Ming China and Tokugawa Japan

Empires that chose ISOLATION

MING CHINA

1368-1644

“New” Dynasty in China – the Ming

In 1400, MING CHINA had . . . a stable government and

bureaucracy (after overthrowing the last Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty)

Reinstated their education system for scholar-officials and a highly centralized government

more wealth, resources, & productivity in ag. than most empires

In 1400, MING CHINA had . . . been using

gunpowder, the compass, maps, and moveable print

larger armies than W. Europe & good shipbuilding technology

favorable terms for international trade

Ming China expanded its power

Ming Emperor Yongle sent several gov.-sponsored expeditions in the early 1400s.

Hundreds of ships and thousands of men made diplomatic “contacts” and trade connections from China to East Africa.

Voyages of the Chinese, 1405-1433

Ming rulers chose internal development over trade and expansion

By the late 1400s, Chinese officials destroyed the journals about the voyages.

Trade with Europeans was limited. The Chinese rulers placed emphasis on

border security, building campaigns, and agricultural production for China.

MING CHINA did NOT have . . .

momentum toward expansion, technological innovation, or scientific progress

armies as well-trained or as deadly as the armies of Europe or the Islamic empires

The same motives as Europe for their early maritime voyages

Tokugawa Japan

1600-1867

In 1600, Japan had

Recently been “unified.”

(Tokugawa family ruled Japan into the 1800s)

Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Casa

In 1600s, Japan had

a long tradition of the warrior - elites

adopted some of the weapons of Europeans – and begun to manufacture their own.

By the late 1600s, the Tokugawa rulers imposed isolation by. . .

severely limiting European trade goods & outlawing Christian missionaries.

Limiting Japanese travel

Banning Western books

Creating an education system that promoted Japanese identity

Keeping an eye on the “hairy barbarians”

For the next centuries, the Japanese elite kept contact with developments in Europe through trade contacts with the Dutch.

Japan did NOT have

many natural resources

success in invading Korea or China