Asian+Transitions+in+an+Age+of+Global+Exchange

Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Exchange:



001: p.486-491 Notes:

 * The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans:**
 * **MI: In the centuries after de Gama's voyage, most European enterprises in the Indian Ocean centered on efforts to find the most profitable ways to carry Asian products back to Europe. Some Europeans went to Asia in search of Christian converts, and these missionaries, along with some traders, settled in coastal enclaves.**
 * Later voyages made by Portuguese revealed that Calicut and other ports of east Africa, which were discovered by Vasco de Gama, comprised a larger network of commercial exchange and cultural interaction, which stretched thousands of miles from the Middle East and Africa along the coasts of Asia
 * Asia sea trading network broken bown into 3 main zones, each focusing on major centers of handicraft manufacture
 * west - Arab zone - glass, carpets, tapestries of the Islamic heartlands at the head of Red Sea and Persian Gulf
 * central - India - cotton textiles
 * east - China p paper, porcelain, silk textiles
 * in between the three were:
 * Japan - mainland kingdoms and island states of southeast Asia, and port cities of east Africa provided raw materials:
 * precious metals, foods, forest products
 * broadest demand and highest prices were paid to spices --> Ceylon and islands at the eastern end of Indonesian archipeligo
 * long distance trade was largely in high-priced commodities such as spices, ivory from Africa, and precious stones. Silk and cotton textiles were also traded over long distances
 * Bulk items, ie. rice, livestock, and timber were exchanged w/in each of main trading zones
 * main trade routes in Asian networks dictated by monsoon winds and nature of ships and navigational instruments available to the sailors
 * navigation = coasting, sailing along shoreline and charting distances and location with reference to towns and natural landmarks
 * Arabs + Chinese were able to cross large bodies of open water because they had compasses and large, well-built ships
 * two main characteristics of trading system at the time of the Portuguese arrival were critical to European attempts to regulate and dominate it:
 * 1.) no control
 * 2.) military force usually absent from commercial exchanges
 * sailed and traded for their own profits or merchant who financed their expeditions
 * largely peaceful b/c all were participating in network that wanted products from each other
 * Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut:**
 * **MI: Portuguese were not willing to follow the rules that had developed over the centuries for commercial and cultural exchange in the Asian trading complex, but instead, attempted to control parts of the network.**
 * apparent that the Portuguese had little to trade with the Asian peoples, besides silver and gold
 * mercantilists taught that a state's power depended on the amount of precious metals a monarch had in his coffers, a steady flow of bullion to Asia was unthinkable
 * objectionable b/c it would strengthen merchants and rulers from rival kingdoms whose religions, esp. Muslims, whose position the Portuguese had set out to undermine through overseas enterprises
 * unwilling to forgo possibilities for profit that a sea route to Asia presented, the Portuguese resolved to take by force b/c unable to through fair trade
 * extract spices and other goods from Asia b/c realized that they could offset lacking numbers and trading goods w/ superior ships + weaponry
 * Chinese junks, huge war fleets were the only thing immune to Portuguese squadrons
 * though Portuguese forces were low, their united drive for wealth and religious converts allowed them to take advantage of deep divisions that separated their Asian competitors and the Asian's inability to combine forces effectively in battle
 * 1502 - de Gama returned to Asian waters, he assaulted towns that refused to cooperate
 * 1509, defeated off Diu on western Indian coast by Egyptian + Indian fleet
 * 1507- Portuguese strove to capture towns and build fortresses at a number of strategic points on Asian trading network
 * took **Ormuz** at southern end of Persian Gulf and in 1510, **Goa** on western Indian coast
 * stormed Malacca on tip of Malayan peninsula
 * ports served as naval bases for Portuguese fleets patrolling Asian waters and as **factories**, points where spices and other products could be stored until they were shipped to Europe
 * became key components of Portuguese trading empire that was financed and directed by kings of Portugal
 * aim of the empire was to establish Portuguese monopoly control over key Asian products, particularly spices, ie. cinnamon
 * all spices were to be shipped in Portuguese galleons to Asian and European markets, to be sold at high prices, which would be dictated by the Portuguese b/c they controlled supplies
 * combination of monopoly and licensing system, backed by force, was intended to give the Portuguese control of a sizeable portion of Asian trading network
 * Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires:**
 * **MI: Plans for the empire that the Portuguese envisioned was never successful. For some decades, they were able to regulate much of the flow of spices, such as nutmeg and mace, which were grown in very limited areas, but failed to control other key condiments.**
 * failed to control pepper and cinnamon and other key condiments
 * Portuguese resorted to extremes, such as cutting off the hands of the rival traders and ships' crews caught transporting spices in defiance of their monopoly.
 * did not have the soldiers or ships to sustain monopolies, much less the licensing system
 * resistance of Asian rivals, poor military discipline, rampant corruption among crown officials, and heavy Portuguese shipping losses caused by overloading and poor design had taken heavy toll on the empire by end of 16th century
 * Portuguese proved inferior to Dutch and English rivals, who had war fleets
 * Dutch victorious and captured key Portuguese ports and fortress at Malacca and built a new port of their own at **Batavia** in 1620
 * Dutch location was much close to island sources of key spices, and they focused on monopoly control of certain spices rather than Asian trade
 * **Dutch trading empire** made up of:
 * fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, monopoly control of a limited number of products
 * Dutch had more numerous and better equipped ships and went about the business of monopoly control in a much more systematic function
 * to regulate supply of cloves, nutmeg, and mace, they uprooted the plants that produced these spices on islands they did not control
 * also forcibly removed island peoples who cultivated these spices w/out Dutch supervision and sold them to trading rivals
 * found that the greatest profits in long run could be gained from peacefully working themselves into long-established Asian trading system
 * inability to capture control over peppers, which became a highly sought after spice led to Dutch dependence on fees charged for transporting products from one area in Asia to another
 * also depended on profits gained from buying Asian products, such as cloth
 * Going Ashore: European Tribute Systems in Asia:**
 * **MI: In the 16th and 17th centuries, ships and guns enabled Europeans to force their way into Asian trading netwoek and control the shores, but as they moved inland, their power waned.**
 * b/c the large number of Asian armies offset European's advantage in weapons and organization for waging war on land, even small kingdoms such as those on Java and in mainland southeast Asia were able to resist European inroads into their domains
 * often found themselves kowtowing or humbling themselves when confronting those in China, India, Persia, Japan
 * Europeans were drawn inland for their forts, factories, and war fleets in early centuries of their expansion into Asia
 * Portuguese and later, the Dutch, felt obligated to conquer coastal areas of Ceylon to control production and sale of cinnamon, which were grown in forests of southern portions of that island
 * Dutch moved into highlands of western Java
 * discovered this area was ideal for growing coffee, which, in 17th century, was in great demand in Europe
 * mid-18th century, Dutch controlled coffee growing areas
 * Spanish conquered Philippines in 1560s, and the conquest of **Luzon** and northern islands was facilitated by the fact that the animistic inhabitants lived in small states the Spanish could subjugate one by one
 * failed to conquer Mindanao, which was ruled by a single kingdom whose Muslim rulers were determined to resist Christian influence
 * highlights lack of power of Europeans in this area
 * in each area where the Europeans went ashore, they set up tribute regimes
 * made little effort to interrupt lives of conquered peoples as long as their leaders met the tribute quotas set by European conquerers
 * tribute was paid in form of agricultural products grown by peasantry under forced labor systems supervised by peasants' own elites
 * Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia:**
 * **MI: One of the main objectives of European overseas expansion was to gain Roman Catholic converts.**
 * spread of Roman Catholicism was fundamental part of global mission of Portuguese and Spanish
 * the fact that Islam had arrived in much of maritime south and southeast Asia centuries before de Gama's arrival had much to do with indifference/ open hostility the Portuguese met when they tried to convert the peoples of these regions to Christianity
 * dream of a Christian Asia joining the Iberian crusade against the Muslim was also a setback by the discovery that the Hindus, who de Gama initially assumed were Christian, had a sophisticated set of ideas and rituals
 * all the Asian areas where the European enclaves were established in the early centuries of expansion, India appeared to be one of the most promising fields for religious conversion
 * 1540s onwards, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, as well as Jesuit **Francis Xavier,** who were willing to minister to the poor, low-caste fishers and the untouchables along the southwest coast, converted tens of thousands
 * could not reach higher caste b/c of taboos against contact with untouchables
 * Italian Jesuit **Robert di Nobili** devised different conversion strategy in 1600s
 * learned several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, which allowed him t read sacred texts of Hindus
 * wore garments of Indian brahmans and adopted vegetarian diet
 * believed that if successful in converting high-caste Hindus, it would be introduced into lower classes
 * undone by refusal of high-caste Hindu converts to worship with low-caste groups and to give up their traditional beliefs and religious rituals
 * rivals noted that refusals of di Nobili's high caste converts to worship with untouchable Christians defied one of the central tenets of Christianity: equality of all believers before God
 * conversion of the general populace in Asia occurred only in isolated areas
 * Christian missions occurred in northern islands of the Philippines, a region unexposed to Islam or Buddhism
 * friars, as the priests and brothers who set out to convert and govern the ritual populace were called, became the main channel for transmitting European influences
 * first converted Filipino leaders
 * who then directed their followers to build new settlements centered on town squares where the local church, the residences of the villagers of the missionary fathers, and gov't offices were located
 * friars also served as gov't officials

002: Chinese and Japanese Responses to Western Influence:

 * **China:** || **Japan** ||
 * * peopling of Yangtze region and areas to the south was given a great boost by importation, through Spanish and Portuguese merchant intermediaries, of food crops from the Americas:
 * maize, sweet potatoes, and peanuts
 * could be grown on inferior soils and also became important hedge against famine
 * important factor in pop. boom; by 1600, pop. of China rose to 120mil, and in 1800, to 300mil
 * market sector of economy became more pervasive, and overseas trading links multiplied
 * handicraft industries produced wide variety of goods, from silk textiles and tea to fine ceramics and lacquerware, which were in high demand throughout Asia and Europe
 * received more American silver than any other society
 * Europeans arrived in increasing numbers at Macao and Canton, where they were allowed to officially do business in Ming China
 * economic boom
 * eventually, China transitioned from great power reaching out overseas to an isolated empire
 * 1390- first imperial edict aimed at limiting Chinese overseas commerce issued
 * As Chinese isolated themselves, Europeans ventured across globe and were enticed by the Middle Kingdom of China
 * Christian missionaries infiltrated Chinese coastal areas and tried to gain access to court, where they hoped to curry favor w/ Ming emperors
 * in Ming dynasty, the Ming emperor presided over top of social hierarchy
 * rulers and chief advisors became primary targets of Jesuit mission
 * some Chinese scholars showed interest in Christian teachings and Western thinking
 * Jesuit missionaries in Beijing recognized that their scientific knowledge and skill were keys to maintaining a presence at Ming court and eventually interesting Chinese elite in Christianity
 * 1580s- **Matteo Ricci, Adam Schall,** Jesuit scholars:
 * spent most of their time in the imperial city, correcting faulty calendars, forging cannons, fixing clocks imported from Europe, and astounding Chinese scholar-gentry w/ accuracy of their instruments and ability to predict eclipses
 * won few converts among elite
 * court officials suspicious of these strange-looking "barbarians" with large noses and hairy faces
 * tired to limit contacts w/ imperial family
 * at court, openly humiliated by foreigners corrections to calendars, were openly hostile to Jesuits
 * however, later Ming emperors remained sufficiently fascinated and allowed many to remain || * 1543, shipwrecked Portuguese sailors washed up on shore of Kyushu island
 * European traders and missionaries had been visiting islands in increasing numbers after
 * traders brought Japanese goods produced mainly in India, China, and southeast Asia
 * exchanged them for silver, copper, pottery, lacquerware
 * European traders and missionaries that followed them to the islands brought firearms, printing presses, and other Western devices, such as clocks
 * firearms revolutionized Japanese warfare and contributed much to victories of the unifiers
 * commercial contacts with the Europeans encouraged Japanese to venture overseas to trade in nearby Formosa and Korea and in places as distant as the Philippines and Siam
 * Christian missionaries arrived after the merchants and set to work
 * converting Japanese to Roman Catholicism, beginning in outlying daimyos' domains, working their way to the political center around Nobunaga and his followers by 1570s.
 * Nobunaga saw Christianity as counterforce to militant Buddhist orders resisting his power and took missionaries under his protection
 * Jesuits also converted many daimyos and samurai retainers
 * also believed they were on verge of converting Nobunaga, who sported Western clothing, encouraged his artists to copy Western paintings of the virgin Mary and scenes from the life of Christ, and permitted the missionaries to build churches in towns throughout the islands
 * After Nobunaga was murdered, Hideyoshi rose to power, and did not embrace the missionaries
 * alarmed by reports of converts refusing to obey their overlords commands when they believed them to be in conflict with Christian beliefs
 * new religion posed a threat to social order
 * Hideyoshi ordered Christian missionaries to leave the islands
 * mid-1590s - Hideyoshi persecuted Chrisitian missionaries and converts
 * his successor, Ieyasu, continued persecution and banning of the faith in 1614
 * Europeans were driven from the islands, those underground were hunted/ killed
 * Japanese converts obliged to renounce faith, those who refused were imprisoned, killed, or tortured
 * under Ieyasu and his successors, the persecution of Christians grew into a broader campaign to isolate Japan from outside influences
 * 1616- foreign traders were confined to a handful of cities,
 * 1630s all Japanese ships were forbidden to trade or sail overseas
 * 1640s only a limited number of Dutch and Chinese ships were allowed to carry on commerce on small island of **Deshima** in Nagasaki Bay
 * export of silver and copper greatly restricted, and Western books were banned to prevent Christian ideas from reentering the country.
 * foreigners were permitted to live and travel only in limited areas ||