influences.

From 1616 merchants were confined to a few cities; from 1630 Japanese ships could not sail overseas.

By the 1640s only Dutch and Chinese ships visited Japan to trade at Deshima island.

Western books were banned. The retreat into isolation was almost total by the mid-17th century.

Japan and Isolation

The Tokugawa continued expanding their authority.

During the 18th century the revival of neo-Confucian philosophy that had flourished under the early Tokugawas gave way to a school of "National Learning" based upon indigenous culture.

Some of the elite, in strong contrast to the Chinese scholar-gentry, continued to follow with avid interest Western developments through the Dutch at Deshima.

Conclusion: Asia and the First Phase of Europe's Global Expansion.

Western exploration and commercial expansion only touched parts of Asia.

In east Asia Chinese and Japanese strength blocked European domination of their lands.

In south and southeast Asia, where European impact was stronger, most Asians retained control of their destinies.

Asian change came from indigenous factors which maintained old cultural and social influences.

Even in commerce and seafaring, where their influence was greatest, Europeans found it better to became part of existing networks.

Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change
Chapter 22

The End


	Most Asian peoples, with the exception of the Southeast Asian islands, were only slightly affected by the arrival of the Europeans.
	The West did not change India, China, and Japan early on.
	The peoples of East Asia developed new political and social strengths while following a policy of isolation in response to western incursions.


	Vasco da Gama's voyage to India had opened the way to the east for Europeans, but it soon became clear that Europeans had little to offer Asians in exchange for their desired products.
		Asians were not interested in converting to Christianity.
		Asian states were too strong to be conquered by Europeans.
		But, European seapower allowed control of spice exports and regulation of some parts of the Asian trading network.
	The Europeans participated in the existing economic and political system rather then attempting to capture it like they did in the America’s.


	The first Portuguese arriving in India discovered that their products, other then gold, were too primitive for profitable exchange for Asian goods.


	Muslim traders dominated Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian commerce and Islam blocked the spread of Catholic Christianity in the area.
	They also saw that political divisions divided Asians who did not understand the threat posed by the new intruders.


	The trading network stretched from the Middle East and Africa to East Asia and was divided into three main zones.
		An Arab division in the west offered glass, carpet, and tapestry manufacturing.
		In the center was India and its cotton textiles.
		China, in the east, manufactured paper, porcelain, and silk textiles.
		Secondary regions in Japan, Southeast Asia, and East Africa supplied raw materials.
	Among the latter were ivory from Africa and spices from Sri Lanka and Indonesia.


	In the overall system profits were gained from commerce in both long distance luxury items and shorter distance bulk goods.
	Most of the trade passed along safer coastal routes, converging in vital intersections at the openings of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and the Straits of Malacca.
	The system had two critical characteristics: no central control and no military force.


	Since they did not have sufficient acceptable commodities for profitable trade to Asia, the Portuguese used force to enter the network.
	Their superior ships and weaponry were unmatched except by the Chinese.
	Taking advantage of the divisions between the Asians, the Portuguese won supremacy on the African and Indian coasts.


	They won an important victory over an Egyptian-Indian fleet at Diu in 1509.
	To ensure control, forts were constructed along the Asian coast:
		Ormuz on the Persian Gulf in 1507,
		Goa in western India in 1510,
		Malacca on the Malayan peninsula in 1511.
	The Portuguese aimed to establish a monopoly over the spice trade and, less successfully, to license all vessels trading between Malacca and Ormuz.


	The Portuguese had limited success for some decades, but the small nation lacked the manpower and ships necessary for enforcement.
	Many Portuguese ignored their government and traded independently, while rampart corruption among officials and losses of ships further hampered policies.


	Dutch and English rivals challenged the weakened Portuguese in the 17th century.
		The Dutch captured Malacca and built a fort at Batavia in Java in 1620.
		They decided to concentrate on the monopoly control of some spices.
		The English were forced to fall back to India.
	The Dutch trading empire resembled the Portuguese, but they had better armed ships and controlled their monopoly with ruthless efficiency.


	The Dutch discovered that the greatest long-run profits came from peacefully exploiting the established system.
	When the spice trade declined, they relied on fees charged for transporting products from one Asian place to another.
	They also bought Asian products and sold them within the system.
	The English later adopted Dutch techniques.


Europeans were able to control Asian seas, but not inland territories.
	The vast Asian armies offset European technological and organizational advantages.
	Thus Europeans accepted the power of Asian rulers in return for permission to trade.
	Only in a few regions did war occur.
		The Portuguese and Dutch conquered coastal areas of Sri Lanka to control cinnamon.
		In Java the Dutch expanded from their base at Batavia to dominate coffee production.
		By the mid-18th century they were the paramount power in Java.
		The Spanish in the Philippines conquered the northern islands, but failed in the Islamic south.


	The Europeans established tribute regimes resembling the Spanish system in the New World.
	Indigenous peoples lived under their own leaders and paid tribute in products produced by coerced labor under the direction of local elites.


	The Protestant Dutch and English were not much interested in winning converts.
	Catholic Portugal and Spain were, but success in Asia was minimal.


		The world religions of Islam and Hinduism were difficult foes.
		Italian Jesuit Robert Di Nobli during the 1660s unsuccessfully attempted to win converts among upper-caste members through study of Sanskrit and Indian culture.
		General conversion occurred only in isolated regions like the northern Philippines.
		Once conquered the government turned indigenous peoples over to missionary orders.
		Converted Filipino leaders led their peoples into European ways, but traditional beliefs remained strong within the converts' to Christianity.


	By 1700, following two centuries of involvement, Europeans had made only a minimal impact on the peoples of south and southeast Asia.
	Important new trade routes linking Europe, the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, and the Americas had opened.
	The Europeans also had established commercial centers, such as Goa, Calcutta, and Batavia, and introduced the concept of sea warfare into a once peaceful commercial world.


	Still, the Asian system survived and Europeans decided to accept rather than destroy existing arrangements.
	Because of the long contacts between Europe and Asia, the level of exchanges did not match the New World Colombian exchange, although American food plants introduced by Europeans were important.
	European ideas, did not impress the Asians and as a result had minimal impact.


	The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) ruled over the earth's most populous state.
	China possessed vast internal resources and advanced technology.
	Its bureaucracy remained the best organized in the world and its military was formidable.


	The return to the examination system ensured the presence a numerous educated elite.
	The dynasty emerged when Zhou Yuanzhang, a military commander of peasant origins, joined in the revolts against the Mongols and became the first Ming emperor, with the name of Hongwu, in 1368.
	Hongwu strove to drive out all Mongol influences and drove the remaining nomads beyond the Great Wall.


	The poorly educated Hongwu was suspicious of the scholar-gentry, but he realized that their cooperation was necessary for reviving Chinese civilization.
	They were given high government posts and imperial academies and regional colleges were restored.
	The civil service exam was reinstated and expanded.


	Although family connections remained important, the examination system played a greater role than ever before in determining entry to public service.
	The highly competitive examination system became more routine and complex, allowing talented individuals to become eligible for the highest posts.


	Hongwu sought to limit the influence of the scholar-gentry and to check other abuses at the court.
	He abolished the post of chief minister and transferred to himself the considerable powers of the office.
	Officials failing in their tasks were publicly and harshly beaten.


	Other reforms included choosing imperial wives from humble families, limiting the number of eunuchs, and banishing all rivals for the throne to provincial estates.
	Writings displeasing to the ruler were censored.
	However, Later rulers of the dynasty would let these changes lapse.


	Hongwu sought to improve the lives of the peasantry by helping agriculture, opening new and untaxed lands, lowering forced labor demands, and promoting handicraft industries to supplement household incomes.
	The beneficial effects of the measures were offset by the growing power of rural landlords allied with the imperial bureaucracy.


	Peasants were forced to become tenants or landless laborers.
	The Ming period continued the subordination of women to men, and youths to elders.
		Exceedingly harsh laws forced obedience.
		Opponents, including women, had to go underground to improve their situations.
	Imperial women continued to be influential, especially with weak emperors.


	Outside the court, women were confined to the household; their status hinged on bearing male children.
	Upper class women might be taught reading and writing by their parents, but they were barred from official positions.
	Non-elite women worked in many occupations, but the main way to gain independence was to become a prostitute or entertainer.


	The early Ming period was one of buoyant economic growth and unprecedented contacts with overseas civilizations.
		The commercial boom and population increase of late Song times continued.
		The arrival of American food crops allowed cultivation in marginal agricultural areas.
		By 1800 they were over 300 million Chinese.


	Chinese manufactures were in demand throughout Asia and Europe, and Europeans were allowed to come to Macao and Canton to do business.
	Merchants gained significant profits, a portion of them passing to the state as taxes and bribes.
	Much of the wealth went into land, the best source of social status.


	The fine arts found generous patrons.
	Painters focused on improving established patterns.
	Major innovation came in literature, assisted by an increase in availability of books through the spread of woodblock printing, with the full development of the novel.


	Under Emperor Yunglo the Ming sent a series of expeditions between 1405 and 1423 to Southeast Asia, Persia, Arabia, and East Africa under command of Zhenghe.
	The huge fleets of large ships demonstrated a Chinese potential for global expansion unmatched by other contemporary nations.