The Mongol and Ming Empires

1
The Mongol and Ming Empires

• Focus Question 
• What were the effects of the Mongol invasion and
  the rise of the Ming dynasty on China?

2
Mongol Armies Build an Empire

• The Mongols were a nomadic people who grazed
  their horses and sheep on the steppes, or vast,
  treeless plains, of Central Asia. Rival Mongol
  clans spent much of their time warring with one
  another. In the early 1200s, however, a brilliant
  Mongol chieftain united these warring tribes.

3

• This chieftain took the name Genghis Khan meaning
  Universal Ruler. Under his leadership, Mongol
  forces conquered a vast empire that stretched
  from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe

4
Genghis Khan

• Originally called Temüjin, Genghis Khan (c.
  11621227) was renowned for being ruthless,
  determined, and courageous. When Temüjin was nine
  years old, a rival Mongol clan poisoned his
  father. At the age of 15, Temüjin was taken
  prisoner. For the rest of his life, he never
  forgot the humiliation of being locked in a
  wooden collar and paraded before his enemies.

5

• When he regained his freedom, Temüjin wandered
  among drifting clans. He took revenge on the clan
  that had imprisoned him and in time, became
  supreme ruler of all the Mongols. Once despised,
  Genghis Khan would be admired and feared across
  two continents

6
Mongols Invade China

• Genghis Khan imposed strict military discipline
  and demanded absolute loyalty. His highly
  trained, mobile armies had some of the most
  skilled horsemen in the world. Genghis Khan had a
  reputation for fierceness. He could order the
  massacre of an entire city. Yet he also could be
  generous, rewarding the bravery of a single
  fighter.

7

• Mongol armies conquered the Asian steppe lands
  with some ease, but as they turned on China, they
  encountered the problem of attacking walled
  cities. Chinese and Turkish military experts
  taught them to use cannons and other new weapons.
  The Mongols and Chinese launched missiles against
  each other from metal tubes filled with
  gunpowder. This use of cannons in warfare would
  soon spread westward to Europe.

8

• Genghis Khan did not live to complete the
  conquest of China. His heirs, however, continued
  to expand the Mongol empire. For the next 150
  years, they dominated much of Asia. Their furious
  assaults toppled empires and spread destruction
  from southern Russia through Muslim lands in
  Southwest Asia to China.

9

• Protected by steep mountain ranges, India avoided
  invasion, but the Mongols arrived in China,
  devastated the flourishing province of Sichuan
  (see chwahn), and annihilated its great capital
  city of Chengdu.

10
Rulers Establish Order and Peace

• Once conquest was completed, the Mongols were not
  oppressive rulers. Often, they allowed conquered
  people to live much as they had beforeas long as
  they regularly paid tribute to the Mongols.

11

• Genghis Khan had set an example for his
  successors by ruling conquered lands with
  toleration and justice. Although the Mongol
  warrior had no use for city life, he respected
  scholars, artists, and artisans. He listened to
  the ideas of Confucians, Buddhists, Christians,
  Muslims, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

12

• In the 1200s and 1300s, the sons and grandsons of
  Genghis Khan established peace and order within
  their domains. Today, many historians refer to
  this period of order as the Pax Mongolica, or
  Mongol Peace.

13

• Political stability set the stage for economic
  growth. Under the protection of the Mongols, who
  now controlled the great Silk Road, trade
  flourished across Eurasia. According to a
  contemporary, Mongol rule meant that people
  enjoyed such a peace that a man might have
  journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of
  sunset with a golden platter upon his head
  without suffering the least violence from
  anyone.

14

• Cultural exchanges increased as foods, tools,
  inventions, and ideas spread along the protected
  trade routes. From China, the use gunpowder moved
  westward into Europe. Techniques of papermaking
  also reached parts of Europe, and crops and trees
  from the Middle East were carried into East Asia.

15

• How did the Mongol Empire change once conquest
  was over?

• How might Temüjins experiences have motivated
  him to unite the Mongol clans?

16

• Although Genghis Khan had subdued northern China,
  the Mongols needed nearly 70 more years to
  conquer the south. Genghis Khans grandson,
  Kublai Khan (koo bly kahn), finally toppled the
  last Song emperor in 1279. From his capital at
  Khanbaliq, present-day Beijing, Kublai Khan ruled
  all of China as well as Korea and Tibet.

17
An All-Mongol Government

• Kublai Khan tried to prevent the Mongols from
  being absorbed into Chinese civilization as other
  conquerors of China had been. He decreed that
  only Mongols could serve in the military. He also
  reserved the highest government jobs for Mongols
  or for other non-Chinese officials whom he
  employed. Still, because there were too few
  Mongols to control so vast an empire, Kublai
  allowed Chinese officials to continue to rule in
  the provinces

18

• Under Mongol rule, an uneasy mix of Chinese and
  foreign customs developed. Kublai adopted a
  Chinese name for his dynasty, the Yuan (yoo ahn),
  and turned Khanbaliq into a Chinese walled city.
  At the same time, he had Arab architects design
  his palace, and many rooms reflected Mongol
  steppe dwellings.

19

• Kublai rebuilt and extended the Grand Canal to
  his new capital, which made the shipment of rice
  and other goods easier. He also welcomed many
  foreigners to his court, including the African
  Muslim world traveler Ibn Battuta.

20
Marco Polo Writes About China

• The Italian merchant Marco Polo was one of many
  visitors to China during the Yuan dynasty.
  Although there is some debate on whether Marco
  Polo reached China, most historians acknowledge
  that he did indeed reach Cathay (northern China)..

21

• In 1271, Polo left Venice with his father and
  uncle. He crossed Persia and Central Asia to
  reach China. He then spent 17 years in Kublais
  service. Finally, he returned to Venice by sea,
  visiting Southeast Asia and India along the way.

22

• In his writings, Marco Polo left a vivid account
  of the wealth and splendor of China. He described
  the royal palace of Kublai Khan (see Travelers
  Tale) and also described Chinas efficient royal
  mail system, with couriers riding swift ponies
  along the empires well-kept roads. Furthermore,
  he reported that the city of Hangzhou was 10 or
  12 times the size of Venice, one of Italys
  richest city-states. In the next centuries,
  Polos reports sparked European interest in the
  riches of Asia.

23
Mongols Continue Outside Contact

• As long as the Mongol empire prospered, contacts
  between Europe and Asia continued. The Mongols
  tolerated a variety of beliefs. The pope sent
  Christian priests to Beijing, while Muslims set
  up their own communities in China. Meanwhile,
  some Chinese products moved toward Europe. They
  included gunpowder, porcelain, and playing cards

24

• How did Kublai Khan organize Mongol rule in China?

25
The Ming Restore Chinese Rule

• The Yuan dynasty declined after the death of
  Kublai Khan, which occurred in 1294. Most Chinese
  despised the foreign Mongol rulers. Confucian
  scholars retreated into their own world, seeing
  little to gain from the barbarians. Heavy taxes,
  corruption, and natural disasters led to frequent
  uprisings.

26

• Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang (dzoo yoo ahnd zahng), a
  peasant leader, forged a rebel army that toppled
  the Mongols and pushed them back beyond the Great
  Wall. In 1368, he founded a new Chinese dynasty,
  which he called the Ming, meaning brilliant.

27

• The Ming restored the civil service system, and
  Confucian learning again became the road to
  success. The civil service exams became more
  rigorous than ever. A board of censors watched
  over the bureaucracy, rooting out corruption and
  disloyalty.

28
The Economy Grows

• Economically, Ming China was immensely
  productive. The fertile, well-irrigated plains of
  eastern China supported a population of more than
  100 million. In the Chang River valley, peasants
  produced huge rice crops. Better methods of
  fertilizing helped to improve farming

29

• Reshaping the landscape helped as well. Some
  farmers cut horizontal steps called terraces into
  steep hillsides to gain soil in which to grow
  crops. In the 1500s, new crops reached China from
  the Americas, especially corn and sweet potatoes.

30

• Chinese cities, such as Nanjing, were home to
  many industries, including porcelain, paper, and
  tools. The Ming repaired the extensive canal
  system that linked various regions, made trade
  easier, and allowed cities to grow. New
  technologies increased output in manufacturing.
  Better methods of printing, for example, led to
  the production of a flood of books.

31
Culture Flourishes

• Ming China also saw a revival of arts and
  literature. Ming artists developed their own
  styles of landscape painting and created
  brilliant blue and white porcelain. Ming vases
  were among the most valuable and popular Chinese
  products exported to the West.

32

• Confucian scholars continued to produce classical
  poetry. At the same time, new forms of popular
  literature to be enjoyed by the common people
  began to emerge. Ming writers composed novels,
  including The Water Margin about an outlaw gang
  that tries to end injustice by corrupt officials.
  Ming writers also produced the worlds first
  detective stories.

33

• How did Ming rulers restore a previous style of
  Chinese government?

34

• How did Ming rulers restore a previous style of
  Chinese government?
• Answer They restored the Civil Service System,
  and Confucian learning again became the road to
  success

35
Chinese Fleets Sail the Seas

• Early Ming rulers proudly sent Chinese fleets
  into distant waters to show the glory of their
  government. The most extraordinary of these
  overseas ventures were the voyages of the Chinese
  admiral and diplomat Zheng He (jeng he).

36
Zheng He and His Fleets

• Starting in 1405, Zheng He commanded the first of
  seven expeditions. He departed at the head of a
  fleet of 62 huge ships and over 200 smaller ones,
  carrying a crew of about 28,000 sailors. The
  largest ships measured 400 feet long. The goal of
  each expedition was to promote trade and collect
  tribute from lesser powers across the western
  seas.

37

• Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He explored the
  coasts of Southeast Asia and India and the
  entrances to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. He
  also visited many ports in East Africa. In the
  wake of these expeditions, Chinese merchants
  settled in Southeast Asia and India and became a
  permanent presence in their trading centers

38

• Exotic animals, such as giraffes, were imported
  from foreign lands as well. The voyages also
  showed local rulers the power and strength of the
  Chinese empire.

39

• What was the relevance of Zheng Hes overseas
  expeditions?

40

• The countries beyond the horizon and from the
  ends of the earth have all become subjects. . . .
  We have traversed immense waterspaces and have
  behold in the ocean huge waves like mountains
  rising skyhigh, and we have set eyes on barbarian
  regions far away . . . while our sails loftily
  unfurled like clouds day and night continued
  their course, traversing those savage waves as if
  we were treading on a public thorough fare.
• Zheng He, quoted in The True Dates of the
  Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early
  Fifteenth Century (Duyvendak)

41
Exploration Ends

• In 1435, the year Zheng He died, the Ming emperor
  suddenly banned the building of seagoing ships.
  Later, ships with more than two masts were
  forbidden. Zheng Hes huge ships were retired and
  rotted away.

42

• Why did China, with its advanced naval
  technology, turn its back on overseas
  exploration? Historians are not sure. Some
  speculate that the fleets were costly and did not
  produce profit.

43

• Also, Confucian scholars at court had little
  interest in overseas ventures and commerce. To
  them, Chinese civilization was the most
  successful in the world. They wanted to preserve
  its ancient traditions, which they saw as the
  source of stability. In fact, such rigid loyalty
  to tradition would eventually weaken China and
  once again leave it prey to foreign domination

44

• Fewer than 60 years after China halted overseas
  expeditions, the explorer Christopher Columbus
  would sail west from Spain in search of a sea
  route to Asia. We can only wonder how the course
  of history might have changed if the Chinese had
  continued the explorations they had begun under
  the Ming.

45

1. What military equipment is illustrated in the
   painting?
2. How did the Mongols come across this equipment
   (Did they invent it?)
3. What skills are emphasized by the artist?