Rise+-+Research+-+Ming

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 * 1. **** Climate and Geographic Factors:   **

-Ming dynasty started out with a very warm climate, with an abundance of heat energy; good for crop growth (2) -Later, the global climate experienced the Little Ice Age, decreasing crop growth (2) -During the end of the dynasty, the climate returned to being very warm (2) -The Pacific Ocean, Gobi Desert, Himalayan Mountains and jungles created a natural barrier isolating the Ming dynasty from other parts of China (3) -The natural barriers caused little foreign contact and communication with other parts of the world (3)

** 2. **** Events and Leaders: ** 

**Leaders of Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644:** Hongwu 1368-1398 Jianwen 1399-1402 Yongle 1403-1424 Hongxi 1425 Xuande 1426-1435 Zhengtong 1436-1449 Jingtai 1450-1456 Tianshun 1457-1464 Chenghua 1465-1487 Hongzhi 1488-1505 Zhengde 1506-1521 Jiajing 1522-1566 Longqing 1567-1572 Wanli 1573-1619 Taichang 1620 Tianqi 1621-1627 Chongzhen 1628-1644 (1)

-Serious up rise against the Mongols occurred in the Yangtze Valley in the 1350s (1) -A rebel state founded its capital at Nanjing, declaring itself genuine heir to the Song dynasty along with many other areas falling under its control (1) -In 1366, Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu), a peasant, took control of the rebellion and was declared as the Prince of Wu (1) -In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang declared a new dynasty called Ming (1)  -In 1368, the Ming army captured Beijing, the capital of Yuan, wiping out the Yuan Dynasty (6) -Emperor Hongwu wanted to control all aspects of the government so that no one could overthrow him (4) -Hongwu eliminated many jobs in the government, giving himself an abundance of work (4) -As a result, Hongwu hired eunuchs (castrated men who wanted to gain employment in the Imperial service) to help with the work and administrative problems (4) -After Hongwu died, his grandson took the throne (6) -Emperor Yongle relocated the capital from Nanjing to Beijing in 1421 (4) -The late rulers were less interested in governing, leading in a downfall (7) -By the late sixteenth century, the dynasty proceeded to fall due to foreign marauders and internal rebellions (7) -The suicide of the last emperor signified the end of the Ming Dynasty (7)

 


 * 3.<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">**Art, Literature and Music:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">[[image:chinese_novel.jpg width="324" height="238" align="right" caption="Traditional Chinese Novel" link="http://www.international.ucla.edu/media/images/Sunwukong.jpg"]]

-The Ming Dynasty had a great cultural development of the novel, developed by Chinese storytellers (4) -Block-printing and wood-cut became very popular during this time (4) -The original blue and white porcelain came from this time (4) -Dictionaries were written and had huge influences on the future, reducing the number of Chinese signs from 540 to 214 (4) -Encyclopedias were written containing a variety of information such as geography, music and medicine (4) -Xuande, one of the Ming leaders, was a very talented artist and poet himself → he made remarkable progressions in the porcelains produced (7)


 * 4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">**Agriculture and the Economy:** <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[[image:Rice_fields_mazandaran.jpg width="305" height="405" align="right" caption="Harvesting Rice Fields in China" link="http://www.merchantcointernational.com/Rice/Rice_fields_mazandaran.jpg"]]

<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">-Food output and production surpassed those of the Song and Yuan Dynasties (6) -The handicraft industry was developing quickly in the southern regions, advancing market economy and urbanization (6) -An immense amount of goods like alcohol, silk, rice, porcelain, tobacco, crops, vegetables and fruits were being sold in markets (6) -The Ming introduced the Champa rice which grew faster and in larger proportions than the traditional Chinese rice (5) -Ming also founded the most important innovation, the practice of crop rotation: fields kept continuously in cultivation while maintaining fertility (5) -Ming peasants began using irrigation pumps and stocking their rice fields with fish to fertilize, which set up another item of food (5) -Peasants also started testing cash crops, like cotton for clothing, cane and indigo for dyes (5) -Hongwu began reforesting in the 1390s - over one billion trees were planted helping replenish the timber and food supply (5) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">-From the very beginning, money was a problem for the Ming Dynasty (4) -Paper money was first used in the Ming → Hongwu did not understand inflation and gave out so much paper money that the worth of it dropped to 1/70 of its original value (4) -This lead to the use of copper coins, which in turn, lead to counterfeit coins and provinces were then required to mint their own coins (4) -Due to the abundance of counterfeit coins and some provinces adding lead to their coins, their value declined (4) -This coin problem was inflated due to the increasing amount of money needed for trade (4)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> -A great accomplishment of the Ming was the construction of the Great Wall → the granite work and brick was enlarged, the watchtowers were rebuilt and canons were put along the wall (4) -The Chinese blue and white ceramic porcelains were greatly popular around the world (5) -During the Third Commercial Revolution small businesses grew specializing in paper, silk, cotton and porcelain goods (5) -The Ming traded silks, cotton and porcelain to other parts of the world (mainly Europe) in return for silver, firearms, sugar, tobacco, and potatoes (5) -By the mid-1500s, the Ming Dynasty was growing into an urban, industrial and trading economy (5) -The success of the industrial boom generated a growth in every area → from silk looms to paper manufacturing to the evolution of new machines in farming, harvesting, planting and growing crops (5)
 * 5. **<span style="font-size: 16.9pt; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **Industrial and Artistic Technology:**

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">-Emperor Hongwu established four social classes involving artisans & craftsmen, merchants & traders, peasant farmers and gentry scholars (8) -Emperor Hongwu set up a firm, centralized government and carried out economic recovery programs (9) -Throughout the late Imperial Chinese years, the roles of women changed due to different social, cultural and political factors (10) -Women were expected by their family to get married and contribute financially to her family (10) -As married women, they were expected to get a proper education and both run and preside the household (10) -Women were to obey their fathers, husbands and even sons → this social conduct ruled that women were to be stripped of their legal and formal social identity, and justifying the male domination of the opposite sex(10) -In the late Ming Dynasty, women had gained great political powers in the household (10) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">-Men were allowed concubines without his wife's consent, although, the wife still held the head of the household and the concubine was simply there to satisfy the husband's sexual needs (10)
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">6. Socio-Political Structure:
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bibliography **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source (1) Haw, Stephen G. __Traveller's history of China__. New York: Interlink Books, 1995. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source (2) "SpringerLink - Journal Article." __SpringerLink Home - Main__. 16 Aug. 2007. Science Press. 04 May 2009 <http://www.springerlink.com/content/1n482130u5wl211l/><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Source (3) Melgarajo, Emma. "China and Isolation Activity." __Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD__. 1996. Montgomery County Public Schools. 04 May 2009 <http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/socialStd/MWH/11041_2.html> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source (4) "Ming." __Minnesota State University, Mankato__. 05 May 2009 <<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/later_imperial_china/ming.html> Source (5) Hooker, Richard. "Ming China: The Commercial Revolution." __Washington State University - Pullman, Washington__. 6 June 1999. 05 May 2009 <http://wsu.edu/~dee/MING/COMM.HTM> Source (6) "Ming Dynasty in China History: Economy, Culture, Science." __China Travel Guide,China Tours,Tibet Beijing Packages,24/7 Service__. 05 May 2009 <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/ming.htm> Source (7) "British Museum - China: Ming dynasty (AD 1368-1644)." __British Museum - Welcome to the British Museum__. The British Museum. 09 May 2009 <http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/c/china_ming_dynasty.aspx> Source (8) "Ming Dynasty -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 10 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty> Source (9) "Ming Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Ming." __Encyclopedia - Online Dictionary | Encyclopedia.com: Get facts, articles, pictures, video__. 10 May 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Ming.aspx> Source (10) "“Women in Late Imperial China” �." __Life In Motion__. 10 May 2009 <http://lifeinmotion.wordpress.com/2006/12/22/%E2%80%9Cwomen-in-late-imperial-china%E2%80%9D/>