HIST1083 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Hongwu Emperor, Zheng He, Kowtow
Document Summary
New chinese dynasty from 1368: ming. Dominant global force loyalty , conformity, order. Centralized control: gentry- wealthy landowners, study of confucian ideas, civil service, peasants- majority, farmers work the land, live in small villages, merchants- some become rich, from others work (lower status), buy land. Mandarins: responsibility in civil service, face of state. Confucianism: philosophy of life, respect for elders, tradition, fixed social order o, china. Middle kingdom (zhong guo: center of the world, everything revolved around their culture and country. Emperor, son of heaven : more respected. All expected to pay tribute: for foreigners. Trade with kingdom a privilege: granted to traveler non-chinese hierarchy, ethnic, non ethnic people were tolerated and had to pay taxes, foreigner were not interested. Admiral of imperial fleet under first ming emperor. Already known routes from trade but the scale and purpose of these journeys. Admiral zheng was a muslim in a buddhist/daoist empire. Mongol attacks force ming focus on land over sea.
