Chinese military superiority over the nomads and put the Ming government on the defensive on the northern frontier.. A government that was unresponsive to social and economic problems wo
Trang 1Chinese military superiority over the nomads and put
the Ming government on the defensive on the northern
frontier In the mid-16th century, Mongol chief Altan
Khan would raid China’s northern borders at will for
two decades At the same time, Japanese pirates and
Chinese renegades raided and looted the southern coast
inflicting huge damage In the 1590s, Japanese warlord
Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea Suzerain China
had to send a huge army to aid the Koreans for six
years, at enormous cost
Two long reigns in the 16th century (Jiajing or
Chia-ching between 1520 and 1566, and Wanli
(Wan-Li) between 1572 and 1620) brought a measure of
stability, largely due to able ministers in the early part
of each reign However both monarchs were grossly
negligent of their duties, isolating themselves from
government officials and relying on power-hungry
palace eunuchs, with the result that the bureaucracy
became increasingly demoralized A government that
was unresponsive to social and economic problems
would eventually be brought down by peasant rebels
from northwestern China led by Li Zicheng (Li
Tzu-ch’eng) in 1644
Ming China prospered, however, despite inept
political leadership The population increased from
about 60 million at the beginning to possibly 200
million by 1600 In addition to great metropolitan
centers such as Suzhou (Soochow) and Hangzhou
(Hangchow), many intermediate-sized market towns
emerged Society was egalitarian and the flourishing
printing industry facilitated the spread of education so
that the sons of millions of families could realistically
aspire to obtain an education, pass the state exam, and
join the elite Popular culture represented by the theater
and opera flourished in the cities In addition, a new
genre of literature developed during the Ming It was
the novel, written in the vernacular and depicting men
and women of all social classes
The government’s principal source of income was
the land tax, assessed on land owned by farming
fami-lies and not on the number of males in a household
This system of taxation gave farmers greater freedom
to choose employment and allowed the development of
industries Silk and cotton manufacturing prospered,
as did the porcelain industry, which led the world
While China had traded with South and
South-east Asia and beyond for over a millennium, the
Por-tuguese entered the trading scene in 1516, opening
direct seaborne Sino-European commercial relations
Portuguese merchants were followed by men from the
Netherlands, England, France, and other European
nations Westerners brought European products, but more significantly New World crops such as maize, sweet potatoes, and tobacco, with enormous impact
on Chinese agriculture and diet More immediately European demand for Chinese silks, porcelain, and tea brought an influx of silver to China In 1581, the first Jesuit missionary landed in China Jesuits would
be important during the late Ming and early Qing (Ch’ing) as cultural ambassadors between China and Europe They introduced Western sciences, mathemat-ics, astronomy, cartography, and firearms to China and the ideals of Chinese philosophy to Europe, lay-ing the foundations of Sinology, or study of Chinese civilization in Europe
The 16th century was an era of great changes in Europe and China, where modern societies were begin-ning to develop Despite inept Ming emperors the edu-cational system and civil service continued to provide for a prosperous and advancing civil society
However by the beginning of the 17th century, many signs pointed to the fact that the country was exhausted An ineffective government could not simul-taneously deal with internal rebellions and border incursions by nomads
The last Ming emperor hanged himself as rebels swarmed into the capital; a beleaguered frontier gen-eral then invited the Manchus, a minority ethnic group living on the northeastern borders of the Ming empire,
to help him put down the rebels Astute Manchu lead-ers seized this opportunity to ascend the throne and founded a new dynasty
See also Great Wall of China; Jesuits in Asia; Ming, Southern; Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty, rise and zenith; Qing (Ch’ing) tributary system; Wu Sangui (Wu San-kuei)
Further reading: Chan, Albert The Glory and Fall of the
Ming Dynasty Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982; Ho, Ping-ti The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911 New York: Colum-bia University Press, 1962; Hucker, Charles O The Tradi-tional Chinese State in Ming Times (1368–1644) Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1961; So, Kwan-wai Japanese Piracy in Ming China during the Sixteenth Century East
Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1975; Twitchett,
Denis, and Frederick W Mote, eds The Cambridge History
of China, Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Parts
1 and 2 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988 and
1998
Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur