● Kublai Khan (Mongol) conquered China and founded the Yuan Dynasty

○ After his death, the Yuan dynasty weakened and led to the rise of a new
dynasty
● Zhu Yuanzhang and his rebel army overthrew Kublai Khan, and he took the
name Hongwu (“vastly martial”)
○ He founded the Ming dynasty
● China’s rulers gained control of Korea, Mongolia, and parts of Central and
Southeast Asia
● Hongwu
○ Reduced taxes
○ Passed reforms to improve agriculture and trade
○ Led to increased stability and prosperity in China
● Tried his best to eliminate all Mongol influences and bring back Chinese
traditions (Confucian principles)
○ He restored the civil service exams
● He increased the power of emperor at this time and got more control over the
government
● He eliminated anyone that posed a threat
● He died in 1398 and his song Yonglo became the emperor
○ Yonglo moved the Ming capital to Beijing and built an imperial city at the
center of it
○ City surrounded by high walls
○ Complex and was known as the “Forbidden city” → forbade
people from entering it

Ming Sea Voyages

● Yonglo sponsored overseas voyages led by Zheng He

○ He was a Chinese Muslim admiral that led 7 voyages around the world
● He sailed with fleets of up to 300 ships
● Wherever he went, he gave gifts from China and some foreign leaders even sent
tribute to the Chinese emperor
● His voyages demonstrated China’s growing sea power (during Ming period)
● They were expensive, so a new emperor stopped the voyages

Ming Foreign Relations

 ● Ending voyages → step towards isolation from the outside world
● Isolation gained full effect when Ming restricted foreign trade and travel to limit
outside contact
● Foreign merchants could only trade from a few Chinese ports like Canton
(Canton system) and it was only allowed at certain trading seasons
● Some smugglers carried out trade with foreign merchants
● Ming emperor isolated China to prevent European traders and Christian
missionaries
● He wanted to prevent European influence – because they brought in new goods
and ideas
○ He wanted to prevent cultural diffusion
● And he wanted to preserve Chinese tradition
● Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest that learned the Chinese language and
adopted Chinese customs to gain acceptance. He then taught the Chinese
European mathematics and science
● The Ming faced a threat from the Mongols so they decided to restore the Great
Wall
○ Most of the current Great Wall was built during the Ming time period

Ming Economy and Society

● Ming rule brought prosperity to China → improved irrigation methods

(increased farm production) → peasants produced huge crops of rice in
southern river valleys
● Stability and surplus of food led to population growth (a LOT)
● Chinese cities also grew
● Industries that manufactured porcelain and silk expanded along with European
demand for Chinese goods

Ming Decline

● Ming dynasty began to decline because of many weak rulers and the increased
corruption
● Ming rulers raised taxes. High taxes and crop failures led to famine and
hardship → rebellions
● The Manchu saw this as an opportunity and took Beijing
● The last Ming emperor killed himself to avoid being captured by the Manchu

Qing Dynasty
 ● The Manchu rulers faced much resistance against the Chinese because they
weren’t Chinese
● The Manchu gained support by showing respect to Chinese traditions and
maintained Confucian principles
● They kept a lot of the Ming stuff such as the civil service exams and structure of
government
● Government positions were also distributed equally among Chinese and Manchu
● Manchu remained separate from Chinese by dressing different, and overall
seeming different
● Kangxi and his grandson Qianlong were the 2 best emperors of the Qing dynasty
○ Kangxi reduced taxes for peasants and expanded the empire into parts of
Central Asia
○ He supported the arts and entertained Jesuit priests at court
● Qianlong brought the Qing to the peak - he conquered Taiwan, Mongolia,a nd
Tibet
● He also increased agriculture production and China’s population boomed
● And the economy thrived
● They benefited from improved transportation and the growing domestic and
foreign markets

Qing Foreign Relations

● Qing continued the isolation principles of the Ming

● The Manchu saw the Chinese products as superior and expected foreigners to
trade on China’s terms
● Dutch began a thriving trade in Chinese goods - they obtained Chinese porcelain
and silk along with tea
○ Tea became the main Chinese export to Europe
● Europeans tried to change China’s trade restrictions
○ Lord George Macartney came to China to expand trade
○ The Chinese found British goods that he brought inferior and demanded
that he show respect to Qianlong by kowtowing (kneeling in front of the
emperor and touching the forehead to the ground 9 times)
○ Macartney refused and the Chinese sent him away
● China was the most advanced civilization int the world, but isolation would
prevent them from keeping up with European advances in technology

Medieval Japan and Korea

Japan’s Warrior Society

● Japan’s central government started losing control of the empire

● Local clans fought each other for power and land
● Large landowners hired armies of samurai (or professionally trained warriors)
● A feudal warrior society slowly developed in Japan similar to that in medieval
Europe

Feudalism and the Samurai

● A feudal system gradually developed in Japan

● Exchange for allegiance and military service, noble landowners gave up property
or payment to samurai warriors
● Only the most powerful samurai were given land unlike European knights that
mainly gained land
● The main role of samurai was that of a warrior
○ Samurai were always expected to be in fighting form - ready to battle at
any time
● Over time, samurai rose in status in Japanese society and enjoyed many
privileges
● People dropped their eyes out of respect when they saw a samurai on the street
because they had the authority to kill anyone that showed them disrespect
● Samurai had to follow a strict code called bushido that means “the way of the
warrior”
○ Required samurai to be courageous, honorable, obedient, and loyal
● Samurai had to serve and obey his lord without hesitation, even if the samurai’s
family suffered as a result
● Samurai who failed were expected to disembowel themselves
● Samurai had to live very disciplined lives and they adopted Zen Buddhism

Rise of the Shoguns

● Japan had no strong government for most of the 1100s

● The emperor was nominally in charge but he had no control over the country
● Local nobles fought for power
● After decades of warfare between clans, the Minamoto family defeated a rival to
become Japan’s most powerful clan
 ● In 1192, the Minamoto Yoritomo forced the emperor to name him shogun or
“general”
● The shogun ruled in the emperor’s name
○ Even though emperor was at the top of Japanese society, the shogun had
the power
○ Emperors ruled as mere figureheads
● Shoguns would rule Japan for almost 700 years
● Yoritomo allowed the emperor to continue to hold court at Heian (became known
as Kyoto now)
● The shogun formed a new military government at Kamakura
● The Kamakura Shogunate (or military dynasty) ruled Japan until 1333
● The Kamakura Shogunate faced a major threat—the Mongols
● Large mongol fleets attacked Japan in 1274 and 1281
● But the Japanese defeated each time with the help of a powerful storm that
wiped out the enemy fleet
● The Japanese referred to these storms as the “kamikaze” or “divine wind”
● Mongol invasions weakened the Kamakura Shogunate
● Many lords did not think the Shogun rewarded them well enough for their part in
fighting and grew to resent the shogun’s power over them

Rebellion and Order

● A new shogunate took power but was too weak to gain control of Japan
● Japan split into many competing factions without centralized rule
● Local daimyo or powerful warlords who held large estates, gained control of their
own territories and fought for power
● The daimyo built fortified castles to defend their land
● Like medieval Europe, castles were normally on hills protected by walls and
surrounded by water
● People came to the castles for protection and towns grew up and around them
● Daimyo began to use peasants as foot soldiers in their armies along with samurai
on horseback
● The daimyo started to arm their soldiers with firearms from the Portugese traders
in 1543
● Some samurai refused to use guns and later died in battle wielding swords
against guns

Tokugawa Rule
 ● The Tokugawa shoguns closely controlled the daimyo (who held power at the
local level)
● To keep the daimyo loyal, the shoguns required them to live in Edo periodically
and leave their families there as year-round “hostages”
● These requirements forced the daimyo to maintain 2 residenes - which was
expensive and was an attempt to preclude the daimyo from rebelling
● The stability and peace of Tokugawa rue brought prosperity to Japan
● Agricultural production rose, population and city growth
● Japan’s strict feudal social structure became even more rigid
● Emperor was at the top of society - which was still a figurehead, he had no power
● The shogun held the real power as the top military ruler
● The daimyo were below them who owed the shogun their loyalty
● Then the samurai who served the daimyo
● The emperor, shogun, daimyo, and samurai made up the ruling warrior class
● Below the warrior class were 3 classes:
○ Peasants
○ Artisans
○ Merchants
● They could not rise in social status, serve in the military or government, or hold
government positions that might challenge the power of the warrior class -
essentially they had no way to move up
● Peasants made up 80% of Japan’s population
● They supported themselves by growing rice and other crops on daimyo and
samurai land
● Farming was considered an honorable trade in Japan and peasants enjoyed a
relatively high status (just below samurai)
● Peasants paid most of the taxes and led hard lives
● Artisans were below peasants who lived in castle towns and made goods such
as armor and swords
● Merchants were not honored because they didn’t produce anything
● But, merchants often grew wealthy and could use their wealth to improve their
social position
● Women status gradually declined during the Tokugawa period and they led
restricted lives and had to obey the male head of the household completely
● Women in the samurai class also lost freedom and rights such as the right to
inherit property

East Asia and the West

The Opium War

● Chinese rulers believed that all nations outside of China were barbaric and they
wanted very little contact with the outside world
● Europeans wanted trading rights in China and the Chinese restricted trade to a
single city – Guangzhou
● Chinese didn’t want European goods but they wanted silver
● They were happy when tea became popular in Britain and silver flowed into
China
● There was a huge imbalance in this trade though
● The British discovered a solution to this imbalance, opium
● There was a huge demand for opium in China and the government banned
opium because opium addiction became a huge problem
● Chinese officials ordered the destruction of British opium in Guangzhou
● British responded by sending a naval force to launch an attack
● After capturing Shanghai, the British forced the Chinese to sign a peace treaty -
Treaty of Nanjing
● This was the first of many unequal treaties because they benefited European
countries at the expensive of China
● Gave extraterritoriality to the British: British citizens accused for crimes in
China were tried in British courts rather than Chinese courts
● China was forced to sign more treaties with Britain, France, the United States,
and Russia
● The Qing dynasty was losing control over China to western intruders

The Taiping Rebellion

● Failure of Qing dynasty to resist Western powers → Chinese believed

that the Qing dynasty lost the mandate
● Led to a series of rebellion in 1850
● The most serious rebellion of them all was lead by Hong Xiuquan called the
Taiping Rebellion
● He wanted to create a “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace” where no one was
poor
● Hong and the Taiping captured territories in southeastern China and controlled
the city of Nanjing
● Qing soldiers (and British and French armies) attacked the Taiping army and
defeated it in 1864
● More than 20 million Chinese died in the Taiping Rebellion
Foreign Influence Takes Hold

● Qing dynasty officials tried to make some reforms

● They built coal mines, factories, and railroads
● They encouraged the government to make modern weapons and ships
● They attempted to introduce Western knowledge and languages to China
● This was called the self-strengthening movement
○ Failed because of strong resistance from Confucian scholars and powerful
officials
● While China was attempting to reform, Japan emerged as a major military power
● China and Japan fought over Korea in 1894 and the Japanese easily defeated
the Chinese
● Western powers claimed more territory in China after seeing their weakness
● Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and France built spheres of influence
● United States got involved in the 1890s
○ Feared that European nations would divide China amongst themselves
and the U.S. wouldn’t get any of it
● To prevent this, the John Hay (Secretary of State) proposed the Open Door
Policy, allowing free trade in Chinese ports under European control
○ Allowing the U.S. to continue trade with China
● The European nations didn’t agree to the Open Door Policy but they allowed free
trade on their ports
● China was super desperate by the end of the 1800s
● War with Japan had exposed China’s weakness
● European nations now controlled huge parts of China
● Chinese emperor tried to make a series of reforms, including changing civil
service exams and building a modern army
● Empress Cixi stopped the reforms because she believed it threatened the rule of
the Qing dynasty

The Boxer Rebellion

● Humiliation of China by the West produced many nationalist movements

throughout China – to restore China’s former glory
● The Boxers were the most important
○ Secret society combined martial arts training, hatred of foreigners, and a
belief that they were invulnerable to Western weapons
● The Boxer Rebellion began when the Boxers attacked Chinese missionaries
and Chinese converts to Christianity
 ● Boxers laid siege to the foreign compounds in Beijing and held the foreigners
hostage for 55 days
● An army of 20,000 foreign troops captured Beijing and suppressed the uprising
● Foreign powers imposed a big fine on the Chinese for secretly supporting the
Boxers
● The result of all of this was more humiliation for the Chinese government

The 1911 Revolution

● Qing officials finally started making reforms after the Boxers

● They removed civil service exams and tried to create primary and secondary
schools
● Qing officials tried to create a new national army (modern this time)
● They created elected provincial assemblies that started to meet in 1908
● These reforms were too late
● Radicals in Japan and U.S. called to overthrow the Qing dynasty to create a new
Chinese republic
● Sun Yat-sen was the most important of these radicals
● Based his ideology on three basic principles:
○ Nationalism
○ Democracy
○ “People’s livelihood”
● The last of these principles involved equality in landownership and was often
translated as socialism
● Sun believed that China should eventually become a democracy, but the
Chinese people weren’t ready yet
● Called to overthrow the Qing and replace it with a nationalist party
○ Wanted this party to act as a guardian until the Chinese were ready for
democracy
● Other people also wanted to overthrow the Qing dynasty
● Revolutionary ideas took root among intellectuals
● A group of young officers led a revolt in the city of Wuchang
○ They gained rapid support
● Qing wanted a general named Yuan Shikai to end the rebellion
○ Instead of cruising the rebels, he negotiated peace with them
● He convinced the Chinese emperor to abdicate
● Yuan Shikai agreed to become the first president of the new Republic of China
after the abdication
Rise of Modern Japan

The U.S. Renews Contact

● The Tokugawa regime ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867

○ Limited contact from the outside world
● American and European merchants wanted to trade with Japan
● U.S. president Millard Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew Perry on a mission to
Japan to open up trade
● Perry appeared in Tokyo Bay (Edo Bay) in 1853 with 4 warships and again in
1854 with 9 warships
● U.S. navy threatened Japan and convinced them to sign the Treaty of
Kanagawa
○ Treaty allowed American ships to stop at 2 Japanese ports
● Another treaty opened 5 Japanese ports to Western merchants
○ Also established extraterritoriality for Westerners in Japan
● Japanese found the treaties humiliating

The Meiji Restoration

● Emperor had been a little more than a symbolic period throughout the Tokugawa
period
● The shogun (supreme military ruler) was the real power in Tokugawa Japan
● Japanese people resented the way the shogun gave into Western
demands, and forced the shogun to step down from power → ended
the military control of the Japanese government
● Mutsuhito took back the power of the government, taking the name of Emperor
Meiji
● His rule is called the Meiji period, and the emperor’s return to power is called the
Meiji Restoration
● He learned about the risk of resisting Western demands
● China clung to traditional ways and was unsuccessful in keeping sovereignty
● Meiji emperor believed that the best way to preserve and build Japan’s strength
was to modernize and reform

Meiji Reforms

● Reforms during the Meiji period was far-reaching

 ● Japanese officials made a two-year journey called the Iwakura Mission - where
they traveled to the United States and Europe to learn about Western society,
military practices, and economics
● Officials were to determine which aspects of Western life would help the
Japanese modernize more efficiently
● Japan then required all children to go to school and some students were allowed
to study abroad
● Japanese military officials adopted practices of the U.S. and European forces to
strengthen their own military
● Emperor supported rapid industrialization
○ Government financed the construction of the infrastructure necessary for a
modern industrial economy
○ They built telegraph lines, setup a postal service, and established a
national currency, and helped build a railroad system
● Japanese economy was booming and manufacturing grew more rapidly in Japan
at the time than the U.S.

Becoming an Imperial Power

● Japan forced Korea to open 3 ports to Japanese merchants—even after Korea

pledging its allegiance to China
● Rebellion broke out in Korea in 1894 → Japan and China both sent
troops to Korea
○ This led to the Sino-Japanese War
● This lasted only a few months and ended in a humiliating defeat for China
● This Japanese victory made Japan the most powerful state in Asia
● China recognized Korea’s independence and Japan gained control of Taiwan
● Western powers treated Japan with respect and got rid of extraterritoriality in
Japan
● Japan’s high status was only improved when they won the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-1905
○ War was caused by Russian competition over Manchuria and Korea
● Japanese won a series of battles, they couldn’t get the Russians to surrender
● Instead, Russia and Japanese both asked the U.S. president (Roosevelt) to
negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth
● Treaty gave Japan control over Russian railway lines along south Manchuria and
transferred Russian leases on 2 Manchurian ports to Japan
● Treaty also recognized Korea as under Japanese influence
● Victory over China was celebrated all over Asia but also they became a threat to
neighboring Asian nations
Europeans in Southeast Asia

● Southeast Asia has always been a source of spices (like cloves ad pepper) that
the Europeans valued
● Europeans established colonies there to get the spices
● Dutch controlled the spice trade in the 1600s and 1700s by holding key
Southeast Asian ports and fortifications
● The Dutch began to grow sugar and coffee on large plantations in their
Southeast Asian colonies
● Shift to plantation agriculture set the pattern for future colonies in Southeast Asia
● British began to compete with the Dutch in Malaysia
● British gained control of Malacca from the Dutch
● British already controlled port cities of Singapore and Penang on the Malay
Peninsula

Japan in the 1900s: Economic Challenges

● Japan stood as one of the world’s foremost powers

● Japan’s economy went through many changes during the Meiji Restoration
○ (When the economy first began industrializing)
● Rapid industrialization began to create problems though
● Peasants and rural workers had not shared in the nation’s new prosperity, and
once WWI ended many industries experienced slowdowns
● Businesses started massive layoffs and labor disputes increased in the 1920s
● Japan faced other challenges - Japan did not have enough natural resources to
supply modern industry and was forced to import this
● Japan sold and manufactured its goods abroad to pay for them
● Because other countries passed tariffs to project their products against foreign
competition, Japan had a tough time exporting enough goods to get by
economically
● They needed to support their growing population and the Japanese leaders
decided to expand

Social Changes

● Japan’s shift from feudal agriculture to an urban industrial country affected more
than just the economy
 ● The shift (combined with universal education) and new ideas from the West led
to changes in Japanese society
● Democracy flourished and a system of political parties emerged
● Young people adopted Western fashion and beliefs and started to question
traditional Japanese values
○ Like obedience and respect for authority
● Conservative Japanese (including military leaders) hated these changes and
believed that going away from traditional Japanese values corrupted the country

Military’s Vision

● Military officers envisioned a united japan -- society devoted to the emperor and
to the glory of the nation ruled by the military leadership
● They began to seek more power over Japan’s government

Foreign Relations

● Military’s influence in Japan grew because of public opposition to the Japanese

government’s foreign policy
● After WW1, civilian leaders of Japanese government had made many treaties
with the West to limit the size of the Japanese navy
● Military officials were super furious over these agreements, which put an end to
Japanese overseas expansion
● US passed a law that prevented Japanese immigration in 1924
● This action deeply offended Japanese pride and some Japanese began to
question their government’s policy of cooperation with the West
● The Japanese started publicly putting its faith in the military, drawn to a
nationalist vision of a strong Japan that would not defer to another country

Building a Fighting Spirit

● WWI showed the modern war relied on technology and industrial power
● Japan’s military leaders realized that Japan would have difficulty contending
directly with the large industrial nations of the world
● They did not have the industrial capacity; and they were forced to limit the size of
their navy after war
● To make up for the industrial limitations, Japanese military leaders focused on
another weapon: Japanese soldiers
● Began to promote the fighting spirit of Japanese troops - Japanese officers
claimed that this bravery would make up for a lack of modern weaponry
● In the Japanese military instruction’s manual, the words surrender, retreat, and
defense were removed to encourage the idea that there were no such
possibilities
● Japan’s military leaders also tried to inspire a fighting spirit among the members
of the public
● They placed military personnel in public schools to shape the thinking of
Japanese children