Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644

Ottoman Empire, 1299-1923

9.7 OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND MING DYNASTY

9.7a Three belief systems influenced numerous powerful states and empires across the Eastern Hemisphere. • Students will map the extent of the Muslim,

Neo‐Confucian, and Christian realms and compare the relative size and power of these realms ca. 1400.

• Students will map the extent of the Ottoman Empire and Ming Dynasty at the height of their power.

Linguistic Groups In China

Neo‐Confucianism

• rationalist & secular form of Confucianism • rejecting superstitious and mystical elements of Taoism and

Buddhism • universe could be understood through human reason • up to humanity to create a harmonious relationship

between the universe and the individual

• critical of Taoism and Buddhism • Unlike Buddhists, the Neo-Confucians

believed that reality existed, and could be understood by humankind

• Yet borrowed concepts from Taoism & Buddhism

• Suspicion of new tech & foreigners • Very conservative – emphasis on social

rank, obligation, morality, limited role for women

Neo‐Confucianism

9.7b The dominant belief system and the ethnic and religious composition of the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty affected their social, political, and economic structures and organization. • Students will analyze how the ethnic and

religious composition of the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty were reflected in their political and societal organization

How the ethnic and religious composition of the Ottoman Empire was reflected in its political and societal organization

• open and welcoming view of different nationalities and religious groups.

• indigenous inhabitants to practice their own religions, provided they pay a tax to the government.

• religious groups who had faced persecution in Europe actually made the journey to live in the Ottoman Empire. • significant Muslim population - ultimately the official religion

of the empire; • Greek Orthodox • smaller number of Catholics • Orthodox Christians • Armenians (Apostolic, Catholic, and Evangelical) • Syriac Orthodox • etc!

Huge size of the empire allowed for such a plurality of religions to coexist under a single imperial power.

Byzantines, Turks Austrians various Slavic peoples Syrians Georgians Armenians Persians Egyptians Arabians etc.

Ethnicity and religion = tied together. • Muslim = dominant • toleration to both Judaism

and Christianity. • Types of Christians

• Orthodox Christians, Armenians (Apostolic, Catholic, and Evangelical), Syriac Orthodox

• Jewish and Christian minority populations allowed into every level of society from military to government.

Largest ethnic groups: Turks Arabs Greeks Slovenians Serbs Albanians Croatians Armenians Kurds.

Millets • three were established by Mehmed

the Conqueror soon after he made Istanbul his capital in 1453.

• Greek Orthodox • Armenian Gregorian millets were led

by their patriarchs • Jewish millet In the countryside, villages mostly made up of members of one millet.

Millet Social structure of the Ottoman Empire millet = a separate legal court • "personal law" • 3 possible:

• laws of Muslim Sharia, • Christian Canon law, • or Jewish Halakha

• allowed to rule itself under its own system.

…comes from the Arabic word … means "nation". early example of pre-modern religious pluralism

• no municipal government as such in traditional Ottoman society.

• religious leaders of each quarter or village carried out all the secular functions not performed by the ruling class • based on their own

religious laws • their own courts • in their own languages • in accordance with their

own customs and traditions.

Millets… Organized and operated

• schools, • old-age homes • kitchens for the poor • celebration of certain

festivals • organization against

attacks, plagues or fires For the most part each lived independently with little input either by members of the ruling class or by members of the other millets

Ottoman Society Ruling Class • open to all who declared and

manifested loyalty to • sultan, • Dynasty • Empire

• accepted the religion of Islam; • practiced the “Ottoman Way,”

• complex system of • Ottoman language

• a variant derived from Turkish, Arabic, and Persian;

• Customs of ruling class; manners

Subject Class Everything the ruling class didn’t do the subject class did “rayas” • “protected flock” reyas were organized

• millet • guilds • dervishes

How the ethnic and religious composition of the Ming Dynasty was reflected in its political and societal organization

Ming Dynasty Social Structure • evolved over hundreds of years • influenced by Confucian

thought • four broad classifications in

Ming society • Shi • Nong • Gong • Shang

The Shi: Gentry Scholars • initially came from the

warrior caste • slowly started to include

aristocratic scholars and an educated bureaucracy.

• access to books and knowledge was extremely limited

• scholarly person = highly respected in society

The Nong: Peasant Farmers • only second to the Shi • producers of food which

sustained the empire • contributed to state revenue =

taxes • essential to the empire

The Gong: Artisans and Craftsmen • artisans = skills to make useful

objects • basically landless, they did not

generate revenue for the state • skill passed on from generation

to generation • more respected than

merchants • Some successful enough to hire

apprentices and labor to increase their production.

The Shang: Merchants and Traders • did not produce anything • looked down upon by

society as those who lived off the labor of others.

• only traded and transported the food and goods made by the Nong and the Gong.

• Many bought land to command more respect in society.

• Popular belief at that time = merchants only motivated by greed & did not contribute to greater good of society.

Late Ming period • commercialization increased • wealthy merchants slowly

became a part of the landholding gentry • Each class was entitled to

different legal privileges

All was Not Always a Bed of Roses • revolts in 1464 to

1466 • crushed by an army

of 30,000 Ming troops (including 1,000 Mongols) joining the 160,000 local Guangxi

• Some suggested single, unitary administration of Chinese & native ethnic groups in order to bring about sinification of the local peoples

• early Ming emperors particularly favored Taoism

• granting its practitioners many positions in the state's ritual offices.

• Some attacked Buddhism as a foreign "mourning cult" • deleterious to the state

Islam • well-established throughout

China, • Arrived in China during the

Tang dynasty • strong official support during

the Yuan • several prominent Muslim

figures early on

Christianity • Ming initially devastating to Christianity • in his first year, Emperor declared the eighty-

year-old Franciscan missions among the Yuan heterodox and illegal

• centuries-old Nestorian church disappeared. Later Ming saw a new wave of Christian missionaries • Jesuits • Matteo Ricci • Used new western science & technology in

arguments for conversion • educated in Chinese language & culture

• strong disagreements about the extent to which converts could continue to perform rituals to the emperor, Confucius, or their ancestors

• by the end of the Ming = a full ban of

Christianity

Jews • approximately 5,000 Kaifeng

Jews • 1642 flood caused by Kaifeng's

Ming governor devastated the community • lost five of its twelve

families, its synagogue, and most of its Torah.

9.7c The Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty had different views of the world and their place in it. Islam under the Ottoman Empire and Neo‐Confucianism under the Ming Dynasty influenced the political, economic, military, and diplomatic interactions with others outside of their realm. • Students will examine Ming interactions with

European traders and Christian missionaries. • Students will examine how the Ottomans interacted

with Europeans noting the role of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Silver! • influx silver from the Americas • large quantities of metal currency into

the world markets • created a “price revolution”

• quantity of goods remained the same while the amount of money in circulation increased dramatically.

• European traders were able to take advantage of their access to gold and silver to outbid the Ottoman traders.

• increase in prices created hardship for those living on fixed incomes • i.e., Ottoman janissaries.

Ming Interaction with European Traders

• China = second-most important trade partner to Europe.

• Ming limit trade… 1500s • Limited contact with foreigners

• Spanish & Dutch maintained trading bases in Taiwan

Ming Interaction with European Traders

• ~1500 = isolationist policy towards trade. • Private foreign trade outlawed • Lots of illegal trading • officially sanctioned trading only allowed in three

ports. • Japanese allowed in one designated port only

once ea. 10 years.

Ming Interaction with European Traders

• early 1500s, Europeans arriv • Rafael Perestrello, cousin of Columbus,

arrived in Guangzhou 1516

• 1517 - Large Portuguese expedition came to Guangzhou • landing party was put in jail • naval battles … Portuguese generally lost

• 1557, Portuguese convince Ming court to agree to treaty • made Macau a legal trading port of the

Portuguese

• Europe = eager to trade with China

• sent multiple merchant ships over

• only allowed to trade at Canton.

• European merchant ships brought missionaries

• Jesuits

• Franciscans

• Dominicans

• Silver from the New World was causing inflation

What was happening at the time • The New World was being

colonized by the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish.

• The British, Portuguese, French, and Dutch were trading in the Indian Ocean.

• Russia only traded with Europe.

Ottoman interaction with European Traders

• Europeans want silk, precious gems and gold from the Islamic middle men

• driving theme of the relationship that develops between these two cultural groups.

• Ottoman Empire orients itself toward Europe in response to increased trade

• … Then began to decline

Ottoman economic problems • caused in part by the influx of silver from Americas. • European traders used the large supply of silver

and gold coins to buy their way into Ottoman markets

• Ottoman traders didn’t have access to the currency that the Europeans did, • so reduced the Ottoman purchasing power

Gradual increase in European trading dominance in the Mediterranean → Gradual transformation of the Ottoman economy.

• Ottoman farmers → grow cash crops to meet European demand • cotton • tobacco

• Ottoman Empire → more and more meshed in European commercial network.

• Europeans not able to take colonies in the Ottoman ports (like in Asia) • but did have unequal trade agreements

• i.e., coffee • made Europeans huge profits • only paid the Ottoman sultans 3%

Ottoman decline = "Tulip Period" tulip bulbs became a high priced item and highly coveted among the elite classes like they did in Holland.

• Although European trade and military power threatened the security of the Ottoman Empire, Europeans were not considered enemies

• clothing and furniture styles as well as books became popular items among the elite classes

Suleiman the Magnificent 17:36