Northern%20Eurasia

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Northern Eurasia

• 1450-1750 AD

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• Japan
• Political unification took 4 centuries due to
  Japans traditional feudal system.
• Political unification would not happen until late
  500s and 1600s.
• Japans development was influenced by Korean,
  Chinese, and European factors.

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• Unification would not be as difficult though for
  Japan as with China and Russia because of her
  smaller size homogeneous population and natural
  boundaries.
• Prior to unification, in the 1100s, imperial
  unity (unity under an emperor) fell apart as
  regional warlords (Daimyos) competed with each
  other.

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• Theoretically, the emperor was the ultimate
  source of political authority. Not in reality
  though.
• Daimyos were like European feudal lords with
  their own castle, town, warriors (samurai), and
  legal and judiciary structure. They had their own
  currency and schools.
• Daimyos also had trading agreements with European
  mariners. From them they learned how to
  manufacture and use gunpowder weapons.

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• Regional daimyos developed their own urban
  centers. In a positive sense it helped develop
  the nation economically.
• In many ways Japan was more economically secure
  than politically secure.
• Daimyos, though, pledged loyalty to the
  hereditary military commander, the shogun, as
  well as to the emperor.
• The Shogun possessed the military and political
  authority of Japan but, from the 12th to the 16th
  century, Japan was a country in civil war
  between daimyo forces.

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• One daimyo, Tokugawa Ieyasu, emerges as supreme
  in 1592, and forms shogunate or military
  government known as the Tokugawa Shogunate at
  the castle town of Edo
• (modern Tokyo) in 1603. It lasted 267 years
  until 1868.
• This was a family dynasty of shoguns, military
  leaders.
• They did not have the title or position of
  emperor. The regional daimyos still had strong
  influence though, but at least Japan was
  politically unified as it never was prior to
  this.

Japanese mon, or , family crest. This one is of
the Tokugawa family.
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• The Tokugawa Shoguns controlled the 260 daimyo
  noble lords, or aristocracy, by giving them
  valuable rice lands close to the capital.
• Non-supporters were given undeveloped lands in
  the northern and southern regions.
• Daimyo marriage contracts and meetings with the
  emperor were controlled by the shoguns.
• Question What is the strategy here?

Tokugawa Ieyasu as shogun
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• This strategy would also be followed by monarchs
  in Europe in order to control their aristocracies
  too.
• Remember though, the Shogun was not a monarch.
• The emperor was to remain in Kyoto with no
  political power.
• The aim of the Tokugawa shoguns was to prevent
  competing centers of power and centralize
  administration.
• Also to restrict foreign influence, especially
  from Europe, from upsetting stability.

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• European impact
• 1453 the first Portuguese bring firearms, which
  Japanese will copy and use against themselves.
• Jesuit missionaries, including Francis Xavier,
  came to Japan in the 1500s and had some
  successful religious impact among the peasants.
  By 1615 there were 300,000 Japanese Christians.
• By 1580 there were 100,000 Japanese Catholic
  Christians, and the Jesuit order had been given
  free reign in the port city of Nagasaki.
• 1630s a rural rebellion of peasants was blamed
  on European influence, and Christianity was
  banned by the Tokugawa Shogunate.

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• Edicts were issued restricting contact with
  foreigners by
• Forbidding travel abroad,
• Prohibiting the production of large ships,
• Expelling Europeans from Japan,
• Forbidding the importation of books,
• Restricting merchants to only a few Dutch and
  Chinese at Nagasaki.

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• Tokugawa shoguns recognized that merchants were
  needed to conduct commerce between the regions,
  to build economic wealth, so commercial trade was
  emphasized, but with China, Korea, and Taiwan (
  but not Europe).
• Although isolation was the goal of the Tokugawa
  shoguns it could not be enforced.
• Compare this to Mongol economic strategy.

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• Stability brought peace and the warrior class
  adapted itself to the needs of the state.
• Warriors became more educated bureaucrats and
  consumers of wealth.
• This is what the Tokugawa shogunate wanted and
  warriors (samurai) were brought into government
  positions and intellectual pursuits.
• It was the goal of the Tokugawa shoguns to reduce
  the number of trained professional warriors and
  end the strong samurai culture.

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• Europe, though, was increasing its professional
  soldier population with academies and career
  offerings France Russia Britain.
• Japan now adopted a closed-country attitude to
  the spread of foreign influences to maintain
  stability, but not to knowledge of foreign
  culture.
• Buddhism and neo-Confucianism entered from China.
  Buddhism was adapted to the Japanese perspective
  and became Zen. It was suspect by strict
  Shintoists.
• The Japanese government became somewhat
  xenophobic.

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• Japanese exports amounted to some metal, and
  porcelain, but not much else.
• Nobles conducted their own trade and ignored the
  closed-country approach when it suited their
  purpose.

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• 1600s and 1700s were time of achievement in art,
  steel , and pottery. Much of these skills were
  learned from Koreans brought into Japan.
• Kabuki drama emerged with spectacular staging
  effects.
• Merchants made use of this knowledge and were
  the key to modernization.
• Cities like Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka grew with
  middle class influence.
• Daimyos too forced trade and did gain influence.
• Note Economic considerations often are at the
  center of political and social conditions.

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• Japan slowly transformed itself from a military
  to a civil society. This created problems with
  the military
• In 1702, for example, the incident of the
  Forty-Seven Ronin. They were masterless samurai
  who avenged the disgrace of their master by
  assassinating his enemy. It was a samurai right.
• Ultimately, they were forced to obey the civil
  laws of society as being above their own samurai
  code.
• They would have to commit seppuku.

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• Merchants instrumental in the transition from a
  military to a civil society. This presented
  problems though
• Merchants had great wealth.
• Merchants competed with aristocracy.
• Merchants married aristocracy in contradiction to
  Confucian rules.
• The Tokugawa shoguns sought to protect Japanese
  society from too much merchant influence.

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• Thus, while the Tokugawa Shogunate put into place
  a political and economic system based upon
  progress and innovation, Japanese society
  outpaced the government.
• The Tokugawa shoguns embraced neo-Confucianism,
  although many Japanese adhered to traditional
  belief systems such as Shinto.

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• China
• When the Mongol Yuan dynasty ended in 1368, the
  Ming and then Qing rulers sought to erase all
  Mongol cultural elements of the Yuan dynasty.
• They promoted Confucian social precepts, together
  with political stability in a large, agrarian
  state. It was successful for nearly 500 years.
• Royal families would be hierarchical and
  authoritarian, to protect their interests and
  guarantee stability.

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• The Ming relied on imperial officials called
  mandarins, to oversea government policies in
  the realm. Eunuchs used at court functions.
• They promoted Confucian social precepts, together
  with political stability in a large, agrarian
  state. It was successful for nearly 500 years.
• Confucian civil service exams and schools were
  restored.
• Emphasis on all things Chinese names,
  language, and dress.
• Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, sent
  naval expeditions to the Indian Ocean, and
  refortified the Great Wall.

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• From the 1500s to 1664 the Ming Empire exerted
  influence on global economy.
• They used assembly-line production of porcelain,
  silk and lacquered furniture.
• Zheng Hes multi-decked junks carried troops and
  cargo into the Indian Ocean. His efforts though
  were opposed by Confucian officials.
• Note again the Asian emphasis on maritime wealth,
  although not necessarily maritime empire. The
  Ming did not follow through, and recalled the
  fleet of Zheng He.

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• Ming China declined due to internal problems
  aggravated by environmental problems of the
  Little Ice Age temperature drop. This affected
  agricultural production forcing inflation.
• Inflation also due to flow of silver from the
  west.
• Border threats and rebellions created war costs.
• To prevent invasion from Japan, the Ming brought
  in Manchu troops from Manchuria. ( Rome, Persia,
  Ottomans). They were originally pastoral nomads
  north of Korea.
• Eventually, the Manchu rebelled and took Beijing
  and set up their own dynasty. (C/c with Mamluk
  rebellion in Egypt against the Abassid ruler.)

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• The new dynasty was called the Qing (Ching).
  Today the Manchu are an ethnic minority in China.
• Portuguese, Spanish, and the Dutch gained only
  limited trade access.
• A Portuguese ship reached China in 1513, but was
  not permitted to trade.

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• In time Spain and the Dutch could trade only from
  a base in Taiwan. Eventually, the Dutch became
  the main European trader in East Asia.
• To Europeans, trade with China was only second in
  importance to the spice trade of southern Asia.

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• European contact with China was conducted largely
  through the Jesuits.
• Missionary Matteo Ricci adapted Catholic
  Christianity to Chinese culture by incorporating
  some Confucian concepts of ancestor worship.
  Emperor Kangxi supported the Jesuits in this.
• This combination of cultural traditions is
  called
• syncretism
• Jesuits also introduced the latest science and
  technology from Europe.

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• Economics
• Chinese products gained in popularity in Europe
  especially among the wealthy and middle class
  silk tea porcelain and wallpaper.
• Trade was eventually conducted with Europeans at
  certain market locations in China from which
  trade could be controlled city of Canton.

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• Europeans did not favor the Canton trading system
  though.
• Question Why?
• It limited European control over the trade.
• Eventually tea became a major import for Russia,
  Central Asia, and the Middle East by land trade.
• Western Europe acquired tea by the sea routes. It
  competed with chocolate and coffee by the 1600s.

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• Eventually, the British replaced the Dutch and
  the main trading partner for China, but Britain
  imported more from China than it exported.
• Britain could not get China to relax the Canton
  trading system even with a high level mission of
  diplomats known as the Macartney mission (1792).

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• 1793-1794 the British try to establish
  diplomatic relations (embassy) with China, but
  they are refused.
• Same with the Dutch, French, and Russians.
• Question why did the Chinese act this way?
• To protect themselves.

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• Jesuit descriptions of Chinese society influenced
  governments in Europe to want to rule in the
  style of the Chinese emperors.
• Emperors were seen as philosopher kings and the
  French philosopher Voltaire expressed admiration
  for them.
• While the Ming and Qing succeeded in their goal
  of restoring Chinese tradition of Confucian
  hierarchy, they could not prevent the impact of
  new food crops from abroad and of global trade on
  the economy.

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• Economic expansion was due to tight controls by
  the government ( similar to the mercantilism of
  western Europe.
• China was experiencing an increase in crops and
  food supplies due to American and African
  products.
• This resulted in a population explosion to 400
  million people by the late 1700s.

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• Russian Empire
• From 1500 to 1800 Russia expanded from eastern
  Europe through northern Asia and into North
  America.
• With the Mongols gone, Moscow becomes the center
  of the Russian state.
• Ivan IV takes the title of Tsar in 1547.

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• Russia expanded eastward into Siberia with the
  help of the Cossacks.
• Cossacks people of southern European Russia
  noted as cavalrymen and their service to the
  Tsar.
• Siberia was known for its furs and timber.

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• Russia incorporated Asian peoples including
  Mongols, although Russians themselves were a
  branch of the Slavic peoples of eastern Europe
  and mostly Orthodox Christians.
• Church (religion) could play politics but would
  become corrupted by worldly or secular affairs.

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• 1613 The Romanov dynasty begins.
• Highly autocratic dynasty.
• Autocracy Government by a single person having
  unlimited power despotism.
• Early 1600s was a time of civil warfare when many
  peasants fled or became slaves.
• 1649 Law passed that transformed peasants into
  serfs who were tied to a piece of land. Serfs
  were under control of landowners who made up only
  2 of Russias population.
• They were not slaves, which were owned by a
  master.

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• From 1689-1725
• Peter the Great tried to reduce Russias
  isolation and increase the empires size.
• Allowed foreign merchants in Moscow.
• Brought in western Europeans to train his army.
• Fought the Ottoman Turks to gain a warm-water
  port on the Black Sea and liberate Constantinople
  from Muslim rule.
• A port there with open Mediterranean access would
  be the dream of Russian Tsars for centuries.
• He failed!

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• He succeeded in creating a Baltic Sea port,
  though, and built a new capital of St.
  Petersburg.
• Modernization was crucial to him Dress,
  grooming, socialization, etc.
• Politically, he was determined to be an
  absolutist ruler.

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• Peters goals
• To westernize Russia like other nations of
  Britain and France.
• Break the power of the nobles (Boyars) by
  reducing their roles in government and the army.
• Control the Russian Orthodox Church and curb its
  power.
• Develop and empire expand into Alaska and the
  American northwest for furs.

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• Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
• Russia was the largest land empire, but not
  industrial like other nations.
• Did not want to oppose the nobles. This slowed
  Russian political and social development.
• Expanded the military of Peter the Great.
• 1783 finally beat the Ottomans in a war for the
  northern shore of the Black Sea.
• Would greatly advocate the introduction of
  Enlightenment ideas.

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• Between 1500 and 1800, both Russia and China grew
  tremendously, but in actual power could not
  compete with Portugal, Netherlands, Britain, and
  France who had less territory but more world
  influence.
• Question Why?
• The aspect of commerce and free economic
  development based upon the merchant class and
  proper work ethic.

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• Both China and Russia also had oppressive social
  systems and were hierarchical.
• Both, although having a diverse social make-up,
  did not appreciate ethnic or religious
  differences.
• By the 1700s, Russia had made the greatest
  progress in catching up with its European
  neighbors, although still had a problem with
  military technology.

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• Russia would develop a modern warship fleet, but
  in keeping with Asian perspective, neither China
  nor Japan did likewise.
• Socially, Russian and Chinese ethnic and cultural
  variation undermined unity. Japan did not
  experience this condition.

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• Economically, China and Russia supported forced
  labor, while merchant status was unstable and
  often constricted (in Russia due to noble
  opposition, and in China due to Confucian
  opposition).
• Even Japan experienced suspicion of merchant
  activity.