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An Age of Explorations
and Isolation, 1400–1800

Connect History and Geography

The 15th and 16th centuries were a time of exploration and

discovery for European nations. Taking advantage of new maritime
knowledge and inventions, European powers undertook sea
expeditions to expand their trade and influence. The map at the
right shows some voyages of exploration of the 1400s. Use the
map to help you answer the questions below.

1. What European power first sent an explorer to India?

2. How did the voyages of Dias and da Gama compare?
3. What Chinese explorer sailed as far as Africa?

For more information about about the age of

exploration and expansion . . .

[Link]

Westerners were not the only

ones to sail beyond their borders
during the 1400s. In 1405, the
Chinese navigator, Zheng He,
shown here, began exploring
India, Persia, Arabia, and Africa
for China.

Japan was ruled by the samurai

warrior class from the 12th century
until 1868. They tried to keep Japan
closed to the Europeans.

1405 1419 1494 Spain

Zheng He takes Prince Henry founds and Portugal sign
first voyage. navigation school. Treaty of Tordesillas.

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Early Explorations, 1400s

0° 30°E 60°E 90°E 120°E 150°E

Arctic Circle

60°N

ENGLAND NETHERLANDS

London Amsterdam
A S I A
ATLANTIC Paris E U R O P E
OCEAN FRANCE Venice

PORTUGAL Madrid Beijing

Lisbon SPAIN
Seville Me
Ceuta dite
Madeira rrane
an Se
a Nanjing
30°N
Canary 30°N
Cairo CHINA
Is.
Tropic of
Cancer
Mecca
A F R I C A Bombay
Cape
Verde Goa
Is.
Arabian
Sea Calicut

Mogadishu
0° Equator Malacca
0°
Malindi
Mombasa
Batavia
Kilwa INDIAN
OCEAN N
Mozambique

Sofala
Dias, 1487 - 1488
Tropic of Capricorn
da Gama, 1497 - 1498
Zheng He, 1405 - 1433

30°S
0 500 1000 Miles
ATLANTIC
Cape of 0 500 1000 Kilometers
OCEAN Good Hope Winkel II Projection

0° 30°E 60°E 90°E 120°E

1603 1619 1793

Tokugawa Dutch establish trade Britain seeks trade
shoguns rule Japan. headquarters in Java. opening with China.
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Interact with History

Claiming new lands
could bring glory and
prestige to your country.
I t is a gray and windy morning in 1430. You are standing on
a dock in the European country of Portugal staring out at
the dark and mysterious Atlantic Ocean. You, like most people
at the time, have no idea what lies beyond the horizon. Now
you may find out. You have been asked to go on a voyage of
exploration.
You’ve heard all the terrifying stories of sea monsters and
shipwrecks. You’ve heard the warnings that the currents along
parts of western Africa are “so terrible that no ship having once
passed . . . will ever be able to return.” You also have heard that
riches await those who help explore and claim new lands. Now,
as the captain calls for you to come aboard, you must decide.

Would you go?

The large hold of your ship could
carry back gold, jewels, and other
valuable items found in distant lands.

Raging waves could

destroy your ship and
leave you at the mercy
of the sea.

EXAMINING the ISSUES

• What possible rewards might Discuss these questions with your class-
come from exploring the seas mates. In your discussion, recall what
for new lands? you have learned about the lands beyond
• What are the risks involved in Europe and what they have to offer.
embarking on a voyage into As you read about the age of
the unknown? exploration and isolation, see what goals
prompted Europeans to explore and to
what extent they achieved these goals.

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TERMS & NAMES

1 Europeans •
•
•
Bartolomeu Dias
Prince Henry
Vasco da Gama

Explore the East • Treaty of

Tordesillas
• Dutch East India
Company
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Driven by the desire for wealth and European exploration was an important
Christian converts, Europeans began step toward the global interaction that
an age of exploration. characterizes the world today.

SETTING THE STAGE By the early 1400s, Europeans were ready to venture beyond
their borders. As Chapter 17 explained, the Renaissance encouraged, among other
things, a new spirit of adventure and curiosity. This spirit of adventure—along with
This globe depicts
several other important factors—prompted Europeans to explore the world around the Europeans’
them. This chapter and the next one describe how these explorations began a long view of the world
process that would bring together the peoples of many different lands and perma- around 1492. Europe
and Africa, shown
nently change the world.
here, were the
lands Europeans
Many Factors Encourage Exploration had explored most
by that time.
Europeans had not been completely isolated from the rest of the world before
the 1400s. Beginning around 1100, European crusaders battled Muslims for
control of the Holy Lands in Southwest Asia. In 1275, the Italian trader
Marco Polo reached the court of Kublai Khan in China. For the most
part, however, Europeans had neither the interest nor the ability to
explore foreign lands. That changed by the early 1400s. The desire to
grow rich and to spread Christianity, coupled with advances in sailing
technology, spurred an age of European exploration.
Europeans Seek Greater Wealth The desire for new sources
of wealth was the main reason for European exploration. Through
overseas exploration, merchants and traders hoped ultimately to benefit
from what had become a profitable business in Europe: the trade of spices
and other luxury goods from Asia. The people of Europe had been introduced
to these items during the Crusades, the wars fought between Christians and
Muslims from 1096 to 1270 (see Chapter 14). After the Crusades ended,
Europeans continued to demand such spices as nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and
pepper—all of which added flavor to the bland foods of Europe. Because demand
for these goods was greater than the supply, merchants could charge high prices
A. Possible Answer
The Italians controlled and thus make great profits.
the trade and charged The Muslims and Italians controlled the trade of goods from East to West. Muslims
them high prices for sold Asian goods to Italian merchants, who controlled trade across the land routes
the trade goods.
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
of the Mediterranean region. The Italian merchants resold the items at
A. Analyzing Issues increased prices to merchants throughout Europe. Other European traders did
Why did many not like this arrangement. Paying such high prices to the Italians severely cut
European merchants
into their own profits. By the 1400s, European merchants—as well as the new
dislike the way goods
were traded from monarchs of England, Spain, Portugal, and France—sought to bypass the
East to West? Italian merchants. This meant finding a sea route directly to Asia.
The Spread of Christianity The desire to spread Christianity also fueled
European exploration. Aside from leaving Europeans with a taste for spices, the
Crusades left feelings of hostility between Christians and Muslims. European
nations believed that they had a sacred duty not only to continue fighting
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Muslims, but also to convert non-Christians throughout the world.

Europeans hoped to obtain popular goods directly from the peoples of Asia. They
also hoped to Christianize them. Bartolomeu Dias, an early Portuguese explorer,
explained his motives: “to serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were
in darkness and to grow rich as all men desire to do.”
Technological Advances While “God, glory, and gold” were the primary motives
for exploration, advances in technology made the voyages of discovery possible. During THINK THROUGH HISTORY
the 1200s, it would have been nearly impossible for a European sea captain to cross B. Summarizing
3,000 miles of ocean and return again. The main problem was that European ships How does the phrase,
“God, glory, and gold”
could not sail against the wind. In the 1400s, shipbuilders designed a new vessel—the
summarize the
caravel. The caravel was sturdier than earlier vessels. In addition, its triangular sails Europeans’ motives
allowed it to sail effectively against the wind. for exploration?
Europeans also improved their navigational techniques. To better determine their B. Possible Answer
European explorers
location on the sea, sailors used the astrolabe, which the Muslims had perfected. The wanted to spread
astrolabe was a brass circle with carefully adjusted rings marked off in degrees. Using Christianity, bring
the rings to sight the stars, a sea captain could tell how far north or south of the equa- fame and prestige to
themselves and their
tor he was. Explorers were also able to more accurately track their direction by using country, and enrich
a magnetic compass invented by the Chinese. themselves.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■HISTORY ■ ■ ■ ■ Portugal
■ ■ ■ ■MAKERS Leads the Way
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
The leader in developing and applying these sailing innovations was
Portugal. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the southwest corner of
Europe, Portugal first established trading outposts along the west
coast of Africa. Eventually, Portuguese explorers pushed farther east
into the Indian Ocean.
The Portuguese Explore Africa Portugal took the lead in overseas
exploration in part due to strong government support. The nation’s
most enthusiastic supporter of exploration was Prince Henry, the son
of Portugal’s king. Henry’s dreams of overseas exploration began in
1415 when he helped conquer the Muslim city of Ceuta in North
Africa. There, he had his first glimpse of the dazzling wealth that lay
Prince Henry beyond Europe. Throughout Ceuta, the Portuguese invaders found
1394–1460 exotic stores filled with pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices.
For his role in promoting Portu-
In addition, they encountered large supplies of gold, silver, and jewels.
guese exploration, Prince Henry is
often called Henry the Navigator. Henry returned to Portugal determined to reach the source of
Historians paint Henry as a quiet these treasures in the East. The prince also wished to spread the
and extremely driven man. So Christian faith. In 1419, Henry founded a navigation school on the
consumed was he by the quest to southwestern coast of Portugal. Map makers, instrument makers,
find new lands, that he reportedly
shunned female companionship. shipbuilders, scientists, and sea captains gathered there to perfect
Throughout his life, Henry their trade.
supposedly showed little emotion. It Within several years, Portuguese ships began creeping down
was said that no one ever saw him the western coast of Africa. By the time Henry died in 1460, the
lose his temper. When angry with
someone, Henry allegedly just Portuguese had established a series of trading posts along the shores
waved them from his presence, of Africa. There, they traded with Africans for such profitable items
uttering, “I commend you to God, as gold and ivory. Eventually, they traded for African captives to be
may you be fortunate.” While some used as slaves. Having established their presence along Africa’s west-
considered him to be cold and
distant, others insisted that the
ern coast, Portuguese explorers plotted their next daring move. They
prince had a sensitive side. One would find a sea route to Asia.
writer claimed that upon learning of
the death of a friend, Henry wept Portuguese Sailors Reach Asia The Portuguese believed that to
nonstop for several days. reach Asia by sea, they would have to sail around the southern tip of
Africa. In 1488, Portuguese captain Bartolomeu Dias ventured

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&
FS EC AI ETNUCREE T I TT ELCEH N O L O G Y

The Tools of Exploration

Out on the open seas, winds easily blew ships off course. With only the sun,
moon, and stars to guide them, few sailors willingly ventured beyond the sight of
land. In order to travel to distant parts of the world, European inventors and sailors
experimented with new tools for navigation and new designs for sailing ships.

The triangular sails allowed

the caravel to sail effectively
against the wind. With these
sails the ship could tack (sail on
a zigzag course) more directly
into the wind than could a
square-rigged ship.

Here, a naval officer uses a sextant, which

replaced the astrolabe in measuring the
height of the stars above the horizon.

The improved
rudder allowed
the caravel to
turn more easily.

Connect to History
The large cargo area was capable of
carrying the numerous supplies
Analyzing Motives Why did
needed for long voyages. inventors and sailors develop
better tools for navigation?
SEE SKILLBUILDER
HANDBOOK, PAGE R5

This 16th century Italian compass (with its lid beside it)
Connect to Today
is typical of those taken by navigators on the great Modern Sailing Investigate
voyages of exploration. The compass was invented what types of navigational or other
by the Chinese. tools modern sailors use. Choose
one tool and write a brief explana-
tion of what it does. Be prepared
to present your report to the class.

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farther down the coast of Africa until he reached the tip. As he Background
Daily Life arrived, a huge storm rose and battered his fleet for days. When the Dias named Africa’s
southern tip the Cape
A Rough Trip
storm ended, Dias realized his ships had been blown around the tip of Storms. However,
Life aboard a ship during the age of to the other side. Dias explored the southeast coast of Africa and then Portugal’s ruler was
so pleased with the
exploration was no pleasure cruise. considered sailing to India. However, his crew was exhausted and
explorer’s journey,
With no refrigeration system, foods food supplies were low. As a result, the captain returned home. that he renamed it the
such as fruits, vegetables, and With the tip of Africa finally rounded, the Portuguese continued Cape of Good Hope.
meats quickly rotted. For nourish-
ment, sailors often had to rely on a
pushing east. In 1498, their explorer Vasco da Gama reached the
rock-hard, bland-tasting biscuit, port of Calicut, on the southwestern coast of India. Da Gama and his
known as hardtack. crew were amazed by the spices, the rare silks, and the precious gems
In addition, swift and brutal that filled Calicut’s shops. The Portuguese sailors filled their ships with
punishment often awaited those
who broke the ship’s rules. The
such spices as pepper and cinnamon and returned to Portugal in 1499.
most common punishment was with The Portuguese gave da Gama a hero’s welcome. His remarkable voy-
the “cat-o’-nine-tails,” a whip made age of 27,000 miles had given Portugal a direct sea route to India.
of nine knotted cords (shown here).
The sailor was tied down and Spanish Claims Before da Gama’s historic voyage, as the
repeatedly struck on his bare back. Portuguese established trading posts along the west coast of Africa,
Spain watched with increasing envy. The Spanish monarchs also
desired a direct sea route to Asia.
In 1492, an Italian sea captain, Christopher Columbus, convinced Spain to
finance a bold plan: finding a route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean.
In October of that year, Columbus reached an island in the Caribbean. His voyage
would open the way for European colonization of the Americas—a process that would
forever change the world. The immediate impact of Columbus’s voyage, however, was
to increase tensions between Spain and Portugal.
Columbus thought that he had indeed reached Asia. Believing him to be right,
Portugal suspected that Columbus had claimed for Spain lands that Portuguese sailors
might have reached first. The rivalry between Spain and Portugal grew more tense.
In 1493, Pope Alexander VI stepped in to keep peace between the two nations. He
suggested an imaginary dividing line, drawn north to south, through the Atlantic
Ocean. All lands to the west of the line, known as the Line of Demarcation, would
be Spain’s. All lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.
Portugal complained that the line gave too much to Spain. So it was moved farther
west to include parts of modern-day Brazil for the Portuguese. In 1494, Spain and
Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, in which they agreed to honor the line. THINK THROUGH HISTORY
The era of exploration and colonization was about to begin in earnest. C. Analyzing Issues
How did the Treaty of
Tordesillas ease ten-
Trading Empires in the Indian Ocean sions between Spain
and Portugal?
With da Gama’s voyage, Europeans had finally opened direct sea trade with Asia. C. Possible Answer
They also opened an era of violent conflict in the East. European nations scrambled It appeased both
to establish profitable trading outposts along the shores of South and Southeast Asia. nations by granting
them their own terri-
And all the while they battled the region’s inhabitants, as well as each other.
tories to colonize.
Portugal’s Trading Empire In the years following da Gama’s voyage, Portugal built
a bustling trading empire throughout the Indian Ocean. As they moved into the region,
they took control of the spice trade from Muslim merchants. In 1509, Portugal extended
its control over the area when it defeated a Muslim fleet off the coast of India.
Portugal strengthened its hold on the region by building a fort at Hormuz in 1514.
Background
It established control of the Straits of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf and Indonesia is the fourth
Arabian Sea, and helped stop Muslim traders from reaching India. most populous
In 1510, the Portuguese captured Goa, a port city on India’s west coast. They country in the world.
made it the capital of their trading empire. They then sailed farther east to It consists of some
13,670 islands, but
Indonesia, also known as the East Indies. In 1511, a Portuguese fleet attacked the only about 7,000 are
city of Malacca on the west coast of the Malay peninsula. In capturing the town, the inhabited.

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Portuguese seized control of the Strait of Malacca. Seizing this waterway gave them
control of the Moluccas. These were islands so rich in spices that they became known
as the Spice Islands.
In convincing his crew to attack Malacca, Portuguese sea captain Afonso de
Albuquerque stressed his country’s intense desire to crush the Muslim-Italian
domination over Asian trade:
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
. . . If we deprive them [Muslims] of this their ancient market there, there does not
remain for them a single port in the whole of these parts, where they can carry on their
trade in these things. . . . I hold it as very certain that if we take this trade of Malacca
away out of their hands, Cairo and Mecca are entirely ruined, and to Venice will no
spiceries . . . [be] . . . conveyed except that which her merchants go and buy in Portugal.
D. Possible Answer AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE, from The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalbuquerque
It brought down the
prices of many Asian
goods, so more
Portugal did indeed break the old trade network from the East—much to the
Europeans could delight of European consumers. Portuguese merchants brought back goods from Asia
afford them. at about a fifth of what they cost when purchased through the Arabs and Italians.
THINK THROUGH HISTORY As a result, more Europeans could afford these items.
D. Recognizing
Effects How did the In time, Portugal’s success in Asia attracted the attention of other European
European domination nations. As early as 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived in
of the Indian Ocean the Philippines. Spain claimed the islands and began settling them in 1565. By the
trade eventually
impact Europeans early 1600s, the rest of Europe had begun descending upon Asia. They were looking
back home? to establish their own trade empires in the East.
Other Nations Drive Out the Portuguese Beginning around 1600, the English
and Dutch began to challenge Portugal’s dominance over the Indian Ocean trade. The
Dutch Republic is also known as the Netherlands. It is a small country situated along
0°

40°E

Europeans in the East, 1700

ENGLAND
Amsterdam
80°E

120°E

London 160°E
NETHERLANDS

160°W
Paris E U R O P E
FRANCE
PORTUGAL A S I A
European nations
40°N Lisbon SPAIN Beijing and territories
Seville OTTOMAN
Azores EMPIRE JAPAN Dutch
Medi
Melilla terranean English
Madeira Sea Kyoto
Ceuta Persian CHINA Nagasaki French
Delhi
Gulf Hormuz Portuguese
Canary Is.
INDIA Calcutta Guangzhou FORMOSA Spanish
Tropic of Cancer (TAIWAN)
ARABIAN Diu Daman European
PENINSULA Macao
St. Louis Bombay trading posts
PACIFIC
PH

A F R I C A Dutch
Goree Is. Arabian Goa
ILIP

Cape Madras
Gambia Calicut Manila OCEAN English
PIN

Verde Is. GOLD Sea Pondicherry

COAST Cochin French
ES

SRI
MALAYA Portuguese
Columbo LANKA
Strait of Malacca Spanish
Fernando Po Malacca MOLUCCAS
0° Equator SUMATRA BORNEO (SPICE IS.) Dias' route,
Mombasa Aug. 1487– Feb.1488
EAST INDIES NEW
JAVA GUINEA Da Gama's route,
ATLANTIC
Luanda Kilwa INDIAN Batavia
July 1497–May 1498
TIMOR
ANGOLA OCEAN
OCEAN
Mozambique MADAGASCAR
Mauritius
Bourbon G E O G R A P H Y S K I L L B U I L D E R : Interpreting Maps
Tropic of Capricorn (Réunion) 1. Place Why would a fort at Hormuz help the Portuguese to stop
Ft. Dauphine
Cape
trade between Arabia and India?
Town 2. Region Where was the Dutch influence the greatest?
Cape of
Good Hope
0 2,000 Miles
40°S 467
0 4,000 Kilometers
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the North Sea in northwestern Europe. Since the early 1500s, Spain had ruled this
area. In 1581, the people of the region declared their independence from Spain and
established the Dutch Republic.
In a short time, the Netherlands became a leading sea power. By 1600, the Dutch
owned the largest fleet of ships in the world—20,000 vessels. Together, the English and
Dutch broke Portuguese control of the Asian region. The two nations then battled one
another for dominance of the area. Each nation had formed an East India Company to
establish and direct trade throughout Asia. These companies had the power to mint THINK THROUGH HISTORY
money, make treaties, and even raise their own armies. The Dutch East India E. Analyzing Issues
How were the Dutch
Company was richer and more powerful than England’s company. As a result, the Dutch able to dominate the
eventually drove out the English and established their dominance over the region. Indian Ocean trade?
E. Possible Answer
European Trade Outposts In 1619, the Dutch established their The Dutch, with the
CONNECT to TODAY trading headquarters at Batavia on the island of Java. From there they largest fleet of ships
in the world, were a
expanded west to conquer several nearby islands. In addition, the
The Dutch in South Africa great naval power;
Dutch seized both the port of Malacca and the valuable Spice Islands also the Dutch East
Since colonizing the Cape of Good from Portugal. Throughout the 1600s, the Netherlands increased its India Company was
Hope, the Dutch have retained a richer and more pow-
powerful and controversial presence control over the Indian Ocean trade. With so many goods from the
erful than England’s
in South Africa. Dutch settlers, East traveling to the Netherlands, the nation’s capital, Amsterdam, company.
known as Boers, continually battled became a leading commercial center. By 1700, the Dutch ruled much
the British after Great Britain seized of Indonesia and had trading posts in numerous Asian countries. They
the region in 1806.
The Boers, who now call also controlled the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa.
themselves Afrikaners, gained some By this time, however, Britain and France had gained a foothold
control in 1924. They began in the region. Having failed to gain control of the larger area, the
restricting the rights of the nation’s English East India Company focused much of its energy on estab-
mostly nonwhite population. In 1948,
the Afrikaners took control of the
lishing outposts in India. There, the English built up a successful
government. They established business trading fine cloth on the European market. In 1664, France
apartheid, a legal system of severe also entered the Asia trade with its own East India Company. The
discrimination. company struggled at first, as it faced continual attacks by the Dutch.
During the 1990s, the govern- F. Possible Answer
ment began repealing its apartheid
The French company finally established an outpost in India in the
It did not greatly
laws, as it finally agreed to share 1720s. However, it never showed a strong profit. affect them, for
power with the Africans. As the Europeans battled for a share of the profitable Indian European influence
Ocean trade, their influence in inland Southeast Asia remained did not spread much
beyond the port cities
relatively limited. European traders did gain control of numerous port cities through- of the East.
out the region. However, their influence rarely spread beyond the ports into the coun- THINK THROUGH HISTORY
tries’ interiors. From 1500 to about 1800—when Europeans began to conquer much of F. Recognizing
the region—the peoples of Asia remained largely unaffected by European contact. As Effects How did the
arrival of Europeans
the next two sections explain, European traders who sailed farther east to seek riches affect the peoples of
in China and Japan had even less success in spreading Western culture. the East in general?

Section 1 Assessment
1. TERMS & NAMES 2. TAKING NOTES 3. MAKING INFERENCES 4. ANALYZING THEMES
Identify Trace the establishment of What did the Treaty of Tordesillas Science and Technology In
• Bartolomeu Dias Portugal’s trading empire in the reveal about Europeans’ attitudes what ways did Europeans owe
• Prince Henry Indian Ocean by supplying the toward non-European lands and some of their sailing technology to
• Vasco da Gama significant event for each date peoples? other peoples of the world?
• Treaty of Tordesillas shown on the time line below. THINK ABOUT THINK ABOUT
• Dutch East India • the dispute between the • the astrolabe
Company 1419 1498
Portuguese and Spanish • the compass
• how the treaty settled the dispute
1488 1511

Write the lead paragraph for a

news story about one of the time
line events.
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TERMS & NAMES

2 China Rejects •
•
•
Ming Dynasty
Hongwu
Yonglo

European Outreach •
•
•
Zheng He
Manchus
Qing Dynasty
• Kangxi
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Advances under the Ming and Qing China’s independence from the West
dynasties left China self-contained and continues today, even as it forges new
uninterested in European contact. economic ties with the outside world.

SETTING THE STAGE Europeans made healthy profits in the Indian Ocean trade.
Looking for additional sources of wealth, they sought a trading relationship with China.
By the time westerners arrived in the 1500s, China had driven out its Mongol
rulers and had united under the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty

By the time the first Portuguese ships dropped anchor off the Chinese coast
in 1514, China had become the dominant power in the region under the rule
Vocabulary of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). In recognition of China’s power, vassal
vassal states: coun- states from Korea to Southeast Asia paid their Ming overlords regular tribute,
tries that recognize a payment by one nation to another to acknowledge its submission. China
the overlordship, or
domination, of
expected the Europeans to do the same. The Ming rulers would not allow out-
another country. siders from distant lands to threaten the peace and prosperity they had
brought to China following the end of Mongol rule.
The Rise of the Ming Hongwu, the son of a peasant, commanded the
rebel army that drove the Mongols out of China in 1368. That same year
he became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Hongwu continued to
rule from the former Yuan capital of Nanjing in the south. He began
reforms designed to restore agricultural lands devastated by war, erase all
traces of the Mongol past, and promote China’s power and prosperity.
Hongwu’s agricultural reforms increased rice production and improved
Background irrigation. He also encouraged the introduction of fish farming and the
Confucianism
stressed social order, growing of commercial crops, such as cotton and sugar cane.
harmony, and good The first Ming emperor used respected traditions and institutions to bring
government through stability to China. For example, he encouraged a return to Confucian moral
education, strong
family relationships,
standards. He improved imperial administration by restoring the merit-based
and respect for elders. civil service examination system. Later in his rule, however, when problems began to This blue and white
Vocabulary develop, Hongwu became a ruthless tyrant. Suspecting plots against his rule everywhere, porcelain vase,
purges: ways of he conducted purges in which many thousands of government officials were killed. with its finely
ridding a nation, or detailed pattern, is
Hongwu’s death in 1398 led to a power struggle. His son Yonglo (yung lu) emerged
•
from the Ming
political party, of
people considered
victorious from this struggle. Yonglo continued many of his father’s policies, although Dynasty. Ming
undesirable. he moved the royal court to Beijing. In addition, Yonglo had a far-ranging curiosity porcelain is
considered to be
about the outside world. In 1405—before Europeans began to sail beyond their bor-
one of the culture’s
ders—he launched the first of seven voyages of exploration. All were led by a Chinese most famous
Muslim admiral named Zheng He (jung huh). achievements.

The Voyages of Zheng He Zheng He’s expeditions were remarkable for their
magnitude. Everything about them was large—distances traveled, size of the fleet,
and measurements of the ships themselves. The earliest voyages were to Southeast
Asia and India. Later expeditions roamed as far as Arabia and eastern Africa.

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Yonglo hoped to impress the world with the power and splendor of Ming China
and also hoped to expand China’s tribute system. Zheng He’s voyages accomplished
these goals. From about 40 to 300 ships sailed in each expedition. Among them were
fighting ships, storage vessels, and huge “treasure” ships up to 440 feet long. The
fleet’s crews numbered over 27,000 on some voyages. They included sailors, soldiers,
carpenters, interpreters, accountants, doctors, and religious leaders. Like some huge
floating city, the fleet sailed from port to port along the Indian Ocean.
Everywhere Zheng He went, he distributed gifts, such as gold, silver, silk, and
scented oils, to show Chinese superiority. As a result, more than 16 countries sent Vocabulary
tribute to the Ming court. Many envoys traveled to China. Still, Chinese scholar-officials envoys: government
complained that these voyages wasted valuable resources. After the seventh voyage representatives sent
to a foreign country.
ended in 1433, there were no more. China withdrew into its self-sufficient isolation.
Ming Relations with Foreign Countries China’s official trade policies in the THINK THROUGH HISTORY
A. Making
1500s reflected its isolation. To keep the influence of outsiders to a minimum, only Inferences What do
the government was to conduct foreign trade, through three coastal ports. In reality, you think the people
trade flourished up and down the coast. Profit-minded Chinese merchants smuggled of other countries
thought about China
cargoes of silk, porcelain, and other valuable goods out of the country into the eager
when they were vis-
hands of European merchants. Usually, Europeans paid for their purchases with sil- ited on one of Zheng
ver—much of it from mines in the Americas. He’s voyages?
Demand for Chinese goods had a ripple effect on the economy. Industries such as silk A. Possible Answer
That China must be
making and ceramics grew rapidly. Manufacturing and commerce increased. However, very powerful to send
China did not become highly industrialized for two main reasons. First, the whole idea of so many ships, men,
commerce offended China’s Confucian beliefs. Merchants, it was said, and goods on such a

S POTLIGHT N O made their money “supporting foreigners and robbery.” Second, Chinese voyage and, therefore,
they should pay
economic policies traditionally favored agriculture. Taxes on agriculture tribute.
The Forbidden City stayed low. Taxes on manufacturing and trade skyrocketed.
A stunning monument to China’s Accompanying European traders into China were Christian
isolationism was an extravagant
palace complex at the capital city,
missionaries. The missionaries brought Christianity as well as a
Beijing. It was built by emperor variety of European inventions, including the clock and the prism.
Yonglo between 1404 and 1420. The The first missionary to have an impact was an Italian Jesuit, Matteo
palace was known as the Forbidden Ricci. He gained special favor at the Ming court through his
City because all commoners and
intelligence and his ability to speak and write Chinese. However,
foreigners were forbidden to enter
without special permission. Inside many educated Chinese opposed Christianity.
the complex’s 35-foot-tall red walls,
the emperors of China conducted
the business of state and lived in
luxury and isolation.
Only the emperor, his family, and
his court lived in the palace—which
contained 9,000 rooms. Maintaining
such a splendid palace city was
expensive. For example, every day
some 6,000 cooks made meals for
10,000 to 15,000 people. In 1949, the
palace complex was converted into
a museum and opened to the public.
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The Qing Dynasty

By 1600, the Ming had ruled for more than 200 years, and the dynasty was weaken-
ing. Its problems grew—ineffective rulers, corrupt officials, and a government out of
money. Higher taxes and bad harvests pushed millions of peasants toward starvation.
Civil strife and rebellion followed.
Beyond the northeast end of the Great Wall lay Manchuria. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■HISTORY
■ ■ ■ ■MAKERS
■ ■ ■ ■
In 1644, the Manchus (MAN chooz), the people of that region,
•
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
invaded China. The Ming could not repel the invasion, and the
dynasty collapsed. The Manchus took over Beijing, and the Manchu
leader became China’s new emperor. As the Mongols had done, the
Manchus took a Chinese name for their dynasty, the Qing (chihng)
Dynasty. They would rule China for more than 260 years and bring
Taiwan, Chinese Central Asia, Mongolia, and Tibet into China.
China Under the Qing Dynasty Many Chinese resisted rule by
the non-Chinese Manchus. Rebellions flared up periodically for
decades. The Manchus forced Chinese men to wear their hair in a
pigtail as a sign of submission to their rule. The Manchus, however,
THINK THROUGH HISTORY slowly earned the people’s respect. They upheld China’s traditional
B. Summarizing Confucian beliefs and social structures. They made the country’s
How did the Manchus
earn the respect of frontiers safe and restored China’s prosperity. Two powerful Manchu
the Chinese? rulers contributed greatly to the acceptance of the new dynasty.
B. Possible Answer The first, Kangxi (kahng shee), became emperor in 1661 and
• Kangxi
They upheld China’s 1654–1722
traditional Confucian
ruled for some 60 years. Kangxi reduced government expenses and
lowered taxes. A scholar and patron of the arts, Kangxi gained the The emperor Kangxi had too much
beliefs and social
curiosity to remain isolated in the
structures, secured the support of Chinese intellectuals by offering them government Forbidden City. To calm the Chinese
country’s frontiers, and
restored its prosperity.
positions. He also enjoyed the company of the Jesuits at court. They in areas devastated by the Manchu
informed him of the latest developments in science, medicine, and conquest, Kangxi set out on a
mathematics in Europe. series of “tours.”
Under Kangxi’s grandson Qian-long (chyahn lung), who ruled
•
On tours I learned about the
common people’s grievances by
from 1736 to 1795, China reached its greatest size and prosperity. talking with them. . . . I asked
An industrious emperor like his grandfather, Qian-long often rose peasants about their officials,
at dawn to work on the problems of the empire. Those problems looked at their houses, and
included armed nomads on its borders, Christian missionaries, and discussed their crops.
European merchants. In 1696, with Mongols
threatening the northern border,
Manchus Continue a Policy of Isolation To the Chinese, their Kangxi exhibited the kind of
country—the Middle Kingdom—had been the cultural center of the leadership unheard of in later Ming
times. Instead of waiting in the
universe for two thousand years. If foreign states wished to trade palace for news from the front, he
with China, they would have to follow Chinese rules. These included personally led 80,000 troops to
trading only at special ports and paying tribute. victory over the Mongols.
The Dutch, masters of the Indian Ocean trade by the time of
Qian-long, accepted these restrictions. Their diplomats paid tribute to China’s
emperor through gifts and by performing the required “kowtow” ritual. This
ritual involved their kneeling in front of the emperor and touching their heads to
the ground nine times. As a result, the Chinese accepted the Dutch as trading
partners. The Dutch returned home with traditional porcelains and silk, as well
Background as China’s highly prized new trade item—tea. By 1800, tea would make up 80
Tea was first known percent of shipments to Europe.
in China around
2700 B.C. as a
Great Britain also wanted to increase trade with China. However, the British did
medicine. It did not like China’s trade restrictions. In 1793, a British mission led by Lord George
not become a daily Macartney delivered a letter from King George III to Qian-long. The letter asked for
drink until the third
century A.D.
a better trade arrangement, including Chinese acceptance of British manufactured
goods. Macartney refused to kowtow to the emperor, although he reportedly bowed

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on one knee. Qian-long denied Britain’s request. As Qian-long made clear in a letter THINK THROUGH HISTORY
to the British king, China was self-sufficient: C. Making
Inferences Why do
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T you think the kowtow
ritual was so impor-
. . . There is nothing we lack, as your principal envoy and others have themselves
tant to the Chinese
observed. We have never set much store on strange or ingenious objects, nor do we emperor?
need any more of your country’s manufactures. C. Possible Answer
QIAN-LONG, from a letter to King George III of Great Britain It reaffirmed for him
the Chinese belief that
In the 1800s, the British, Dutch, and others would attempt to chip away at China’s their culture was vastly
superior to others.
trade restrictions until the empire itself began to crack, as Chapter 28 will describe.
Korea Under the Manchus In 1636, even before they came to
CONNECT to TODAY power in China, the Manchus conquered nearby Korea and made it
a vassal state. As a member of the Chinese tribute system, Korea had
North Korea:
The Hermit Kingdom long existed in China’s shadow. Koreans organized their government
In the 17th and 18th centuries, according to Confucian principles. They adopted China’s technology,
Korea’s strict isolation from the its culture, and especially its policy of isolation.
outside world caused it to be When the Manchus established the Qing Dynasty, Korea’s
described as “the hermit kingdom.”
In the 1990s, this description can
political relationship with China did not change. If anything, it grew
still be applied to communist North stronger. Under the Manchus, Korea was China’s “little brother.”
Korea. Closed to outsiders, North Below the surface, however, Korea did change. The Manchu invasion,
Korea has very little contact with combined with a Japanese attack in the 1590s, provoked strong
other nations, even South Korea.
feelings of nationalism in the Korean people. This sentiment was
China is still its only real ally.
most evident in their art. Instead of traditional Chinese subjects,
many artists chose to explore popular Korean themes. Painters, for
example, depicted Korean wrestling matches. They painted Korean peasants tending
their fields and landscapes of the Korean countryside.

Daily Life in Ming and Qing China

The Chinese devotion to agriculture began to pay off during the late Ming and early
Qing dynasties. Greater rice production, along with the general peace and prosperity
of the 1600s and 1700s, ushered in a better life for most Chinese. During this period,
the population also doubled. It reached more than 300 million in 1800.

The Growth of Early Modern China

A Population Boom
500

400
Population (in millions)

300

200

This detail from Zhang Zeduan’s painting, Going Up-River

100
1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 at the Qing Ming Festival, reflects the growth of urban life
under the Ming and Qing.

S K I L L B U I L D E R : Interpreting Graphs
1. By roughly what percentage did China’s population increase between 1650 and 1900?
2. How might the growth of population, towns, and culture be related?

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Family and the Role of Women Most Chinese families farmed the land. They
farmed in much the same way as their ancestors had for thousands of years. During the
Qing Dynasty, irrigation and the use of fertilizer increased. Farmers began to grow new
crops. These crops, such as corn and sweet potatoes, had been brought by the Europeans
from the Americas. With increased food production, nutrition and diet improved. Such
changes encouraged families to expand, and a population explosion followed.
These expanded Chinese families favored sons over daughters. Only a son was
allowed to carry on vital religious rituals. A son would raise his own family under his
parents’ roof, assuring aging parents of help with the farming. Because of this, females
were not valued, and many female infants were killed as a result. Men dominated the
household and their wives, but women did have some significant responsibilities.
Besides working in the fields, they supervised the children’s education and managed Under the Ming
Vocabulary the family’s finances. Although most women were forced to remain secluded in their and Qing, the
midwives: women homes, some found outside jobs as midwives or textile workers, for example. arts, including
who are trained to Still, women generally suffered as a result of their inferior status in Chinese society. One painting, flourish-
assist expectant ed. This detail,
mothers in childbirth. glaring example was the continuation of the traditional practice of foot-binding. One-half to
from one of two
two-thirds of all Chinese women in this period may have undergone this painful procedure, paintings entitled
which left them barely able to walk. The practice continued into the 20th century. Occupations of
the Court Ladies,
Cultural Developments The culture of early modern China was based mainly on shows society’s
traditional forms. It was a conservative reaction to changes in Chinese life. These privileged
changes included the Manchu conquest, the coming of the Europeans, and the women relaxing.
population growth. The great masterpiece of traditional Chinese fiction
was written during this period. Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao
Zhan examines upper-class Manchu society in the 1700s. It has
been praised for the sensitive portrayal of its female characters.
Most artists of the time painted in traditional styles, which
valued technique over creativity. In pottery, technical skill as
well as experimentation led to the production of high-qual-
ity ceramics, including porcelain.
D. Possible Answer Drama was a popular entertainment, especially in rural
Produced little creativ-
ity but provided sense
China, where literacy rates were low. Plays that presented
of stability in time of Chinese history and portrayed cultural heroes served two
change and helped to purposes. They entertained people, and they also helped
unify Chinese society.
unify Chinese society by creating a kind of national culture.
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
D. Recognizing While China was attempting to preserve its traditions and
Effects What were its isolation, another civilization that developed in relative seclu-
the consequences of sion—the Japanese—was in conflict. As you will learn in Section 3,
the emphasis on tradi-
tion in the culture of it faced problems caused both by internal power struggles and by the
early modern China? arrival of foreigners.

Section 2 Assessment
1. TERMS & NAMES 2. TAKING NOTES 3. MAKING DECISIONS 4. THEME ACTIVITY
Identify Complete a chart like the one When Qian-long expected Lord Cultural Interaction Work in
• Ming Dynasty below, listing five relevant facts George Macartney to kowtow, small groups to draw, paint, or
• Hongwu about each emperor. what do you think Macartney sketch a mural of a Zheng He
• Yonglo should have done? Why? expedition. Include the figures,
• Zheng He Emperor Relevant Facts objects, maps, and symbols
Hongwu THINK ABOUT
• Manchus • cultural differences necessary to convey relevant
• Qing Dynasty Yonglo information from the text. Use the
Kangxi • effect on trading
• Kangxi • the kowtow ritual pictures and maps in this chapter
Qian-long for additional ideas. Present the
• political correctness
Choose one emperor and write a mural to your class.
one-paragraph biography using
the information listed in the chart
and text.
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TERMS & NAMES

3 Japan Limits • daimyo
• Oda Nobunaga
• Toyotomi

Western Contacts Hideyoshi

• Tokugawa
Shogunate
• kabuki
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW • haiku
The Tokugawa regime unified Japan Even now, Japan continues to limit and
and began a 200-year period of isolation, control dealings with foreigners,
autocracy, and economic growth. especially in the area of trade.

SETTING THE STAGE In the 1300s, the unity that had been achieved in Japan in the
previous century broke down. Shoguns, or military leaders, in the north and south
fought for power. Although these two rival courts came back together at the end of
the century, a series of politically weak shoguns let control of the country slip from
their grasp.

Strong Leaders Take Control

In 1467, civil war shattered Japan’s feudal system. The country collapsed into chaos.
Centralized rule ended. Power drained away from the shogun to territorial lords in Vocabulary
hundreds of separate domains. domains: the lands
belonging to a single
This samurai armor
Local Lords Rule A violent era of disorder followed. This time in Japanese history, lord.
consists of leather
and iron plates. It which lasted from 1467 to 1568, is known as the Sengoku, or “Warring States,” period.
was made in 1714 Powerful samurai seized control of old feudal estates. They offered peasants and
for the Lord of others protection in return for their loyalty. These warrior-chieftains, called daimyo
Akita, a region in
northwest Japan. (DYE mee oh), became lords in a new kind of Japanese feudalism. Under this
• •

system, security came from this group of powerful warlords. The emperor at Kyoto Vocabulary
became a figurehead. figurehead: a person
The new Japanese feudalism resembled European feudalism in many ways. The holding a position of
seeming leadership
daimyo built fortified castles and created small armies of samurai on horses. Later but having no real
they added foot soldiers with muskets (guns) to their ranks. Rival daimyo often power.
fought each other for territory. This led to endless disorder throughout the land.
New Leaders Restore Order A number of ambitious daimyo hoped to
gather enough power to take control of the entire country. One of them, the
brutal and ambitious Oda Nobunaga (oh dah noh boo nah gah), defeated
• • • •

his rivals and seized the imperial capital Kyoto in 1568.

Following his own motto, “Rule the empire by force,” Nobunaga sought
to eliminate his remaining enemies. These included rival daimyo as well as
wealthy Buddhist monasteries aligned with them. In 1575, Nobunaga’s Vocabulary
3,000 musketeers crushed an enemy force of samurai cavalry. This was the musketeers: soldiers
first time firearms had been used effectively in battle in Japan. However, armed with muskets.

Nobunaga was not able to unify Japan. He committed seppuku, the ritual
suicide of a samurai, in 1582, when one of his own generals turned on him.
Nobunaga’s best general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (toh you toh mee
• • •

hee deh yoh shee), continued his fallen leader’s mission. Hideyoshi
• • •

set out to destroy the daimyos that remained hostile. By 1590, by

combining brute force with shrewd political alliances, he controlled most
of the country. Hideyoshi did not stop with Japan. With the idea of eventually
conquering China, he invaded Korea in 1592 and began a long campaign
against the Koreans and their Ming Chinese allies. When Hideyoshi died in
1598, his troops withdrew from Korea.
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Tokugawa Shogunate Unites Japan

One of Hideyoshi’s strongest daimyo allies,
Japanese Society
Tokugawa Ieyasu (toh koo gah wah
• • •
Emperor
ee yeh yah soo), completed the unification of
• • •
Held highest rank in society
Japan. In 1600, Ieyasu defeated his rivals at but had no political power
the Battle of Sekigahara. His victory earned
him the loyalty of daimyo throughout Japan.
Three years later, Ieyasu became the sole ruler, Daimyo Shogun
Large landowners Actual ruler
or shogun. He then moved Japan’s capital to
his power base at Edo, a small fishing village
that would later become the city of Tokyo.
A. Possible Japan was unified, but the daimyo still
Answers Families
held hostage, finan-
governed at the local level. To keep them from
cial burden maintain- rebelling, Ieyasu required that they spend
ing two residences, every other year in the capital. Even when
time wasted moving
they returned to their lands, they had to leave
back and forth.
their families behind as hostages in Edo. Samurai Warriors
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
A. Drawing Through this “alternate attendance policy” and Loyal to Daimyo and Shogun
Conclusions How other restrictions, Ieyasu tamed the daimyo.
would the “alternate This was a major step toward restoring central-
attendance policy”
restrict the daimyo? ized government to Japan. As a result, the rule
Vocabulary of law overcame the rule of the sword. Peasants Artisans
shogunate: the Ieyasu founded the Tokugawa Shogunate, Four-fifths of Craftspeople
administration or rule which would continue until 1867. On his the population such as artists
of a shogun. and blacksmiths
deathbed in 1616, Ieyasu advised his son and
successor, Hidetada, “Take care of the people. Merchants
Low status but gradually gained influence
Strive to be virtuous. Never neglect to protect
the country.” Most of the Tokugawa shoguns
followed that advice, and their rule brought a welcome stability to Japan.

Tokugawa Society and Culture

Japan enjoyed more than two centuries of stability, prosperity, and isolation under the
Tokugawa shoguns. The farming community produced more food, and the population
rose. Still, the vast majority of peasants, weighed down by heavy taxes, led lives filled
with misery. The people who prospered in Tokugawa society were the merchant class
and the rich. However, everyone, rich and poor alike, benefited from a flowering of
Japanese culture during this era.
Social History In Japan, as in China, Confucian values influenced ideas about
society. According to Confucius, the ideal society depended on agriculture, not
urban commerce. Farmers, not merchants, made ideal citizens. In the real world
of Tokugawa Japan, however, peasant farmers bore the main tax burden and faced
more difficulties than any other class. Many of them abandoned farm life and headed
for the expanding towns and cities. There they mixed with samurai, artisans, and
merchants—the other main classes of Tokugawa society.
By the mid-1700s, Japan began to shift from a rural to an urban society. Edo had
grown by that time from a small town in 1600 to perhaps the largest city in the world.
Its population was more than one million. The rise of large commercial centers
increased employment opportunities for women. Women found jobs in entertainment,
textile manufacturing, and publishing. Still, the typical Japanese woman led a sheltered
and restricted life as a peasant wife. She worked in the fields, managed the household,
cared for the children, and obeyed her husband without question.
Culture Under the Tokugawa Shogunate Traditional culture continued to thrive.
Samurai attended ceremonial noh dramas based on tragic themes. They read tales of
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ancient warriors and their courage in battle. In their homes, they hung
paintings that showed scenes from classical literature.
Background
Such traditional entertainment faced competition in the cities from new Men play all roles
styles of drama, art, and literature. Townspeople attended kabuki theater. in noh and kabuki
These were dramas in which actors in elaborate costumes, using music, dramas.
dance, and mime, performed skits about modern urban life. The paintings they
enjoyed were often woodblock prints showing sophisticated city life.
Townspeople read popular stories about self-made merchants or the hardships
of life. This new type of urban fiction was created by the novelist Saikaku. The Background
people also read haiku (HI koo), poetry which does not express ideas, but
• Haiku is a 5-7-5-sylla-
presents images. For example, Matsuo Basho, the greatest of all the Japanese ble, 3-line verse.
haiku poets, wrote just before his death in 1694:

Kabuki theater A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
makes use of On a journey, ailing— Tabi ni yande
extravagant My dreams roam about Yume wa Kareno o
costumes, mask- Over a withered moor. Kakemeguru
like makeup, and
MATSUO BASHO, from Matsuo Basho MATSUO BASHO, in Japanese
exaggerated
postures and
gestures. This
contemporary photo Contact Between Europe and Japan
shows a dancer
costumed as a lion.
Europeans began coming to Japan in the 16th century, during a time of severe
disorder. At first, the Japanese were curious about these newcomers. They welcomed
the traders and missionaries, who introduced fascinating new technologies and ideas.
Within a century, the aggressive Europeans had worn out their welcome.
Portuguese Sailors and Technology Reach Japan The Japanese first encoun-
tered Europeans in 1543, when shipwrecked Portuguese sailors washed up on the
shores of southern Japan. Portuguese merchants soon followed. They hoped to involve THINK THROUGH HISTORY
themselves in Japan’s trade with China and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese brought B. Analyzing
Motives Why did
clocks, eyeglasses, tobacco, firearms, and other unfamiliar items from Europe.
Europeans want
Japanese merchants, eager to expand their markets, were happy to receive the to open trade
newcomers and their goods. with Japan?
The daimyo, too, welcomed the strangers. They were particularly B. Possible Answer
They hoped to involve
S POTLIGHT N O interested in the Portuguese muskets and cannons. One warlord themselves in Japan’s
listened intently to a Japanese observer’s description of a musket: trade network.
Introduction of Firearms
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
Europeans introduced firearms to
Japan in the mid-1500s, when every In their hands they carried something two or three feet long, straight
daimyo sought an advantage over on the outside with a passage inside, and made of a heavy substance.
his rivals. Imagine the warlords’ . . . This thing with one blow can smash a mountain of silver and a wall
surprise when they first saw a lead of iron. If one sought to do mischief in another man’s domain and he
pellet explode from a musket! Then was touched by it, he would lose his life instantly.
imagine their eagerness to own ANONYMOUS JAPANESE WRITER, quoted in Sources of Japanese Tradition (1958)
firearms when they realized the
musket’s killing power. Firearms forever changed the time-honored tradition of the
Japanese gunsmiths set to work Japanese warrior, whose principal weapon had been the sword. Many
copying the European musket. Some
30 years later, they had mastered samurai, who retained the sword as their principal weapon, would
the technology. However, soldiers lose their lives to musket fire in future combat. The cannon also had
still had trouble firing the gun, and a huge impact on Japan. Daimyo had to build fortified castles to
daimyos didn’t know how to use withstand the destructive force of cannonballs. The castles attracted
their musketeers effectively.
Nobunaga’s victory in 1575 proved
merchants, artisans, and others to surrounding lands. Many of these
that those problems could be solved lands grew into the towns and cities of modern Japan.
and led to daimyos arming their
troops with muskets. Christian Missionaries in Japan In 1549, Christian missionaries
began arriving in Japan. The Japanese accepted the missionaries in
part because they associated them with the muskets and other

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European goods that they wanted. The religious orders of Jesuits, Franciscans, and
Dominicans came to convert the Japanese. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, led the first
mission to Japan and baptized about a hundred converts. Missionaries converted
about 300,000 Japanese to Christianity by the year 1600.
The success of the missionaries upset Tokugawa Ieyasu. He found aspects of the
Christian invasion troublesome. Missionaries, actively seeking converts, scorned
traditional Japanese beliefs and sometimes involved themselves in
local politics. At first, Ieyasu did not take any action. He feared driv- S
POTLIGHT N O
ing off the Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Dutch traders who
spurred Japan’s economy. By 1612, however, the shogun had come Zen Buddhism
to fear religious uprisings more. He banned Christianity and focused The form of Buddhism that had the
on ridding his country of all Christians. greatest impact on Japanese
culture was Zen Buddhism. It
Repression of Christianity continued off and on for the next two especially influenced the samurai.
decades. In 1637, the issue came to a head. An uprising in southern Zen Buddhists sought spiritual
Japan of some 30,000 peasants, led by dissatisfied samurai, shook the enlightenment through meditation.
Tokugawa regime. Because so many of the rebels were Christian, the Strict discipline of mind and body
THINK THROUGH HISTORY
was the Zen path to wisdom. Zen
C. Comparing How shogun decided that Christianity was at the root of the rebellion. monks would sit rigidly for hours.
was the treatment of After that, the shoguns ruthlessly persecuted Christians. All Japanese
Europeans different in If they showed signs of losing
Japan and China? were forced to demonstrate faithfulness to some branch of concentration, a Zen master
How was it similar? Buddhism. These policies eventually eliminated Christianity in Japan. might shout at them or hit them
C. Possible with a stick.
Answers The The Closed Country Policy The persecution of Christians was Some masters helped disciples
Japanese were more part of an attempt to control foreign ideas. When Europeans first free themselves from ordinary ways
receptive at first to of thinking by asking them riddles,
European contact than
arrived, no central authority existed to contain them. The strong such as “When both hands are
the Chinese were; leaders who later took power did not like the introduction of clapped, they make a sound. What
however, both coun- European ideas and ways, but they valued European trade. As time is the sound of one hand clapping?”
tries eventually passed, the Tokugawa shoguns realized that they could safely
rebuffed European
influences and entered exclude both the missionaries and the merchants. By 1639, they had
an age of isolation. sealed Japan’s borders and instituted a “closed country policy.”
One port, Nagasaki, remained open to foreign traders. However, only Dutch and
Chinese merchants were allowed into the port. Since the Tokugawa shoguns controlled
Nagasaki, they now had a monopoly on foreign trade, which continued to be profitable.
For more than 200 years, Japan remained basically closed to Europeans. Japan
would continue to develop as a self-sufficient country, free from European attempts
to colonize or to establish their presence.
The Europeans had met with much resistance in their efforts to open the East to
trade. Expansion to the West in the Americas, as you will learn in Chapter 20, would
prove much more successful.

Section 3 Assessment
1. TERMS & NAMES 2. TAKING NOTES 3. FORMING AN OPINION 4. THEME ACTIVITY
Identify Japan was unified by Do you think Japan’s closed Cultural Interaction Reread
• daimyo a succession of daimyos. country policy effectively kept about the role of women in China
• Oda Nobunaga Using a chart like the Western ideas and customs on page 473 and about the role of
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi one below, show the out of Japan? women in Japan on page 475.
• Tokugawa Shogunate accomplishments of each. THINK ABOUT What are the similarities and the
• kabuki • the attitude toward European differences between the two?
• haiku Daimyo Accomplishments
presence Create a Venn diagram to
Nobunaga • reaction to past restrictions on compare and contrast them.
Christianity and trade
Hideyoshi • the role of Nagasaki
Ieyasu

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Chapter 19 Assessment
TERMS & NAMES REVIEW QUESTIONS
Briefly explain the importance of the following
SECTION 1 (pages 463–468)
to European exploration and the growth of China
and Japan. Europeans Explore the East
11. What factors helped spur European exploration?
1. Bartolomeu Dias 6. Manchus 12. What role did Portugal’s Prince Henry play in overseas exploration?
2. Vasco da Gama 7. Qing Dynasty 13. What was the significance of Bartolomeu Dias’s voyage?
3. Treaty of Tordesillas 8. Oda Nobunaga Vasco da Gama’s?
4. Dutch East India 9. Toyotomi Hideyoshi 14. Why were the Dutch so successful in establishing a trading empire
Company 10. Tokugawa Shogunate in the Indian Ocean?
5. Ming Dynasty SECTION 2 (pages 469–473)
China Rejects European Outreach
15. Why didn’t China undergo widespread industrialization?
16. Name two technological advancements the missionaries
brought to China.
Interact with History
17. List five reasons why the Ming Dynasty fell to civil disorder.
On page 462, you decided whether
SECTION 3 (pages 474–477)
or not to go on a voyage of explo-
ration. Now that you have read the Japan Limits Western Contacts
chapter, reevaluate your decision. If 18. Why was the period between 1467 and 1568 called the Age
you decided to go, did what you of the Warring States?
read reaffirm your decision? Why 19. What was the difference between the Confucian ideal of society
or why not? If you chose not to go, and the real society of Japan?
explain what your feelings are now.
20. Briefly describe the new drama, literature, and art found in
Discuss your answers within a
Japanese cities.
small group.

Visual Summary

An Age of Exploration and Isolation

EXPLORATION ISOLATION
• In 1405, Zheng He of China • China abandons its voyages of
launches voyages of exploration exploration in 1433.
to southeast Asia, India, Arabia,
• Beginning in the 1500s, the
and eastern Africa.
Chinese severely restrict trade
• Beginning in the early 1500s, the with foreigners.
Portuguese establish trading
• Japan outlaws Christianity in
outposts throughout Asia and
1612 and drives out Christian
gain control of the spice trade.
missionaries.
• The Dutch drive out the
• Beginning in the mid 1600s,
Portuguese by the early 1600s
the Japanese institute a
and establish their own trading
“closed country policy” and
empire in the East.
remain isolated from Europe
• Europeans sail farther east to for 200 years.
China and Japan in search of
more trade; both nations
ultimately reject European
advances.

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CRITICAL THINKING CHAPTER ACTIVITIES

1. SAILING INNOVATIONS 1. LIVING HISTORY: Unit Portfolio Project
THEME SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Of all the THEME CULTURAL INTERACTION Your Unit Portfolio project focuses on the
technological advances that helped prompt European ways in which different cultures interact (see page 387). For Chapter 19, you
exploration, which do you think was the the most might use one of the following ideas.
important? Why? • Imagine you are the Jesuit missionary, Matteo Ricci. Write a letter home
2. EMPERORS OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY describing your impressions of Chinese rule and culture.
How might an emperor’s attitude toward living in the • Draft a reply for King George III to the letter written by China’s emperor,
Forbidden City affect his leadership? Consider how Qianlong, on page 472. Convince the emperor to open China by
he might view his country, its people, and the outside explaining the benefits of economic and cultural interaction.
world. Also think about the role of leaders and the • Imagine you are a Malaccan newspaper editor. Write an editorial about the
values you think they should hold. arrival of Europeans, as well as their motives for being there.
3. MISSIONARIES IN JAPAN 2. CONNECT TO TODAY: Cooperative Learning
Create a time line to trace the events that led to THEME ECONOMICS The primary force behind overseas exploration was
Japan’s expulsion of European Christians. economic, as Europeans sailed beyond their borders in search of new sources
Date of wealth. Today the West retains strong economic ties with Asia. In recent
Event years, maintaining those ties with China has been a hotly debated topic in
the United States.
Work with a small team and prepare to debate another team over the issue
of U.S. trade with China.
4. ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Using the Internet, magazines, and other library sources, research the
Emperor Kangxi invited Christian missionaries to his
issues involved in the debate over U.S. trade with China.
court, where they shared ideas about science,
religion, government, and trade. In the following • After being assigned one or the other position on the issue, work together
personal account, Kangxi reflects on what he has to gather information that supports your side’s position.
learned from the Europeans. • In front of the class, debate a group that has taken the opposite position.
3. INTERPRETING A TIME LINE
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
But I was careful not to refer to these Reexamine the unit time line on pages 386–387. Convert the Chapter 19
Westerners as “Great Officials,” and corrected time line into a cartoon strip that conveys the same information.
Governor Liu Yin-shu when he referred to the
Jesuits Regis and Fridelli . . . as if they were FOCUS ON GEOGRAPHY
honored imperial commissioners. For even
though some of the Western methods are dif- This map, produced by the German cartographer Henricus Martellus in
ferent from our own, and may even be an about 1490, is believed to be the first world map to incorporate the
improvement, there is little about them that is discoveries made by Bartolomeu Dias.
new. The principles of mathematics all derive • Where is Europe on the map?
from the Book of Changes, and the Western • What is the continent in the lower left corner of the map?
methods are Chinese in origin: this algebra—
Connect to History Obtain a modern-day world map and compare it
“A-erh-chu-pa-erh”—springs from an Eastern
with this one. How do you rate Martellus’s assumptions of how the
word. And though it was indeed the
world to the east of Africa looked?
Westerners who showed us something our
ancient calendar experts did not know—namely
how to calculate the angles of the northern
pole—this but shows the truth of what Chu Hsi
arrived at through his investigation of things:
the earth is like the yolk within an egg.
KANGXI, quoted in Emperor of China:
Self-Portrait of K’Ang-Hsi

• What do you think is Kangxi’s attitude toward

Westerners?
• Do you think Kangxi is a true scholar?

Additional Test Practice, TEST PRACTICE

pp. S1–S33 CL ASSZONE .COM