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Chapter 16: Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change
Chapter 16
Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in 1498 marked a significant breakthrough for the Portuguese, establishing a sea route from Europe to the Indian Ocean by sailing around Africa.
The Portuguese encountered resistance from Muslim-controlled towns along the African coast, but received assistance from the sultan of Malindi, who provided a pilot to guide them to India.
Upon reaching Calicut, the Portuguese found a thriving commercial center but faced challenges as local merchants showed little interest in their trade goods, forcing them to use their limited silver bullion.
The Portuguese realized that to establish a foothold in the Indian Ocean trading system, they would need to use military force due to the entrenched presence of Muslim traders and political connections.
The impact of European expansion on Asia was limited, with most Asian states and empires continuing to develop based on their internal dynamics and interactions with neighboring regions.
Key historical events include:
1368: Ming dynasty rises in China.
1405-1433: Zheng He's expeditions from China to Southeast Asia, India, and East Africa.
1498-1499: Vasco da Gama's voyage to India.
1510: Portuguese conquest of Goa.
1511: Portuguese conquer Malacca.
1600s: Dutch and British challenge Portuguese dominance in Asia.
1603: Establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan.
1644: End of the Ming dynasty, beginning of the Qing dynasty in China.
1641: Dutch capture Malacca from the Portuguese.
Contents and Learning Objectives
Major centers of the Indian Ocean trading system: Key locations included Calicut on India's Malabar Coast, controlled by a Hindu ruler, and various ports along the eastern coast of Africa, such as Mombasa and Malindi.
Portuguese attempts to monopolize trade: The Portuguese aimed to control the trade of spices, fine textiles, and other Asian products. They faced resistance from Muslim merchants and had to resort to military force to break into the Indian Ocean trading system.
Success and challenges: While the Portuguese successfully established a sea route to Asia, their products were initially not well-received by local merchants. They had to use silver bullion to trade, which was not sustainable in the long term. The entrenched Muslim political and economic connections posed significant obstacles.
Impact on Asia: The arrival of Europeans had a limited impact on the broader Asian civilizations, which were more influenced by internal developments and interactions with neighboring states. European influence was more pronounced in Southeast Asia due to its vulnerability to Western sea power.
Other European empires: The Dutch and British established trading empires in Asia, challenging Portuguese dominance. The Dutch East India Company became a significant power in Java, and the British also made inroads into the region.
Ming China's policies: During the Early Modern period, Ming China focused on internal stability and limited overseas commerce. The Zheng He expeditions were an exception, showcasing China's naval capabilities and interest in foreign trade.
Japan's policies: Japan, under the Tokugawa shogunate, moved towards self-imposed isolation, banning Christianity and limiting foreign influence. This contrasted with China's more open approach during the earlier Ming period.
Key historical events:
1498-1499: Vasco da Gama's voyage opened the sea route around Africa to Asia.
1507: Portuguese defeated a combined Muslim war fleet near Diu.
1510: Portuguese conquest of Goa.
1511: Portuguese conquered Malacca.
1600s: Dutch and British assaults led to the decline of Portuguese power in Asia.
1641: Dutch captured Malacca from the Portuguese.
1644: End of the Ming dynasty, beginning of the Qing dynasty in China.
1640s: Japan's self-imposed isolation began.
16.1 The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans
The Indian Ocean trading system was extensive, stretching from the Middle East and Africa to the coasts of Asia.
Major centers included Calicut, East African ports, and three main zones: the Arab zone (glass, carpets, tapestries), India (cotton textiles), and China (paper, porcelain, silk textiles).
Peripheral areas like Japan, Southeast Asia, and East African port cities supplied raw materials such as precious metals, foods, and forest products.
High-demand and high-priced commodities included spices (mainly from Ceylon and the Indonesian archipelago), ivory from Africa, and precious stones. Silk and cotton textiles were also traded over long distances.
Bulk items like rice, livestock, and timber were traded within localized networks.
Monsoon winds and available navigational instruments dictated trade routes, with much navigation being coastal. Arabs and Chinese, with compasses and large ships, could cross open waters but preferred coastal routes.
Key trade convergence points included the mouths of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and the Straits of Malacca.
The trading system lacked central control and military force, with peaceful exchanges being the norm. Merchants and sailors from various regions traded for mutual benefit without a common cause.
The Portuguese attempted to monopolize the trade of high-value commodities by force, exploiting the lack of central control and military presence in the trading system.
16.1.1 Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut
The Portuguese disregarded the established informal rules of Asian trade, relying mainly on gold and silver for exchanges.
Mercantilist theory, which emphasized the importance of precious metals for state power, made the idea of sending bullion to Asia unacceptable.
The Portuguese aimed to undermine Muslim merchants and rulers by using force to obtain goods, leveraging their superior ships and weaponry.
Their initial success was due to the element of surprise and the inability of Asian fleets, except for Chinese junks, to match Portuguese firepower.
Vasco da Gama's second expedition in 1502 forced African and Indian ports to submit to Portuguese tribute, and he attacked non-cooperative towns.
A combined Egyptian and Indian fleet was defeated by the Portuguese in 1509, ensuring no significant Asian sea power alliance would challenge them again.
From 1507, the Portuguese began capturing strategic towns and building fortresses, such as Ormuz, Goa, and Malacca, to control trade routes and store goods.
The Portuguese trading empire aimed to monopolize key Asian products, especially spices, and control their supply to dictate high prices.
They attempted to impose a licensing system on all merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, backed by force, to dominate a significant portion of the Asian trading network.
16.2 Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires
The Portuguese initially controlled some spice trade but failed to maintain a monopoly due to limited resources, resistance from Asian rivals, poor military discipline, corruption, and shipping losses.
The Dutch and English challenged the Portuguese in the early seventeenth century, with the Dutch emerging victorious by capturing Malacca and establishing Batavia on Java.
The Dutch focused on monopolizing specific spices and systematically controlled the supply by uprooting plants and removing island peoples who cultivated spices without their supervision.
The Dutch trading empire consisted of fortified towns, factories, warships, and monopoly control, similar to the Portuguese but with more numerous and better-armed ships.
Over time, the Dutch shifted to integrating into the Asian trading system, charging fees for transporting products and trading Asian goods for European markets.
The English, after losing control of the Spice Islands, concentrated on India and the cotton cloth trade, adopting peaceful trading patterns similar to the Dutch.
16.2.1 Going Ashore: European Tribute Systems in Asia
European military dominance was limited to coastal areas: Their ships and guns allowed Europeans to force their way into the Asian trading network, but inland, their military advantages diminished due to the superior numbers of Asian armies.
Resistance from Asian kingdoms and empires: Small kingdoms in Java and mainland Southeast Asia, as well as larger empires in China, India, and Persia, resisted European inroads. Martial cultures like Japan's also forced Europeans to adopt humble and respectful behavior.
European inland expansion for resource control: The Portuguese and Dutch moved inland in Ceylon and Java to control valuable resources like cinnamon and coffee. By the mid-eighteenth century, the Dutch controlled coffee-growing areas and became the dominant power on Java.
Spanish conquest in the Philippines: The Spanish successfully conquered Luzon and the northern islands due to the fragmented animistic states but failed to subjugate Mindanao, which was ruled by a unified Muslim kingdom.
Tribute regimes established by Europeans: Europeans set up tribute systems similar to those in the New World, allowing indigenous leaders to control their communities as long as tribute quotas were met. Tribute was paid in agricultural products, with both traditional crops and new introductions like coffee and sugar cane.
16.2.2 Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia
The spread of Roman Catholicism was a key mission for the Portuguese and Spanish during their overseas expansion, unlike the Protestant Dutch and English.
Conversion efforts in Asia were largely unsuccessful due to the pre-existing spread of Islam and deeply entrenched Hindu beliefs.
India was seen as a promising field for conversion, with missionaries like Francis Xavier converting many low-caste individuals.
High-caste Hindus were resistant to conversion due to taboos and entrenched religious practices.
Robert di Nobili adopted local customs and languages to convert high-caste Hindus, but his strategy ultimately failed due to resistance from both high-caste converts and rival missionary orders.
The greatest success in Asia was in the Philippines, where Spanish control facilitated widespread conversion to Catholicism.
Filipino conversions often blended traditional beliefs with Christianity, leading to a unique form of the religion that retained many preconquest practices.
16.3 Ming China: A Global Mission Replaced
The early Ming period saw significant economic growth and increased overseas contacts.
The Ming territories were smaller than those of the Tang dynasty, but commercial expansion and population growth accelerated.
New food crops from the Americas, such as maize, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, were introduced through Spanish and Portuguese merchants.
These crops could grow on poor soils without irrigation, spreading quickly in Southern China and supplementing the rice or millet diet.
The new crops were less susceptible to drought, helping to prevent famine and contributing to population growth.
By 1600, China's population had risen to approximately 150 million from 80-90 million in the fourteenth century, and by 1800, it had surpassed 300 million.
Agrarian expansion and population growth were accompanied by renewed commercial growth.
China's advanced handicraft industries produced goods in high demand, leading to favorable trade terms and significant imports of American silver.
European traders, along with Arab and Asian traders, increased their presence in China, particularly in Macao and Canton.
Despite state restrictions, China played a significant role in proto-globalization, enhancing cross-cultural contacts.
The merchant class, especially those involved in long-distance trade, profited the most from the economic boom and New World silver imports.
Much of the merchants' wealth was invested in land, as land ownership was the primary route to social status in China.
16.3.1 A Return to Scholar-Gentry Social and Political Dominance
The decline of the Yuan dynasty's rulers led to increased corruption and favoritism, weakening their control.
Confucian scholars and bureaucrats gained power, supporting the rise of the Ming dynasty and the Hongwu emperor.
The Ming era saw the rise of the Confucian bureaucrats and scholar-gentry elite, emphasizing Neo-Confucian teachings.
The examination system became more complex, with multiple levels of exams determining eligibility for bureaucratic positions.
Success in exams brought social status and opportunities for higher government positions.
Neo-Confucian standards enforced strict adherence to teacher instructions, sometimes with severe consequences.
Scholar-gentry families gained privileges and wealth, often at the expense of peasants, leading to increased social inequality.
Peasants often became tenants or landless laborers due to the practices of the scholar-gentry class.
The scholar-gentry class justified their wealth by contrasting their virtues with the perceived laziness of common farmers.
Women from nonelite classes had limited avenues for independence, often becoming courtesans or entertainers.
Courtesans were literate and skilled in arts, serving upper-class men, but their lives were still dependent on male patrons.
Many women in the palace lived in loneliness, hoping to gain the emperor's favor but often remaining unnoticed.
16.3.2 Elite Affluence and the Flourishing of the Fine Arts
The prosperity of elite groups during the Ming era was reflected in the fine arts, with generous patrons from both the court and the scholar-gentry class.
Ming art was characterized by more colorful and busier works compared to the monochromatic simplicity of earlier dynasties.
Portraits and scenes of court, city, or country life became more prominent, while depictions of individual scholars or travelers in nature continued to be popular.
Ming painters focused on developing established techniques and genres rather than innovating.
Major innovation occurred in literature, particularly with the full development of the Chinese novel, which began in the Yuan era.
The spread of literacy among the upper classes and the availability of books due to woodblock printing facilitated the rise of the novel.
Notable Ming novels such as The Water Margin, Monkey, and The Golden Lotus were recognized as classics and continue to influence Chinese prose literature.
16.3.3 Ming Expansion and Retreat, and the Arrival of the Europeans
The early Ming dynasty, particularly under Emperor Yongle, saw unprecedented overseas expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He between 1405 and 1433.
Zheng He led seven major expeditions, initially focusing on Southeast Asia and later reaching Persia, Southern Arabia, and the east coast of Africa.
These expeditions showcased China's technological sophistication, wealth, and power.
After 1433, Ming rulers shifted focus from overseas expansion to internal defense, leading to the construction of the Great Wall and a decline in the Ming war fleet.
This inward turn left China vulnerable to European maritime incursions.
European missionaries, particularly the Jesuits, sought to convert the Chinese elite by leveraging their scientific and technical knowledge.
Jesuits like Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall impressed the Chinese court with their skills in astronomy, calendar correction, and clockmaking.
Despite some success, the Jesuits faced suspicion and hostility from Chinese officials.
The Jesuits' strategy of cultural adaptation led to conflict with other missionary orders and ultimately a papal decision against allowing Chinese converts to continue ancestral rites.
This decision led the Chinese emperor to reject Christianity, resulting in attacks on Christian converts in the early eighteenth century.
16.3.4 Ming Decline and the Chinese Predicament
By the late 1500s, the Ming dynasty experienced a decline due to a highly centralized, absolutist political structure that became a liability under mediocre rulers.
Official corruption and the dominance of eunuchs in the Forbidden City weakened the empire's foundations.
Public works, such as the dike works on the Yellow River, fell into disrepair, leading to floods, drought, and famine.
Peasants faced extreme hardship, resorting to eating bark, excrement, and even cannibalism; some sold their children into slavery.
Desperate peasants turned to banditry and rebellion due to exploitation by landlords and corrupt officials.
Internal disorder was compounded by foreign threats, including pirate attacks and nomadic assaults.
The Ming dynasty was toppled in 1644 by internal rebellion, not by nomads.
The last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, committed suicide as rebels breached the Forbidden City.
The Qing dynasty, led by Manchu rulers, replaced the Ming dynasty and consolidated control over China.
Manchu leaders adopted Chinese standards and officials to avoid the hostility that had brought down the Mongol dynasty, leading to successful Qing rule for many decades.
16.4 Fending off the West: Japan’s Reunification and the First Challenge
By the sixteenth century, Japan was entrenched in a stalemate among warring samurai houses, necessitating the rise of three military leaders to restore unity and peace.
Oda Nobunaga, from a minor samurai household, became prominent due to his military skills, willingness to innovate, and ruthless determination. He extensively used firearms acquired from the Portuguese and unified much of central Honshu by 1580.
Nobunaga was deposed and killed in 1582, but his general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, continued his efforts, punishing betrayers and breaking the power of resisting daimyo. By 1590, Hideyoshi became the military hegemon of Japan.
Hideyoshi had grand ambitions of conquering China and India and launched two attacks on Korea in 1592 and 1597, both of which ultimately failed.
After Hideyoshi's death in 1598, his vassal Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged victorious from the ensuing power struggle. Ieyasu focused on consolidating power domestically rather than pursuing overseas expansion.
In 1603, Ieyasu was granted the title of shogun, formally starting the Tokugawa shogunate, which brought political unity and ended civil wars in Japan.
The Tokugawa shogunate reorganized the daimyo, with central Honshu controlled by the Tokugawa family or allied daimyo. Outlying daimyo were required to pledge allegiance and spend half the year in Edo, ensuring loyalty and reducing the risk of rebellion.
16.4.1 Dealing with the European Challenge
The arrival of Europeans in Japan began in 1543 with Portuguese sailors, leading to increased trade and the introduction of new goods and technologies.
European traders exchanged goods like silver, copper, pottery, and lacquerware for items produced in India, China, and Southeast Asia.
Europeans introduced firearms, printing presses, and clocks, which significantly impacted Japanese society, particularly in warfare.
Firearms, quickly manufactured and improved by the Japanese, played a crucial role in the victories of the unifiers.
European commercial contacts encouraged Japanese overseas trade in regions such as Formosa, Korea, the Philippines, and Siam.
Christian missionaries, particularly Jesuits, arrived and began converting Japanese people to Roman Catholicism, starting in outlying domains and moving towards political centers.
Nobunaga supported the missionaries, seeing Christianity as a counterforce to militant Buddhist orders, and allowed the construction of churches.
Jesuits aimed to convert influential figures, including daimyo and samurai, and believed Nobunaga's conversion would lead to widespread acceptance of Christianity.
By the early 1580s, missionaries reported hundreds of thousands of converts.
The conversion campaign collapsed in the late 1580s after Nobunaga's murder and his successor Hideyoshi's lukewarm stance towards Christianity.
Hideyoshi and his followers were concerned about Christian converts' loyalty and the potential threat of European military expeditions.
The perceived threat of invasion and the disruption of the social order led to a decline in the missionaries' influence.
16.4.2 Japan’s Self-Imposed Isolation
Growing doubts about European intentions led to measures to restrict foreign activities in Japan starting in the late 1580s.
Hideyoshi ordered Christian missionaries to leave Japan in the late 1580s, but this was not strictly enforced initially.
By the mid-1590s, Hideyoshi began actively persecuting Christian missionaries and converts.
Ieyasu, Hideyoshi's successor, continued the persecution and officially banned Christianity in 1614.
European missionaries were expelled or killed, and Japanese converts were forced to renounce their faith or face imprisonment, torture, and execution.
By the 1630s, intense persecution led to rebellions by thousands of converts in western Japan, which were ultimately suppressed.
Christianity was reduced to an underground faith in isolated communities.
Under Ieyasu and his successors, Japan pursued a broader campaign to isolate itself from outside influences.
In 1616, foreign traders were confined to a few cities, and by the 1630s, Japanese ships were forbidden to trade or sail overseas.
European nations were either excluded from Japan or ceased trading due to the risks, leaving only Dutch and Chinese ships allowed to trade at Nagasaki.
Dutch traders were confined to Deshima island in Nagasaki Bay to prevent the spread of Christianity.
The export of silver and copper was restricted, and Western books were banned to prevent Christian ideas from reentering Japan.
Foreigners were allowed to live and travel only in very limited areas.
By the mid-seventeenth century, Japan's isolation was nearly complete.
The Tokugawa shogunate spent much of the next century consolidating internal control and extending bureaucratic administration.
In the eighteenth century, neo-Confucian philosophy gave way to the School of National Learning, emphasizing Japan's unique historical experience and indigenous culture over Chinese imports like Confucianism.
Despite isolation, Japanese elites maintained an interest in Western developments, particularly in science and medicine, through contacts with the Dutch at Deshima.
Further Readings
Vasco da Gama's voyage is detailed in J. H. Parry's "The Discovery of the Sea" (1981).
Overviews of the Asian trading network are provided by C. G. F. Simkins and Anthony Reid.
Detailed accounts of the impact of the Dutch and Portuguese on Asian trade are found in works by J. C. van Leur, M. A. P. Meilink-Roelofsz, K. N. Chaudhuri, Ashin Das Gupta, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, and Michael Pearson.
C. R. Boxer's works on the Portuguese and Dutch seaborne empires are essential, with "Race Relations in the Portuguese Colonial Empire" offering insights into European social interactions.
George Winius provides important correctives to Boxer's work.
Louise Levathes' "When China Ruled the Seas" (1994) is a thorough account of China's maritime history.
G. B. Sansom's "The Western World and Japan" (1968) covers European interactions with Asia and missionary activities.
Key works on the Ming dynasty include Charles O. Hucker's "The Censorial System of Ming China" (1966), Albert Chan's "The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty" (1982), and Edward Dreyer's "Early Ming China" (1982).
"The Cambridge History of China: The Ming Dynasty" and F. W. Mote's "Imperial China, 900–1800" provide comprehensive surveys of the Ming and early Qing eras.
Ray Huang's "1587: A Year of No Significance" and Jonathan Spence's "The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci" offer insights into daily life and Jesuit interactions in Ming China.
Frederic Wakeman Jr.'s "The Great Enterprise" (1985) and Jonathan Spence's "The Search for Modern China" (1990) are essential for understanding the transition from Ming to Manchu rule.
G. B. Sansom's "A History of Japan, 1615–1867" (1963) and Conrad Totman's "Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu" (1967) provide introductions to early modern Japan.
Studies on Europeans in Japan include works by Donald Keene, Grant Goodman, Noel Perrin, and C. R. Boxer.
H. D. Harootunian's "Toward Restoration" (1970) covers intellectual trends in Tokugawa Japan.
