cowtipper
04-16-2011, 01:32 PM
The Ming Dynasty ruled by the Hah, during 16th century China while not only one of the most powerful states in the world, was also one of the most stable. Its stability, prosperity, and wealth, all lead to a generously healthy state. In order for it to get to this level, they had to maintain strong politics, maintain an enamoring economy, all the while keeping their culture rich and vibrant, which meant merging with some western ideals to benefit off each others technology.
Since dynastic rule in China, politics had always been viewed in a very traditional manner and was a very strong force in day to day life. It seemed that from the peasants to the elite everyone was involved. But, when it came down to the final decision it was always the strong male figure that had the final say in matters, especially in the household, although during this time some females gained considerable power in the households. The token leader in China was the Emperor , and during this time power politics played out a big role in effectively deciding how powerful this Dynasty could become. It was like a big game of poker, and in more than a few instances China lost its luster by playing its cards wrong. In one instance the emperor Jaijing lost sovereignty over Tibet by persecuting Buddhism over Daoism at the court. Regardless, this dynasty didn’t make very many mistakes and was very careful as to where the power went. During this time Jaijing had a standing army of about 1 million men, all commanded by exceptional leaders . This army was mainly used as a standing force used for power politics, as the Ming had already vigorously expanded before this and needed to maintain their borders. It expanded cunningly by creating tribute nations who recognized the power this Dynasty had, the tribute nations were well treated, which gave off a good reputation to create others. Tributes got proper food and clothing, and their ambassadors always had a place to stay. A lot of power was given to the merchants on both sides, to see what each nation could get. It was almost like they were used as bargaining chips. Because of the cards that the Ming played, their emperor gained a lot. Most notably, exotic pets that boosted the moral of China’s people. This system was different then the West, who generally waged wars within their borders. While people in the west collected tribute nations the majority didn’t pay much attention to them, or treated them poorly, all of this lead to states of unrest. By 1550 however, the dynasty lost its foothold and Beijing slithered away as it became Over-run by Mongols, who had met up with the war machine Genghis. Ten years after this the Mongols were defeated with a thrust of power and a peace treaty was signed in 1571. Needless to say, a lot of the advancements happened around port cities, where building kept up with the fast rate of increased population, and many worriers came from more central areas, and were recruited from such.
Culture during this time had great mystique to it. It seemed there was lots of pizaz surrounding their traditional culture. Woman could get jobs at home, and some made good money. Working brought prosperity to the home environment. Because of this everyone seemed to have lots of luster and character. Husbands were still dominant in the household, but the parents of their wives still ruled over them. People during this time were constantly getting influenced, especially around the port cities. In Beijing, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou port towns grew rapidly as local markets merged with the town. This new emersion helped to keep the Dynasty on top of it’s game as new ideas were flooded in. At first Portuguese traders dwelled here, and brought items such as clocks and globes. Later however they had to stay outside of the boarders of all major port cities due to their rowdy behaviors. Needless to say, during this time both in the west and in china the average person was equipped with a much larger variety of tools and creature comforts. It was said that the average person in the West had five times as many things as his counterpart in the east. This was through increased trade and interaction between cultures. While most of the West and the Ming were similar, especially around the port cities, a major change happened during this time. The West increased its manufacturing capabilities, while the Ming thanks to new technology increased their agricultural production. This happened from the 13th through the 19th century. While this meant an increased number of peasants for China, they shouldn’t be taken lightly especially due to how fast communication was spreading. Lots of respect in China went out to the Bureaucracy. It was incredibly hard to earn a post, as it required lots of memorization, cunningness, and swell time management. More often than not, many more people in China were getting formally educated then in the West. In 1570 there was 20% literacy around in the west, this number was about 25% in China. Along with higher education, stronger emperors, and better government facilities evolved. Sometimes the path to education wasn’t the best however. In many instances it was the concubines child who often got a great education. Some peasants could get higher education, yet it was hard for them to do so. So for many girls it was a hard choice whether to work in the fields and be of a lower level facing daily turmoil, or give themselves up to be a concubine, which could grant their child a more lustrous life. This process was different in the West, and there were fewer concubines, but many more workers. In both places children were expected to work at a young age. During this time the age of marriage also increased. I believe the consensus here was that life should be lived to the fullest, and that people didn’t want to be tied down from such an early age. In China a lot revolved around the arts as well. There was lots of fine pottery made, as well as paintings from multiple schools, and artists. It seemed that the new techniques and styles before this time became ardently classical. Some schools of the arts were Jiangxia and Wulin, each put out some fine artists. During this time a lot of the art was focused around the scenery and still life, which varied from the West whose artists mainly painted portraits. Something also inherently artistic was the use of colorful pyrotechnics. Every year during China’s own holiday, the Chinese New Year, fireworks could be seen penetrating the sky with a plethora of colors lighting up the already bright people watching. The West never really got a hold of this art. All of this fervor also contributed to quite the booming economy as well.
China had between 7 or 8 regional economies, and most had water ways that allowed for agriculture to prosper. The economy was pretty large, and in order to connect the bridges standardized paper currency was used. This happened until the emperor flooded the market with it. This flooding lead to inflation. In order to combat the problem the government switched over to the use of copper coinage. There was problems with this approach as well. The government became more cautious and printed out much less than needed. This approach lead to instability. To combat this, many counterfeit coins were made. Some had lead in which decreased the value. After this whole disarray silver became the new type of formal currency. They were able to use this because of the Wests new technology. They developed pulleys and pumps which were able to work the mines better. The silver brought in by Latin America was then exchanged with silks and tapestry that was then brought to Mexico. While, marriage age was later for both Western and Chinese style families, it was in Europe where nuclear families took a strong suite. In China there was still a large percentage of people that lived with the extended family. Overall, the economy in the West and in China was fairly different. In the West the main focus was on taking raw goods from out of the country, processing them, then selling them for much higher prices. In China a higher regard was placed on the goods and services that they had, and less energy went into trading. Even though less effort went into trading than in Europe there were several merchant clans who dumped a lot of money back into the economy. All and all Joseph Needham estimated that around 190 billion dollars flowed into the economy during this time. With the money, a lot of essential items were bought. Many guns were imported from Europe to maintain the Modernity of the Country. These guns all used the same caliber. One of the major facets of the economy was the amount of taxes. The average taxation all throughout the dynasty was 1/40 of all the produce harvested and 1/15 the amount of iron produced.. The items harvested with commercial agricultural practices was tea, fruit, and other goods. Some goods were further refined to create paint. Also, agricultural practices were further refines, This happened especially with the advent of the water plow, and increased tech which lead to sharper iron, which could keep sharp for longer periods of time. Even though there were so little taxes, the economy was highly capitalistic. It seemed that everyone could carve a niche in the economy and succeed if they tried hard enough. This spirit bred competition, but luckily the majority of the populous was nice, so people knew when to back off.
Question 2.
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, which occurred near the tail end of the Renaissance up till the latter part of the 18th century, created a blossom of new ideas while disproving some deep rooted false ones. The movement was mainly centered in Europe and the American colonies, but it also brought new intrinsic ideas to China as well. At the heart of an enlightened individual was reason, which was used as the primary source of legitimacy and authority. During this time people shifted over from a more Medieval world view to that of a Modern world view. This shift happened out of new rising ideas, and their acceptance in the whole of society.
During this time, there was a realized need that the nation should grow and maintain it’s luster. One point being that the larger the nation, the more influential it can become. Nicollo Machiavelli who was apart of the enlightenment wrote about this situation, he created a strong base.. In his writings, he emphasized realistic discussions on how to seize and maintain power. He modeled his ideas off of Greek and Roman ideals. With his writings came a new humanistic outlook, where he gathered that humankind was the center of artistic and intellectual endevour. Machiavelli didn’t attach religion in doing so. This shift changed the role of the Church and lifted part of its medieval outlook, moving it to a more modern tone. He realized that in order to grow the church needs to unduly be respected, yet it can’t have such a strong hold like it did previously. That, and a nation needed to be able to recruit people without having religion being a major blockade in why people were fighting, the battles needed to become more real to him. To further strengthen the soldiers one could looks at Petrarch Bacaccio who wrote about love and pride. His ideas were definitely seen practiced during this time, and they abled a stronger force in the contingency of elated culture. People were taught to love and respect others while still having pride in themselves. But, the force of pride wasn’t innate according to Bacaccio, it had to be strived towards. This matched the idea of the day where everyone worked at a common goal, to make tomorrow a better place. The shift happened in a few ways, but really strong ideas surely helped especially in the sciences.
Something highly influential, which promoted overall health and the longevity of Europe’s patrons was a book written by Andreas Vesalius called De hunani coporos fabrica. This book was stellar in describing human anatomy and became highly useful in a multitude of standard surgical procedures. It stopped a lot of taboo around the field as well that existed during the Medieval times. Now more people were going to the doctors and feeling openly comfortable about it. Something else that complimented it was the increase knowledge in battlefield training. Less people were dying during these times in battle, which meant that newer weapons and better tactics needed to be developed. Apart from battle, the standard life at home generally changed an insurmountably as well.
Martin Luther was a man who generally changed what the common folk believed in. He practically eradicated the church which was something that many people held on their shoulders for their whole life’s. He made is more honest. To do this he wrote all the fallacies and ways that the church was taking advantage of the system. In doing so he exposed how much the Church had deviated from the original teachings of the bible when it started. This greatly affected a large portion of people, while defiantly modernizing to a greater tomorrow. One thing that happened as well was the Churches increased tolerance of the sciences.
Science was rapidly evolving during this time, and many revolutionary discoveries were made. One important discovery was the proof that the sun was at the center of the universe, and not the earth like thought prior. Because of this, the earths axis was able to be understood better, which gave people knowledge on the seasons, and how they were different in certain places around the globe at the same time. This allowed for greater travel and preparation for the seasons to the inexperienced person who wanted to travel. Also, more people could travel because of this discovery. Another great displacement was the impetus theory with inertia. The impetus theory discussed that all matter in motion can only continue if a force is continuously active on it. While, inertia stated once a motion is started it continues without further cause. This allowed for people to understand weapons better, and design them accordingly. An advent here was spiraled barrels. In 1672 Auto Van Geurike was the first person to create electicity using a machine. This was a marvelous discovery. It allowed for a brevity of paramount discoveries. It was first stored in 1745 inside a Lyden jar. Needless to say because of it, times definitely become more modern and at an ever increasing pace.
Nature was also studied during this time, new medicines and food were all discovered, which lead to the creation of numerous jobs. In understanding it people became more mobile and wanted to surround themselves by it. The local lake was definitely a spawning point of intellectual discussion among many people.
All in all the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment Can be credited with a plethora of new discoveries that abled the average person to peer out of the darkness of the old times, while giving them a steering wheel to turn their own direction steadfastly. It was paramount, and without it many things wouldn’t be the way they are today.
Since dynastic rule in China, politics had always been viewed in a very traditional manner and was a very strong force in day to day life. It seemed that from the peasants to the elite everyone was involved. But, when it came down to the final decision it was always the strong male figure that had the final say in matters, especially in the household, although during this time some females gained considerable power in the households. The token leader in China was the Emperor , and during this time power politics played out a big role in effectively deciding how powerful this Dynasty could become. It was like a big game of poker, and in more than a few instances China lost its luster by playing its cards wrong. In one instance the emperor Jaijing lost sovereignty over Tibet by persecuting Buddhism over Daoism at the court. Regardless, this dynasty didn’t make very many mistakes and was very careful as to where the power went. During this time Jaijing had a standing army of about 1 million men, all commanded by exceptional leaders . This army was mainly used as a standing force used for power politics, as the Ming had already vigorously expanded before this and needed to maintain their borders. It expanded cunningly by creating tribute nations who recognized the power this Dynasty had, the tribute nations were well treated, which gave off a good reputation to create others. Tributes got proper food and clothing, and their ambassadors always had a place to stay. A lot of power was given to the merchants on both sides, to see what each nation could get. It was almost like they were used as bargaining chips. Because of the cards that the Ming played, their emperor gained a lot. Most notably, exotic pets that boosted the moral of China’s people. This system was different then the West, who generally waged wars within their borders. While people in the west collected tribute nations the majority didn’t pay much attention to them, or treated them poorly, all of this lead to states of unrest. By 1550 however, the dynasty lost its foothold and Beijing slithered away as it became Over-run by Mongols, who had met up with the war machine Genghis. Ten years after this the Mongols were defeated with a thrust of power and a peace treaty was signed in 1571. Needless to say, a lot of the advancements happened around port cities, where building kept up with the fast rate of increased population, and many worriers came from more central areas, and were recruited from such.
Culture during this time had great mystique to it. It seemed there was lots of pizaz surrounding their traditional culture. Woman could get jobs at home, and some made good money. Working brought prosperity to the home environment. Because of this everyone seemed to have lots of luster and character. Husbands were still dominant in the household, but the parents of their wives still ruled over them. People during this time were constantly getting influenced, especially around the port cities. In Beijing, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou port towns grew rapidly as local markets merged with the town. This new emersion helped to keep the Dynasty on top of it’s game as new ideas were flooded in. At first Portuguese traders dwelled here, and brought items such as clocks and globes. Later however they had to stay outside of the boarders of all major port cities due to their rowdy behaviors. Needless to say, during this time both in the west and in china the average person was equipped with a much larger variety of tools and creature comforts. It was said that the average person in the West had five times as many things as his counterpart in the east. This was through increased trade and interaction between cultures. While most of the West and the Ming were similar, especially around the port cities, a major change happened during this time. The West increased its manufacturing capabilities, while the Ming thanks to new technology increased their agricultural production. This happened from the 13th through the 19th century. While this meant an increased number of peasants for China, they shouldn’t be taken lightly especially due to how fast communication was spreading. Lots of respect in China went out to the Bureaucracy. It was incredibly hard to earn a post, as it required lots of memorization, cunningness, and swell time management. More often than not, many more people in China were getting formally educated then in the West. In 1570 there was 20% literacy around in the west, this number was about 25% in China. Along with higher education, stronger emperors, and better government facilities evolved. Sometimes the path to education wasn’t the best however. In many instances it was the concubines child who often got a great education. Some peasants could get higher education, yet it was hard for them to do so. So for many girls it was a hard choice whether to work in the fields and be of a lower level facing daily turmoil, or give themselves up to be a concubine, which could grant their child a more lustrous life. This process was different in the West, and there were fewer concubines, but many more workers. In both places children were expected to work at a young age. During this time the age of marriage also increased. I believe the consensus here was that life should be lived to the fullest, and that people didn’t want to be tied down from such an early age. In China a lot revolved around the arts as well. There was lots of fine pottery made, as well as paintings from multiple schools, and artists. It seemed that the new techniques and styles before this time became ardently classical. Some schools of the arts were Jiangxia and Wulin, each put out some fine artists. During this time a lot of the art was focused around the scenery and still life, which varied from the West whose artists mainly painted portraits. Something also inherently artistic was the use of colorful pyrotechnics. Every year during China’s own holiday, the Chinese New Year, fireworks could be seen penetrating the sky with a plethora of colors lighting up the already bright people watching. The West never really got a hold of this art. All of this fervor also contributed to quite the booming economy as well.
China had between 7 or 8 regional economies, and most had water ways that allowed for agriculture to prosper. The economy was pretty large, and in order to connect the bridges standardized paper currency was used. This happened until the emperor flooded the market with it. This flooding lead to inflation. In order to combat the problem the government switched over to the use of copper coinage. There was problems with this approach as well. The government became more cautious and printed out much less than needed. This approach lead to instability. To combat this, many counterfeit coins were made. Some had lead in which decreased the value. After this whole disarray silver became the new type of formal currency. They were able to use this because of the Wests new technology. They developed pulleys and pumps which were able to work the mines better. The silver brought in by Latin America was then exchanged with silks and tapestry that was then brought to Mexico. While, marriage age was later for both Western and Chinese style families, it was in Europe where nuclear families took a strong suite. In China there was still a large percentage of people that lived with the extended family. Overall, the economy in the West and in China was fairly different. In the West the main focus was on taking raw goods from out of the country, processing them, then selling them for much higher prices. In China a higher regard was placed on the goods and services that they had, and less energy went into trading. Even though less effort went into trading than in Europe there were several merchant clans who dumped a lot of money back into the economy. All and all Joseph Needham estimated that around 190 billion dollars flowed into the economy during this time. With the money, a lot of essential items were bought. Many guns were imported from Europe to maintain the Modernity of the Country. These guns all used the same caliber. One of the major facets of the economy was the amount of taxes. The average taxation all throughout the dynasty was 1/40 of all the produce harvested and 1/15 the amount of iron produced.. The items harvested with commercial agricultural practices was tea, fruit, and other goods. Some goods were further refined to create paint. Also, agricultural practices were further refines, This happened especially with the advent of the water plow, and increased tech which lead to sharper iron, which could keep sharp for longer periods of time. Even though there were so little taxes, the economy was highly capitalistic. It seemed that everyone could carve a niche in the economy and succeed if they tried hard enough. This spirit bred competition, but luckily the majority of the populous was nice, so people knew when to back off.
Question 2.
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, which occurred near the tail end of the Renaissance up till the latter part of the 18th century, created a blossom of new ideas while disproving some deep rooted false ones. The movement was mainly centered in Europe and the American colonies, but it also brought new intrinsic ideas to China as well. At the heart of an enlightened individual was reason, which was used as the primary source of legitimacy and authority. During this time people shifted over from a more Medieval world view to that of a Modern world view. This shift happened out of new rising ideas, and their acceptance in the whole of society.
During this time, there was a realized need that the nation should grow and maintain it’s luster. One point being that the larger the nation, the more influential it can become. Nicollo Machiavelli who was apart of the enlightenment wrote about this situation, he created a strong base.. In his writings, he emphasized realistic discussions on how to seize and maintain power. He modeled his ideas off of Greek and Roman ideals. With his writings came a new humanistic outlook, where he gathered that humankind was the center of artistic and intellectual endevour. Machiavelli didn’t attach religion in doing so. This shift changed the role of the Church and lifted part of its medieval outlook, moving it to a more modern tone. He realized that in order to grow the church needs to unduly be respected, yet it can’t have such a strong hold like it did previously. That, and a nation needed to be able to recruit people without having religion being a major blockade in why people were fighting, the battles needed to become more real to him. To further strengthen the soldiers one could looks at Petrarch Bacaccio who wrote about love and pride. His ideas were definitely seen practiced during this time, and they abled a stronger force in the contingency of elated culture. People were taught to love and respect others while still having pride in themselves. But, the force of pride wasn’t innate according to Bacaccio, it had to be strived towards. This matched the idea of the day where everyone worked at a common goal, to make tomorrow a better place. The shift happened in a few ways, but really strong ideas surely helped especially in the sciences.
Something highly influential, which promoted overall health and the longevity of Europe’s patrons was a book written by Andreas Vesalius called De hunani coporos fabrica. This book was stellar in describing human anatomy and became highly useful in a multitude of standard surgical procedures. It stopped a lot of taboo around the field as well that existed during the Medieval times. Now more people were going to the doctors and feeling openly comfortable about it. Something else that complimented it was the increase knowledge in battlefield training. Less people were dying during these times in battle, which meant that newer weapons and better tactics needed to be developed. Apart from battle, the standard life at home generally changed an insurmountably as well.
Martin Luther was a man who generally changed what the common folk believed in. He practically eradicated the church which was something that many people held on their shoulders for their whole life’s. He made is more honest. To do this he wrote all the fallacies and ways that the church was taking advantage of the system. In doing so he exposed how much the Church had deviated from the original teachings of the bible when it started. This greatly affected a large portion of people, while defiantly modernizing to a greater tomorrow. One thing that happened as well was the Churches increased tolerance of the sciences.
Science was rapidly evolving during this time, and many revolutionary discoveries were made. One important discovery was the proof that the sun was at the center of the universe, and not the earth like thought prior. Because of this, the earths axis was able to be understood better, which gave people knowledge on the seasons, and how they were different in certain places around the globe at the same time. This allowed for greater travel and preparation for the seasons to the inexperienced person who wanted to travel. Also, more people could travel because of this discovery. Another great displacement was the impetus theory with inertia. The impetus theory discussed that all matter in motion can only continue if a force is continuously active on it. While, inertia stated once a motion is started it continues without further cause. This allowed for people to understand weapons better, and design them accordingly. An advent here was spiraled barrels. In 1672 Auto Van Geurike was the first person to create electicity using a machine. This was a marvelous discovery. It allowed for a brevity of paramount discoveries. It was first stored in 1745 inside a Lyden jar. Needless to say because of it, times definitely become more modern and at an ever increasing pace.
Nature was also studied during this time, new medicines and food were all discovered, which lead to the creation of numerous jobs. In understanding it people became more mobile and wanted to surround themselves by it. The local lake was definitely a spawning point of intellectual discussion among many people.
All in all the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment Can be credited with a plethora of new discoveries that abled the average person to peer out of the darkness of the old times, while giving them a steering wheel to turn their own direction steadfastly. It was paramount, and without it many things wouldn’t be the way they are today.