Encounters in East Asia

European Trade With China• Portuguese traders reached China in 1514

European Trade With China• The Ming allowed the Portuguese to build a

trading post at Macao, near Canton.

European Trade With China• European goods were inferior to Chinese

products and the Chinese demanded payment in gold and silver.

European Trade With China• Trade was supervised by imperial officials and

Europeans had to sail away when the trading season ended.

Scholars and Missionaries

• A few Europeans, like Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, made a positive impression on Ming China

Scholars and Missionaries

• Ricci learned to speak Chinese and adopted

Chinese dress but had little

success spreading religion.

The Manchu Conquest• The Ming dynasty was failing and in 1644,

Manchu armies seized Beijing and made it their capital.

Qing Rule• The Manchu set up a new dynasty called the Qing

(“pure”) – two important rules were Kangxi and his grandson Qianlong.

Qing Rule• Kangxi ruled for 61 years and spread Chinese

power and culture into central Asia.

Qing Rule• Qianlong ruled for 60 years, expanded China's

borders, and ruled the largest area in China's history .

Prosperity• The Chinese economy grew, new crops from the

Americas boosted farm output, and the population boomed

Prosperity• Handicraft industries grew and European

demand for Chinese goods increased

Response to Westerners

• Restricting foreign trade proved

disastrous - in the 1800s China

learned about western advances

the hard way

Korea and Isolation• Like China, Korea restricted outside contacts in

the 1500s and 1600s and became known as the "Hermit Kingdom”

Korea and Isolation• A Japanese invasion in the 1590s devastated the

land of Korea

Korea and Isolation• In 1636, the Manchus conquered Korea and

Korea became a tributary state

Japan and Foreign Traders

• The Portuguese reached Japan in 1543, followed by

the Spanish, Dutch, and English

Japan and Foreign Traders

• At first, Japan was more open to

European missionaries like

Francis Xavier than China

Japan and Foreign Traders• The Tokugawa shoguns became hostile and saw

foreigners as agents of an invading force

Japan and Foreign Traders• They expelled missionaries and executed

thousands of Japanese Christians

Japan and Foreign Traders

• By 1638, the Tokugawas barred

all western merchants, forbid Japanese travel

abroad and outlawed the

building of large ships

Japan and Foreign Traders• They permitted just one or two Dutch ships a

year to trade at a small island in Nagasaki harbor

Japan and Foreign Traders• Japan maintained a policy of strict isolation until

it was forced to reopen contacts with the western world in 1853