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What is an Open Door Policy?
Times when China was open to having relations with other countries.
Who was Zheng He?
Zheng He was China’s Greatest Explorer.
In 1405 Zheng He set out with over 300 large ships to explore, gain tribute and show off China’s great power.
He used a fleet of ships with over 28,000 men on this exploration.
He was a trusted advisor to China’s leadership and became the Admiral of the Western Seas.
He was exploring long before the European Explorers like: Columbus or Magellan.
There is a theory, though it has not been proven, that part of Admiral Zheng He’s fleet made it all the way to the Americas.
However, we do know for sure that his fleet did make it to such countries as: India, Persia, Arabia and parts of Africa.
Marco Polo?
Marco Polo, a young Italian merchant, visited China during the middle ages.
He traveled from Venice, Italy; through the Byzantine Empire, on to Persia, and along the Silk Road into Central Asia.
Marco Polo developed a great relationship with the leader of China, Kublai Khan and for 17 years traveled throughout Asia as Kublai Khan’s representative.
Back in Europe, while in jail, Marco Polo dictated a book about his adventures in China called The Travels of Marco Polo. Which is still in print to this very day.
What is the Ming Dynasty?
In the beginning of the Ming Dynasty China built tributaries around the world and funded great voyages of exploration long before the Age of European Exploration.
Toward the end of the Ming Dynasty China looked inward and developed a CLOSED DOOR POLICY. This is where China would have very little, if any, contact with other countries.
This CLOSED DOOR POLICY led to their downfall as a dynasty when the peasants of China rose up and rebelled in 1644 AD. During the this time they formed a secret policy and killed thousands of Chinese for treason.
What is the Tang Dynasty?
At the beginning China wanted contact with other countries but toward the end of the dynasty they began to fear contact with other countries.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty China was open to other religions. Buddhism became the most popular.
They made travel safe along the Silk Road and traded with Persia and the Byzantine Empires by land and traded with Korea, Japan, India, and Indonesia by the sea.
Toward the end of the dynasty resentment and mistrust developed against the two religious group (The Buddhist & the Uyghurs) by the Chinese officials.
What year was Kublai Khan born?
1215 AD
What is treason?
To betray your country by helping the enemy.
Who are the Uyghurs?
Chinese Muslims from a Turkish descent.
What is Buddhism?
Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions and originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe that human life is one of suffering, and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.
What is Taoism?
Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immortality, where the spirit of the body joins the universe after death.
What is the Yuan Dynasty?
China was ruled by foreigners during this dynasty.
The Mongols with Kublai Khan ruled during much of this dynasty.
Mongols respected merchants from foreign countries and encouraged trade with them.
Christian missionaries even came to China during this dynasty both to convert Chinese to Christianity and to form an alliance against the Muslims.
The capital city of China was Dadu, also known as Peking, now known as modern day Beijing.
The Chinese people were on the bottom of the social hierarchy and the mongols were on the top.
As a result the Chinese people grew resentment towards outside influences.
What are the 5 Influences On China’s Medieval Foreign Relations?
The Tang Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty
Marco Polo Influence
Zheng He Influence
What are Tributaries?
A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake. They don’t flow into the ocean or sea.
What is Confucianism?
Confucianism is an ancient Chinese belief system, which focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality. Whether it is only a philosophy or also a religion is debated.
What are the 3 Main Religious Beliefs of Medieval China?
1. Buddhism:
2. Taoism:
3. Confucianism:
What is Kublai Khan best known for?
Founder of the Yuan Dynasty of China
Describe the "Social Class System" during the Yuan Dynasty?
In order to make sure that the Mongols remained in power, Kublai established a social hierarchy based on race. At the top of the hierarchy were the Mongols. They were followed by the Central Asians (non-Chinese), the northern Chinese, and (at the bottom) the southern Chinese. The laws were different for the different classes with the laws for the Mongols being the most lenient and the laws for the Chinese being very harsh.
What was one of the causes of death for Kublai Khan?
Kublai died in 1294. He had become overweight and was sickly for years.
Who succeeded Kublai as Khan after he died?
His grandson Temur succeeded him as the Mongol Great Khan and Yuan emperor.
Who did Kublai use to help run the government during the Yuan Dynasty? And why?
Chinese. Because they knew how to run a big government.
What are 3 different names for the Yuan Dynasty?
1. Dadu
2. Pekin
3. Beijing
What Chinese city did Marco Polo meet the Great Kublai Khan?
Xanadu
What happened to trade along the Silk Road during the Yuan Dynasty?
It reached its peak during the Yuan Dynasty as Kublai encouraged foreign trade and the Mongols protected merchants along the trade route.
What other countries did Kublai Khan attack and try to conquer?
Viet Nam and Burma and even launched attacks on Japan.
How did Kublai become Khan after his brother, Mongke, died?
Both Kublai and his brother Ariq wanted to become the Great Khan. When Kublai returned to the north he found out that his brother had already laid claim to the title. Kublai didn't agree and a civil war broke out between the two brothers. They fought for nearly four years before Kublai's army finally won and he was crowned the Great Khan.
What Dynasty existed right before the Yuan Dynasty and how did it fall?
The Song Dynasty existed before the Yuan Dynasty. The Song Dynasty fell after Kublai became Khan of Mongolia and came to Southern China and defeated the Song Dynasty and then appointed himself Emperor of China.
Who was Kublai Khan's father and grandfather?
His father was Tolui and his grandfather was the Great Genghis Khan.
What does Khan mean?
King
What two countries did Kublai Khan have two of his daughters go marry their kings, thereby becoming Queens?
Korea and Persia.
What's the name of the book that Marco Polo wrote while in jail?
The travels of Marco Polo?
Paper money, toothbrushes, rockets, earthquake detectors, Porcelain, Mechanical Clock, compass, gunpowder, paper, movable type print,
What is a seismograph?
An earthquake detector.
How did the Chinese make toothbrushes?
toothbrushes were made with coarse horse hairs attached to bone or bamboo handles.
What were the Chinese trying to make when they made gunpowder?
A potion to gain human immortality
17
How old was Marco Polo left with his father and uncle to go to China?
17 years old.
What is the Civil Service Exam?
It was a 3 day test that China gave to Chinese boys to find the smartest and brightest that might be able to run the Chinese government. To help prepare boys to take the test schools were started all over China that boys could attend. They started the test to get away from parents buying government jobs for their children to have. The test focus on literature, poetry but no math.
What is a steppe?
Who was Genghis Khan?
He was the one that united the nomadic shepherds and used them to conquer Asia and parts of Europe. He ruled from 1206 AD - 1227 AD
What is the Social System that Kublai Khan create in China?
It is a social system made up of four classes of people. On the top were Mongols, next the Central Asians, next the Northern Chinese and on the bottom was the Southern Chinese. Each class had different laws and punishment for breaking the laws were not the same for each class of people.
During the Ming Dynasty how did the Chinese feel about foreigners?
Because the Mongols had been friends with the foreigners and had been mistreated by them.
What did the Ming Dynasty Chinese people believe about China's relationship with the world?
They were the central of the world.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty was China an Open Door Policy or a Closed Door Policy?
Closed Door?
During the Yuan Dynasty did China have an Open Door Policy or a Closed Door Policy?
Open Door
What did the Mongols use their horses for?
They used them to travel great distances quickly, used them as a food source by drinking their blood.