Have you ever wondered what Asian Empires were like? How they lived? Or even, how they came into power? I know I have. Therefore, I will be informing you on two of the main Asian Empires from the 1300s to the late 1800s. The Ming Dynasty and the Tokugawa Shogunate, both similar yet entirely different. During the 1300s and the 1600s two significant Empires, the Ming and the Tokugawa, came into being. The Ming Dynasty rose in 1368. The Empire took rise due to military official Zhu Yuanzhang, he then came into power as emperor after the death of warlord Guo Ziyi. When Zhu took control, the army invaded cities, became stronger, and gained a stronger economy. Unlike the Ming, the Tokugawa Shogunate took rise in 1603. The Tokugawa came into …show more content…
power due to previous events. For example, in the 1500s Japan’s power decreased due to warfare. Leading to the Battle of Sekigahara in the 1600s, they declared victory because of Tokugawa Ieyasu who then became shogun. Even though both Empires rose, both had different perspectives. As opposed to their differences, both the Ming and the Tokugawa Shogunate acquired several achievements.
The Ming were Chinese, therefore they had a different culture from the Tokugawa. The Ming Dynasty had inherited most of their art from the previous Dynasty, the Yuan. In addition, they had a famous pottery center called the Jingdezhen. They also developed cultural achievements such as printing, embroidery, cotton weaving, and silk weaving. Furthermore, Novels were developed and the Yongle Encyclopedia was completed. On the other hand, the Tokugawa spoke Japanese and conducted a typed of art known as kabuki. Both Empires were not big fans of Christianity. The Tokugawa also practiced Martial Arts, Jujutsu, and …show more content…
Kyudo. Moreover, both the Ming and the Tokugawa consisted of different military systems. The Tokugwa had Samurais, they were the highest military officials. Samurais were the only military officials that worked with the government. Higher rank Samurais could carry swords and ride horses. To ensure security the Tokugawa Shogunate isolated themselves for 250 years. The herders of the Samurais were sent to schools to prepare themselves for their roles as government officials. These children were forced to live in castle towns of their daimyos. The Ming on the other side, had a powerful army. They had developed a firearm for protection called the Huochong gun. During the year 1358 Zhu and his army conquered the city of Nanjing. Later on 10 years after, they attacked the capital of Dadu and took full control of Beijing. Besides cultural and military achievements, to work a government both Empires had to be involved with politics.
The Ming Dynasty consisted of one department the Secretariat where they controlled the six ministries. The Six Ministries were Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Public Works. The Ming had a centralized authority and their emperors could rule directly. The Tokugawa Shogunate also had an emperor, yet he was not so powerful. At the top were the shoguns, then the daimyos, then the Samurais, and finally the peasants. Even though, farmers were mostly of the lower class they were still highly
respected. One Stage in which the Ming and the Tokugawa Shogunate differed the most was in economy. Because of the Act of Seclusion the Tokugawa were limited, they could not trade with western nations and banned foreign books. However, the Ming did have a powerful economy. They contributed to one of China’s golden eras and their economy improved through technology, agriculture, and manufacturing. Rulers therefore, forced labor practices increasing their manufacturing rate for iron. Farmers also tried the crop rotation method increasing agriculture. The Ming also had three markets: the rural, urban-rural, and national. Roads, canals, and transportation were also created. Lastly, when land quality decreased and population increased farmers used cash crops. Through time both the Ming Dynasty and the Tokugawa Shogunate became weak and declined. The Tokugawa fell in 1867 while the Ming fell in 1644. The Tokugawa fell due to anti-Tokugawa clans. Therefore, the Ming fell due to natural disasters. For example, earthquakes, an ice age, war, and the plague, they all resulted in the fall of the Ming Empire. In Conclusion, the Ming were more powerful than the Tokugawa Shogunate. Not only because of their economy and well constructed government, but because they had weak leadership. Both Empires however, stayed strong and never gave up. Even though, one was more powerful and had a better economy eventually both Empires would decline.
In this case of the Ming Dynasty, it was a peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang and his rebel army that successfully developed a strong Dynasty for 300 years. Zhu along with his army overthrew the last emperor of the Mongols in 1368. Over the years, the Ming Dynasty took control of Korea, Mongolia and certain areas of Central and Southeast Asia (Wineburg 510). The Safavid Dynasty also dated around the same time. This Dynasty was founded by a religious group named the Safavids in the 1500’s. In the 15th century the religious group strengthened their military. The mindset of the group changed as it became more military based. When the Islamic holy war occurred, the uprising caused the Safavids to proclaim freedom and independence. The Safavid Dynasty lasted nearly 220 years (BBC Web).
The samurai of Tokugawa Japan, the yangban of Choson Korea, and the gentry of Ming China were three very powerful and elite groups of East Asia. These groups consisted of high ranking government officials with judicial power and influence. Although the groups were located in the same region they had their similarities and differences in how they obtained power and how they used their power. Japanese samurai were military nobility who had almost as much power as the emperor, but were not the highest ranking officials whereas the yangban officials of Korea were the highest ranking rulers. The gentry of the Ming period of China were once high ranking rulers; however, the gentry were defined as retired Chinese bureaucrats. Socially, all of these groups, at one point or another, were high ranking officials with power in office. The elite groups ruled in different areas of Asia, but they had similarities as well as differences in sources of power, functions as officials, and the problems they faced as elite groups in Asia.
Throughout history, and in many nations and empires throughout time, governments are affected by religions of different kinds. Religion has been an integral component of humanity, as a way to search answers to existential questions that they might have as well as possibly giving a reason as to why the things they saw happen occur, mostly in older religions. Religion is used by people in power to govern the citizens of their nations on a basis of that religion, as a way to set the foundations of the rules and regulations that must be followed. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire during the classical ages of China and India, respectively, are examples of how their emperors used religion to exert control and shape their nation. The methods in
Next, the start of the two empires was completely different. The Ottoman Empire grew as they conquered other nations. The Ming Dynasty, on the other hand, started as a rebellion against the Mongols. The first ruler of the Ottomans, Osman I, was a ghazis, or an Islamic warrior, while Hongwu, the first Ming emperor, was a peasant who led a rebel army.
Although the Manchus in China and the Tokugawa in Japan during the 17th and 18th centuries consolidated power into a central authority differently, their reasons for doing so were relatively similar, both being due to a certain internal conflict and their location relative to other empires.
The first segment, Winter, archives the earliest years of the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1450. The social hierarchy of early Ming was based upon the ownership of land (Brook, p. 79). One way to describe the increasing power ...
During the early Ming Dynasty, China was one of the most economically and technologically advanced countries in the world. As Ebrey pointed out, “Europe was not yet a force in Asia and China continued to look at the outer world in traditional terms.” China was regarded as the center of Asia at the beginning of the 15th century and the idea of “Middle Kingdom” (Zhong guo) began to take off at that time. The early Ming Emperors were not interested in promoting commercial trade at all. Emperor Hongwu, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, implemented the Hai jin policy which forbade maritime shipping and private foreign trade outside of the tributary system (Ebrey, p. 209).
The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.
This book explains the historic of Japan in a different era. Beginning from the Japan’s early developmental years what it is today; Japan in the 21st century. There are breakdowns in this book that tells the story of the different periods in Japan too. Tokugawa Era was considered a critical period in Japan’s history as it helped Japan evolved to pre-war period and Japan’s 21st century. The main highlight of the book was in regards to Tokugawa Era as the author mainly focused on this critical period and there was elaborate research on this topic. Tokugawa Era was brought about by Tokugawa Ieyasu who was a military dictatorship and he helped achieve hegemony and stability over the entire country after the control and ruling of Japan for over 200 years since the 1600. The author was an Asian history professor and knows what he is writing and many years of research and effort have been placed in this book which is apparent. In conclusion, this book does provide relevant and sufficient research on this topic of interest.
Ancient Egypt and Ancient China often seem like polar opposites in almost every way. However, in one way, they are more similar than most people think. The beliefs of both of these civilizations were remarkably parallel, yet perplexingly different at the same time. Religion before 600 B.C.E. varied from society to society all around the globe, with just a few major religions taking hold in large areas. In both Egyptian and Chinese religions, they adhered to a polytheistic religion. Boths religions believed there were many gods who individually ruled over the many different parts of life, instead of one god ruling over all. Both Egyptian and Chinese cultures believed in life after death. Each one of these religions believed in some form of
The Age of Western Imperialism. Modern East Asia From 1600. Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. 295-367.
In the early fifth century due to the weak Sui dynasty (561-617). The Emperor taxed heavy on its citizens and forced them to build large monuments and buildings with little to no pay. Many people as a result of this hard labor died. Fed up with heavy taxation and forced labor, rebellions occurred trough out Sui China and put the emperor to its grave 618. That same year Li Yuan, who was a Sui Governor in a Chinese province, later became emperor Gaozu of Tang declared himself ruler of the new Tang Dynasty. During his eight year reign, he united parts of China, relaxed harsh laws and promoted trade. After his retirement his son Li Shimin became the next Emperor of the Tang. He was also known as Emperor Taizong. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, China flourished economically and militarily. After his death, China enjoyed prosperity and peace brought about the soil faction of imperial protection over the Chinese regions.1 Also for the first time in this time period , China had trade relations with Yamato Japan. China also had strong diplomatic relations with the western world for the first time. In 674 the Sassanid Persian royal house fled the advancing Arab army and arrived in the Tang capital, Chang’an. Which became the most populist city in the world at the time, with two million
The Tang Dynasty (618-906) succeeded the Sui Dynasty, who ruled from 581-618 A.D., respectively. The foundation for the development, growth, and expansion of China during the Tang Dynasty’s rule was laid during the Sui Dynasty’s reign. The political and governmental institutions of the Sui Dynasty directly influenced the Tang tremendously. Diplomatic relationships were successfully established during this period, and Tang China took its role as one of the greatest and prominent empires existing in the medieval world. Retail traders, clerics, ambassadors, and convoys from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and other countries emerged into common members of everyday society in Tang China.
The Chinese Empire was large and controlled most of Asia at one point in time. One of the dynasties that ruled the empire was the Ming Family. Ruling from 1368-1644, almost three hundred years, the Ming Dynasty impacted Chinese history very much.