Essays on Ming Dynasty

Answer two questions

Answer two questions

The Islamic influence in Spain was a strong one lasting for a long period of time. Islam offered more than just a territorial succession to the public, but it was the religion that offered intellect and social structure as well as a great privilege to society. Islamic principles did conquer the thought, language and architecture of Spain, particularly in the cities of Granada and Al-Andalus. Islamic influence was deeply ingrained in the Spanish society. Hence it led to the development of Islamic thought that promulgated deep in the society, and much of the former Christian world ...

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Introduction China is home to the most ancient and enduring human civilization. This civilization flourished for thousands of years and have survived through many succession of rulers and dynasties. The study of China’s civilization is important in order to understand China’s contemporary society. Chinese civilization can be categorized into three broad historical periods: ancient China, Imperial China and modern China. These periods, however, only serves as an imaginary partition in order to identify a certain time in the history of China. But in reality, Chinese civilization is continuous and was never interrupted even through there ...

Question 1

The case of Taj Mahal and its popularity as the most recognized work of art is also explainable through this context. Taj Mahal is widely recognized as a symbol of love. The emperor Shah Jahan constructed this Tomb (Mausoleum) in memory of his late wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. But unlike the Great Wall of China or the Pyramids of Egypt that too is overloaded with stories of griefs (such as the death of Pharaohs and thousands of slaves) there is something about Taj Mahal that makes it more appealing than everything ...

Abstract

Artefacts have been suggested as the primary points of insights into the culture and customs of a civilization and the way they interact with the world around them. Whilst many of the objects in question convey spiritual messages in terms of idols and iconography, it is important to consider the ways in which the objects communicate on an implied level also; for example, jade stone is one particular inclusion within many Eastern Asian ceremonies and ceremonial pieces and had been considered within these cultures’ as a precious stone, but also, for its ability to preserve an individuals spirit. As ...

The Ming dynasty in the 1600s made considerable and deliberate efforts in a bid to ensure that its regions remain under one ruler. A Buddhist monk who was also a peasant found the dynasty, rose to the rank of an army general and led a rebellion against the Mongols. The monk assumed the name of Hong Wu and made the decision to have Nanjing as the capital of China, but a latter emperor of the dynasty moved the capital back to Beijing. One of the major roles that Hong Wu assumed as the emperor include reorganizing every aspect of ...

INTRODUCTION

World exploration and explorers are always hailed in history books and classes as significant events and people because they have opened doors to new eras of trade, knowledge and information, technology and cultural consolidation. The names Christopher Columbus, Vasco de Gama and Ferdinand Magellan are some of the greatest names in exploration. Countries that have often been associated with historical explorations are Spain, Portugal, Great Britain – in other words, Western countries. A closer scrutiny, however, of historical explorations showed that ancient China conducted explorations and voyages even before these Western countries did in the 15th century. The voyages occurred ...

Many Ancient Chinese emperors used eunuchs not only to work in the harems, but also to perform all sorts of tasks of economic and administrative order and allowed eunuchs to carry out a significant role in governance. Era of Ming dynasty was characterized with the confrontation between the two groups vying for the actual control of the state apparatus. Mandarins were highly educated officials who represented "official" state apparatus. Mandarins were proud of their knowledge, adherence to Confucian ideology and loyalty (Tsai 19). Often, Ming emperors communicated with the outside world, including senior mandarins, mainly through the eunuchs, which ...

For many historians and academics, globalization was a big bang phenomenon of 1492. The onset of globalization is thus often related to the voyage of Christopher Columbus, which resulted in his discovery of the Americas. Later on, Vas Co Da Gama’s voyage around Africa and his eventual entry into spice trading further laid the foundation of globalization and interconnectedness. The focus of this essay is to develop a clear analysis of the actual onset of the globalization process. It seeks to show that globalization was present even before the famously-acclaimed voyage of 1492. Globalization in itself denotes the ...

Abstract

Throughout history, women have had to struggle to make their voices heard in the public sphere. In many ancient societies, including China, patriarchy was the norm and women were forbidden to be a part of the outside world. Because of the influence of Confucianism and its strict social codes, women’s voices were silenced in history. However, this very social environment gave women a chance to express their feelings, often camouflaged, through poetry. As a result, Chinese literature has become a wonderful storehouse of women’s experiences during the rule of the Ming and Qing dynasties. This essay aims ...

China’s defeat in the hands of foreign powers through the Opium Wars proved that neither Chinese technology nor political system was as good as those of the foreign countries (Schell & Delury, 2013). This made China to rely on the technology of outsiders that gradually weakened the Chinese economy. Thus China began to compromise on its own tradition and indigenous knowledge. In fact, China was blessed with vast human capital and traditional wisdom; sadly, the dynastic rulers could not make effective use of them. Instead, they believed that the foreign wisdom was superior and tried to adopt it without ...

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Introduction Economic freedom refers to a state or condition wherein people and organizations can do business freely without being ruled over or being subject to any restrictions or limitations. In his seminal work, ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,’ Adam Smith, a British philosopher and economist, argued that laissez-faire, or the doctrine that industries and markets functions best if they are unregulated and free, is best for the economy. Smith believes that if the markets are unregulated, traders and merchants will compete against each other in order to provide better products ...

Introduction

The Chinese urban planning is based on a long history that can be traced back from the Ming Dynasty. For several years, the place has been famous for its architectural style that continues to attract many people across the world. One of the landmarks of the ancient Chinese architecture within Beijing is the Forbidden City (Hongkui 8). The Forbidden City housed the traditional Chinese emperor and empress from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. The old city of Beijing was first erected during the Yuan Dynasty and developed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The place boasts of ...

Before starting propounding specific ideas and citing specific examples let us define exactly what the “Old World” and the “New World” is. This is especially important as there are different approaches to what these definitions mean. So for the purposes of this paper the Old World is not the part of the world that has had civilization and political entities in its territory chronologically earlier than other parts of the world, but the part of the world that in which concentrated political and social processes we as Europeans know them from history. That being said, the notion of the ...

The age of exploration and colonialism was in fact the first period of globalization starting in the early Modern and going through the modern period. European explorers, traders, merchants and governments were primarily interested with trade with Asia and the Americas. The connection between silver from Spanish America and Asian spices and luxury products was one of the main drivers of the world economy from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. As always economic changes seem to have another, even larger social impacts. Greater interconnectivity between Europe, its American colonies and Asian markets and its connection to the global ...

The Resurgence of Chinese Power and the Coming of Islam

In this article the author argues that: “the establishment of the Ming dynasty constituted an age of Chinese ascendancy, largely the result of the aggressive foreign policies of the early Ming emperors and their successful reassertion of the tribute system” (181). The main point is that there were lots of impressive decisions and discoveries made that promoted the authority of the emperor to the highest level as well as lots of pity mistakes that diminished the possible gains. From the author’s point of view and as human experience suggests, no people’s hegemony lasts forever and the Chinese ...

From the Ming Dynasty to the end of the reign of Qing Dynasty, Forbidden City was the imperial palace to the Chinese. It is situated in the middle of Beijing and presently houses the current palace Museum. Palace museum is one of the world’s famous museums because of its collection of ancient materials which were used during the reign of the Qing and Ming dynasties. Palace museum served as the home of emperors, together with their family’s households. It was highly respected since ever one viewed it as the throne to the leadership of the Chinese nation. ...

Abstract

The concepts of national identity and Chinese imperialism are among the most essential postulates of Chinese cultural framework. The first explorations of these issues were taken by the ancient Chinese philosophers, while the culmination of their development took place in the late 17th century, when the imminent danger of foreign invasion became evident for the Chinese Empire. Wang Fuzhi is recognized as one of the most prolific Chinese scholars and political thinkers. Although his main accomplishments took place during the decline of the Ming Dynasty, nevertheless he managed to articulate the frameworks of Chinese national identity and the ...

Became Integrated

The Eurasian landmass has witnessed the spread of such major religions as Christianity and Islam. It is also where knowledge of philosophy, science and technology originated, shaping Western culture and thought. This cultural melting pot flourished because the peoples of the Eurasian landmass have been linked along cultural, religious and political lines for centuries; trade and war among other factors, stimulated the sharing of social experiences and improvements in technology and agriculture. The purpose of this essay is to explain how the integration of Eurasia came about between 1000 and 1600 CE up to eventual integration of the Americas ...

The Ming dynasty came into power in China right after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty. The dynasty was in power for close to 270 years and is regarded as one among the greatest forms of government and social order in history (Chan, 3). Zhu Yuanzhang, who was the emperor at that time, installed a number of robust changes that led to the dynasty become one of the most stable and autocratic in China’s history. The reign of the Ming Dynasty was a period of cultural restoration and expansion. Under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, the current capital ...

People have always been distinguished by a sense of superiority and pride for when it comes to their origins, culture, and civilization, compared to others. That sense was, sometimes, intense even among those speaking the same language and sharing the same cultural background if there was something they felt was making them stand out. This paper will focus on two dynasties, the Yang and the Ming, and will present the contrasting attitudes they had for the others, based on the works of Lin Jing and Ma Huan. The Yuan dynasty appears to be expressing Han-related behaviors towards “others” very ...

A RELIC OF THE PAST

Month/Date/Year More than two thousand years ago, Chinese emperors began constructing massive walls of defense to protect their northern frontiers. Nowadays, the remains of these ancient ramparts and towers still scar China’s borderlands. Hundreds of thousands of men both young and old performed Corvée labor in order to pay their taxes to the emperor. They pounded this gigantic, winding edifice out of the Earth’s soil. Finally in the 16th century, the Chinese people built greater fortifications that ran across the steppe borders. A stone colossus that became the national emblem of China; the Great Wall. ...

Introduction

The Chinese people experienced eminent growths in terms of art and their culture between the period of 950-1200 AD. There were many developments in music, philosophy, literature and visual arts, which blossomed due to printing activities, hence making the Chinese culture spread to other regions. Among the major contributors towards this growth are the Song, Ming, Qing and Yuan Dynasties, which did many paintings and poetry to reflect further their culture 1. These works of art were exhibited for viewers during religious and other seasonal activities, an event that made the Chinese appreciate their culture. At some point during ...

The ROC-PRC transition parallels the Ming-Qing transition to a certain extent, especially when we consider Manchuria and Taiwan; however, the international situations and ethnic conditions differed quite a bit. Discuss the parallels and the differences comprehensively. Mongolia is a country that has been independent of China for decades. However, there is usually confusion as to whether it is a part of People’s Republic of China (PRC) that remained after the Ming Dynasty or not. This also applies to Taiwan and Manchuria. Although all the three states claim independence from the greater China, there is usually confusion because all of them have ...

Zheng was born in the year 1371 a period when the Chinese and European had crafted the art of boat building for exploration purposes. The main contribution of Zheng was commandeering exploration ship on behalf China to the Far East Asia. The purpose of exploration was to look for minerals for china and look for territories to expand. The main areas that Zheng He explored included the South Asia, coast of Somalia, and Coast of East Africa. The mystery remains on Zheng being the greatest ship builder in his time. Zheng He was named Ma He at the date of ...

The Rome Empire rose from a small town in Italy to become the center of a vast empire. Its rise was associated with various war conquests, civilization that was taking place in the region as well as their attitude. They established strong government that was able to meet the needs of people (Grout 44). On the same, they had a strong religion that played an importantly role in bringing people together. On contrary, Qin Dynasty Empire rose to be a superior state in China in terms of economic, political and social growth. This empire was able to conquer other states in the event of war ...

China in the sixteenth century was more culturally, technologically and economically advanced than the other countries around it. However, as time passed the economy weakened and Europe surpassed the country in terms of economic growth. There are several factors that contributed to the turn of affairs. The Ming Dynasty ruled the country in the period 1368 to 1644C.E. First of all, the rulers prohibited or restricted trade between the foreigners and the merchants forcing them to engage in illegal trade. The merchants dialogued with the government to overturn the prohibition and in 1578, the merchants were allowed to trade ...

Guard the Commander-in-Chief’s remains. What a pitiable sight. I’ll

Light candles and incense and lament his death. [He lights a Candle and mourns beside the corpse, then sings]:

The hero is dead of indignation, his people all dispersed. There is only an empty boat to serve as his coffin. I invoke his spirit by the river,

But where can I fund wine for the sacrifice? (K’ung Shang-jen, 253)

The Peach Blossom Fan is an exposition of the realities of the nadir of the Ming dynasty of China. At the end of the Ming era, the ...

History of Christianity in China

As early as 635 AD missionary activity, were noted in China in pursuit of establishing the religion. This was recorded in the stone stele discovered by accident in 1625. Christianity’s efforts to grow came to a halt in 845, through the political and economic Unrest when emperor Wuzong banned Christianity, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. It was reported by a rector In 986 that Christianity was vanished in china. There was no any significant presence until in the 13th century when the mongol tribe established the Yuan Dynasty, Christianity made some strides during this period, however this was very short lived since ...