the ming dynasty 1368-1644

The Ming Dynasty1368-1644

• The last native dynasty in history (ruled by Chinese)

– Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 shifted focus onto production/economy that led to peace/prosperity

– The Great Wall (has Mongols under control)

– Gardens of Suzhou in the south (private scholar gardens—Zhuōzhèng Yuán or The Humble Administrator‘s Garden as the epitome of this type of gardens)

– Zheng He’s voyages 郑和下西洋– The Imperial Examinations

– Prose fiction (novels)

– Wu Sangui’s role in the fall of Ming

Map of the Ming Dynasty1368 to 1644

Ming and Qing Dynasties

Last 3 Dynasties (Beijing)

• Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)– Mongolian– north of China proper

• Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)– Han Chinese

• Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)– Manchu– northeast of China proper

Confucian culture

• Chinese defined by Confucian culture

• civil service exams (605-1905)

– Makes social mobility possible (merit vs. bloodline) 血统【 xuètǒng 】 blood relationship; blood lineage; extraction.

The Great Wall concept was revived during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century after the Battle of Tumu 土木堡之變 , a decisive Mongol

victory in 1449

Three Ancient ProjectsThe Three “Great Walls”

• use the Index for a quick access• The Great Wall from the Qin to Ming Dynasty—

military function• The Grand Canal (from Sui Dynasty on) economic

function• The Complete Books of the Four Treasures (the

Qing dynasty) (East Asia 321)—cultural significance• The Great Firewall 长城防火墙 for the internet

censorship chiefly invented by Fang Binxing 方滨兴 around 2000.

China’s Tributary System朝贡制度

• Traditional system for managing foreign relations

• The “Central Kingdom” worldview

• Ethnocentrism 民族优越感• Ming dynasty had the most extensive

tributary system– tributes from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast

Asia, and even West Asia and Africa

Zheng He’s fleet (1405 - 1433)

• Over 200 ships & 20,000 men• trade and commerce• Southeast Asia, South Asia, West

Asia, and East Africa

Zheng He’s expeditionsEbrey 226

Critique of Zheng He’s voyages

• 1. not much returns; more showing off;• 2. his patron the Yongle Emperor Chengzu died

in 1424• Vasco da Gama--(c. 1460s – 23 December

1524) was a Portuguese explorer. He is one of the most famous and celebrated explorers from the Age of Discovery, being the first European to reach India by sea.

• Christopher Columbus’s expedition led to the discovery of America in 1492;

闭关自守【 bìguānzìshǒu 】 close the country to international intercourse.

• Yongle (1360–1424): The third emperor of the Ming dynasty (r. 1402–1424), who commissioned major oceanic expeditions, led by Zheng He. With Yongle’s death in 1424, maritime exploration ceased for 400 years.

• Zheng He (c. 1371–1433): A Hui Muslim and imperial eunuch, Admiral Zheng launched seven oceanic expeditions between 1405 and 1433. His fleet of 200 six-masted ships reached ports in Southeast Asia, India, Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and the Horn of Africa.

River Elegy 河殇【 héshāng 】 <formal> die young

• River Elegy (by Su Xiaokang & Wang Luxiang) is a TV documentary (in 1988) that is instrumental in tipping the Incident of Tiananmen in 1989 or the June 4th Massacre;

• The film asserted that the Ming Dynasty's ban on maritime activities alluded to the building of the Great Wall by China's first emperor Ying Zheng. China's land-based civilization was defeated by maritime civilizations backed by modern sciences, and was further challenged with the problem of life and death ever since the latter half of the 19th century, landmarked by the Opium War. Using the analogy of the Yellow River, China was portrayed as once at the forefront of civilization, but subsequently dried up due to isolation and conservatism. Rather, the revival of China must come from the flowing blue seas which represent the explorative, open cultures of the West and Japan.

• This documentary is highly controversial.

The 6 Bu

• Ministries

• 6-Bu system started in early Tang Dynasty (618 - 907)

The 6 Bu (ministries)

• Ministry of Personnel

• Ministry of Revenue

• Ministry of Rites

• Ministry of Military

• Ministry of Criminal Justice

• Ministry of Public Works

科举【 kējǔ 】 imperial examination (91-92)

• 605-1905 from Sui Dynasty to Qing Dynasty

• Jinshi 进士—” presented scholar,” most difficult to pass

• “Palace Test” 殿试 by an emperor

• Group on Mandarin square 补子 : birds for civil officials and animals for military officials

Ming Examination Degrees(East Asia 229/278)

• 1. Shengyuan or Xiucai (county level)• 2. Juren (provincial level) — “ 范进中举”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scholars_%28Chinese_novel%29

• http://www.tianyabook.com/gudian/rulinwaishi/index.html

• The Scholars (tr. Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang) HC ISBN 0-231-08153-7 PB ISBN 0-231-08153-7

• 3. Jinshi, most difficult (state level exams)

女【 nǚ 】 woman; female; girl; daughter.驸马【 fùmǎ 】 emperor's son-in-law.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/etJ3Cifeo-g/

• Feng Suzhen 冯素贞 as Feng Shaoming,

• Yan Fengying 严凤英 , widely regarded as the most famous actress of the Huangmei Opera

• 三元【 sānyuán 】• Ternary champion• Made to the first place at

three levels of exams

高考【 gāokǎo 】 college entrance examinassions.

http://yule.sohu.com/s2009/gk1977/

• Examination 1977• http://asianmediawiki.

com/Examination_1977

• A break from 1966 to 1976

• A cultural wasteland

Prose Fiction (Novels)

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong

• The Scholars by Wu Jingzi• The Journey to the West by Wu Chengen

(famous Monkey King story)• Water Margin by Shi Naiꞌan• Jin Ping Mei, or The Plum in the Golden Vase by

Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (pseudonym)

The Function of “The Sisters” in Dubliners

Diagnosis for the entire book• Diagnosis• Write like a woodpecker• Four ways to diagnose:• Observe• Smell• Ask• Feel the pulse• Comprehensive

treatment/root

Transition in Dynasties

• 1. The enduring challenge is how to unify and govern China/How to Tame the Yellow River—the Loess Plateau;

• 2. Dynasties embrace ancient virtues: benevolence (Confucianism); the Natural Way (Daoism); and the Law (Legalism-reward and punishment)

• 3. What happens in the transitions?• A case study of the Ming-Qing Transition

Types of Causes

• 1. multiple contributory causes (it is rare that a single cause can fully explain a complex phenomenon);

• 2. Causal chains: a set of linked causes in which one cause leads to another and then another until a result is achieved;

• 3. interactive causes: causes rarely operate independently; they affect each other

Ripple Effect of Natural Disasters (238)

• The Little Ice age (1660-1680, 1850–1880 in China) on a larger scale

• Food shortages• Aggravated by laid-off soldiers in search of food;• Instead of easing the pressure, the government increased taxes• Li Zicheng uprising: “Equal-field/Tax Exemption 均田免赋” his

popular slogan attracted thousands;• In 1644, Li Zicheng took over Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen

committed suicide in Jingshan Park.• “The Shun Dynasty” founded by Li Zicheng lasted from

February 8 to June 5 in 1644.

Fiscal Problems 314Riots over Rent vs. supplies of silver

• Internal/Domestic issue/disorder

• Linked/connected to external/diplomatic relationship with Japan

• Japanese invasion of Korea (1592–1598) Result: Korean and Chinese victory; Japanese withdrawal from the peninsula.

• 1639, cut-throat move

Part and Whole

• 牵一发而动全身 [qiānyífà‘érdòngquánshēn]

• pull one hair and you move the whole body; a slight move in one part may affect the situation as a whole

Internal Power Struggle If there is no tiger in the mountains, a monkey will

claim the throne• Eunuchs control the

court—Wei Zhongxian (1568~1627)

• Donglin Academy: fighting corruption (1624)

• Impeachment of Wei Zhongxian (24 crimes)

• (Yang Lian 杨涟• /Zuo Guangdou/ 左光

斗、 Huang Zunsu 黄尊素、 Zhou Shunchang 周顺昌

End of The Ming DynastyRole of Li Zicheng: Direct Catalyst

• “The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,That ever I was born to set it right!”—Hamlet (Irony)

• Natural disasters/food shortage due to the “Little Ice Age”;

• Dong Zhongshu’s “correlative cosmology” 天人感应

• Li Zicheng (1606–1645) Uprising (Shun Dynasty 大順 , “suitable” for about four months); Nicknamed as a “dashing king” brain vs. bran

The Wrath of Wu Sangui vs.The Wrath of Achilles (Homer)

• 1. the role of Individual leaders at a critical moment

• “The Law of the Few”—The Tipping Point (80/20 rule)

• Power of an idea/ideal--12 representatives at the first conference of the Chinese Communist Party (1921 in Shanghai)

• 2. What influence one’s decision/change one’s perspective at a critical moment?

• Ethos/Pathos/Logos• The Wrath of Wu

Sangui vs. the Wrath of Achilles

What is the right thing to doat a critical moment?

• What would be the alternative?

• Imagine if Wu Sangui did not open the gate to Shanhaiguan, how could history be rewritten?

• DVD on the Great Wall

• Is it a curse or blessing for the Chinese people?

Role of Wu Sangui(1612 – 1678)

• a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644. Considered by traditional scholars as a traitor to both the Ming and the Qing dynasties, Wu declared himself Emperor of China as ruler of the Zhou Dynasty in 1678, but his revolt was quelled by the Qing Kangxi Emperor.

Another Civil War?Another age of Division

• The last Ming emperor committed suicide;• Li Zicheng’s dynasty lasted about four months;• Zhang Xianzhong broke up with Li Zicheng and

went to Sichuan (his Daxi Dynasty lasted from 1644 to 1646)

• Manchu was rising up in the northeast;• Were the gate of Shanhai Pass not open, it

would take longer time for Manchu to make it all the way to Beijing;

Peasants Uprising in China

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rebellions_in_China

• No coherent program• Mostly concerned

with land reform/equal field;

• Mao Zedong made his name by organizing peasants movement

Shanhaiguan 山海关 【 shānhǎiguān 】 Shanhai

Pass• the eastern end of the

Ming Dynasty Great Wall. The "First Pass Under Heaven“

• In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site. Along with Jiayuguan 嘉峪关 and Juyongguan, it is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China.

The First Pass Under Heaven• It is nearly 300 km

east of Beijing and linked via the Jingshen Expressway 京沈高速公路 (658 km in length, constructed from 1996 to 2000).

Li Zicheng Held Wu Sangui’s father as hostage to force Wu Sangui to surrender

• Wu Sangui’s father• Wu Xiang, Ming’s

general in charge of Liaodong Region, now Liaoning and Jilin province

• 1631, defeated • The Battle of Daling

River 大淩河之役

• Wu Sangui’s concubine Chen Yuanyuan was also in Beijing

1651 “Song of Yuanyuan” by Wu Weiye 吴伟业Statue of Chen Yuanyuan

in Gold Hall Park in Kunming

Wu’s Reward

• Wu was rewarded with the position of Pingxi Wang ( 平西王 ) in Yunnan by the Qing imperial court, after he conquered the region from the remnants of Ming loyalists. It had been extremely rare for someone outside of the royal family, especially a non-Manchu, to be granted the title of Wang (king). Those being awarded the title of Wang who were not members of the royal family were called Yixing Wang ( 異姓王 , literally meaning "kings whose surnames are different from that of the emperor").

Wu Sangui’s Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty

• Wu Sangui—Yunnan Province

• Shang Kexi—Guandong Province

• Geng Zhongming—Fujian province

• Emperor Kangxi defeated Wu Sangui

• et al. (East Asia 319)

The Wrath of AchillesThe Theme of Iliad by Homer

• Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being the “greediest for gain of all men” when Agamemnon took Briseis, Achilles's captive, Briseis, as compensation after he lost Chryseis

Achilles’ WithdrawalAchilles’ Participation

• The first wrath of Achilles was caused by the fact that Agamemnon took his captive, thus violating his honor

• Greek culture was a shame culture;

• The second time Achilles got angry was because his best friend Patroklus was killed, thus spurring him to go back to the battlefield.

• As a result, he killed Hector.

• Patroklus put on Achilles’ armor and assumed his persona;

Emperor Chongzhen 崇祯killing his daughter before committing suicide 1644