China’s Place in Global History: 1350-1550 – Teaching Guide
Vocabulary of Note
- Millenarianism – belief that a major transformation of earth will usher in 1000 years of peace (mentioned in terms of rebellion against the Mongols
- Steppe – a vast grassland
Names and Places of Note
- Deng Xiaoping – Chinese Communist Party leader who called for “opening up” of China’s economy to the world in 1978
- Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) –period when Mongols conquered China, led by Chinggis Khan, and ruled as the Yuan dynasty
- Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)
- Dadu (which today is Beijing) – winter capital of the Mongol Yuan dynasty; founded by Khubilai Khan (Dadu was also called “Khanbaliq”)
- Shangdu (known also as Xanadu) – summer palace of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, north of the Great Wall of China, also founded by Khubilai Khan
- Alans – Central Asian peoples who lived north of the Black Sea and who had been converted to Christianity in the 4th and 5th C.; the Mongol khan sent an envoy to the Pope, then in Avignon, requesting a priest to minister to the Alan community in the Mongol empire
- Caucasus – geographic region between the Black and Caspian Seas
- Avignon (France) – seat of the Roman Catholic popes between 1309–1377
- Toghon Temür, whose reign name was Emperor Huizong of the Yuan Dynasty (1333–1368); last emperor of the Yuan; received the “Heavenly Steed” from the envoy of the Pope
- Zhu Yuanzhang, whose reign name was the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, reigned 1368–1398; he moved the capital to Nanjing
- Zhu Di, whose reign name was the Yongli Emperor, was the 3rd emperor of the Ming dynasty; he moved the capital of the dynasty back to “Dadu” or Beijing, and building the Imperial Palace/Forbidden City there.
Outline of Presentation – with [Timecode]
Introduction
Conventional teaching about China maintains that China was a “closed off” country, not in touch with the rest of the world, which was of particular significance during the “global age” of the Western European sea voyages after 1450. This allows further discussion of the “opening” of China by the Western powers. This presentation counters the old, conventional view, focusing on the period 1350–1550 and particularly the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), demonstrating that China was in no way, “cut off” and “closed” to trade and other forms of exchanges. China has always been part of the global system; never isolated.
I. Mongol Empire is a Global Moment [01:45]
- The Mongols connected more people, ideas, germs than ever before in world history
- Several maps show extent of Mongol empire and trade routes
- The Mongols invaded China and took political control, ruling as the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
- Mongol rulers of China during the Yuan are
- Chinggis Khan, founder of the Mongol empire who first invaded China
- Khubilai Khan, established the Yuan Dynasty in China
- Tugh Temur, who reigns as Wenzong (1329–32)
- Togon Temur, last emperor of the Yuan
II. How the early Ming dynasty is connected to the Mongol empire [10:34]
- The Ming, 1368–1644, came to power as one of the rebel factions opposing the Mongols, as the Mongol empire divided into separate political entities.
- But the Mongols did not disappear; in the case of China, they retreated to the steppe in the north but still maintained Chinese titles and practices as if they were still a ruling Chinese dynasty.
- The Ming leaders therefore were operating in a world still dominated by Mongols, where the Mongols occupied land and maintained alliances
- The Ming exploited the Mongol legacy in order to gain legitimacy
- Contrasting the Ming leadership with the “corrupt” Mongol leadership before it
- Using the theory of the “Mandate of Heaven” to argue that only one government could have the “Mandate” at any one time
- Drawing on Mongol administrators and soldiers to serve in the Ming government and forces
- Mongols are experts with horses, which are very important to military battles throughout 14th–16th c.
- Zhu Yuanzhang, whose reign name wasthe Hongwu Emperor of the Ming, was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned 1368–1398; he moved the capital to Nanjing (“Southern capital,” in Chinese)
- Zhu (Ju) Di, whose reign name was the Yongli emperor, was the 3rd emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning 1402–1424; he moved the capital back to Dadu, now named Beijing (“Northern capital”) and built the Forbidden City/Imperial Palace; Beijing is closer to where the Mongols are.
III. Ming Dynasty’s connections to Eurasia [18:30]
- Ming China cultivates allies in order to repel the Mongols
- The Tributary System is optimized, whereby polities are invited to send ambassadors to China and are granted trading rights in China in return.
- Since China at this time is the most developed, affluent country on earth at this time, other leaders are anxious to have access to the market
- Trade is most profitable if it is restricted; the Ming court tries to control access to trade by granting access at certain
- Land border cities
- Ocean ports
- Special privileged access to capital of China for some traders
- This is designed to make all trade through the state – “state based.” But a large, illicit private trade also develops.
- Major voyages during the Ming are another example of China deep engagement in Eurasia during this time:
- Zheng He voyages [24:00], 1405–1433, composed largely of military men also, used sea routes to extend China’s image and recruit; 25,000–27,000 men per voyage, many of whom are military
- Tributaries from Southeast Asia, Middle East and coast of Africa
- Investment by the Ming to show China’s power and influence throughout Eurasia
- Iconic painting of the Giraffe, sent as a gift from Africa
- Yongle emperor leads military campaigns against the Mongols, using Mongol troops in Chinese armies “Using the barbarians to conquer the barbarians”
- Campaign to annex what is today northern Vietnam, which the Ming dominate for 40 years [24:50]
- Timur (Tamerlane) 1366–1405 was a Mongol leader who threatened the Ming
- While all trade was supposed to be through state, in fact there was a large, illicit trade by private traders.
- Other groups all anxious to take part in China trade for the beautiful goods available; this is the period of the famous Ming “blue and white porcelains” [30:00]
- Demand for trade only increasing
IV. Ming relations to the emerging early Western European empires of the 16th C. (Portugal and Spain) [32:10]
- Portuguese among the first to gain access to China trade (“Henry the Navigator” of Portugal active at this time)
- Portuguese discover the network of private traders so that they can participate in trade with China
- Once silver is discovered and mined by the Spanish in Mexico, it can be used to trade with China, which is anxious to acquire silver (the Chinese even use silver as their currency at this time)
- See in Resources: What is Modern: China and Europe, 1500–2000, animated map on how the Chinese had exhausted the silver supply from Japan by this time
- Global economic integration occurring: [34:00]
- Mexico-Philippines-China
- Manilla Galleon
- See in Resources: Manila Galleon Trade, Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Manila Galleon Trade between China and Spain, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
IV. Take Away Points
- Ming Dynasty optimizes the achievements of the Mongols while distinguishing the Ming as the legitimate “Chinese” dynasty coattails of the Mongols
- Ming dynasty of the largest polities on the planet at the time, but smaller than the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty that preceded it.
- 15th C. tightens state control of trade to make it more lucrative, but trade and private trade only increase
- Eurasian networks of the Ming:
- Ming expanded through war; never achieved expansion of Mongols
- Formed regional alliances and networks of trade on land and sea
- China has always been part of the global system, never “isolated”
