Monday, September 28, 2009
The Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty expanded over east Asia, or China from 1368 to 1644. I like to call the Ming dynasty a time for China to recover and become very powerful in their new ideas and talents. They had a well built centralized government system in which the emperor was the main head, and the loyal eunuchs worked under them. Using this strong base, they strategized to repair the old work of the Mongols when they were in rule, restoring all the cultivation and doing a great amount of farming. They also repaired parts of the Great Wall and were known to built the "forbidden city." Through all these efforts, the international and domestic trades rose vigourously and the population flourished. This marked the spot of the Ming dynasty being the most successful and prosperous civilizations of the world. Since they were located along the coast of China, it gave them an advantage in creating large fleets of ships and sailing across the world in hope for progress. The muslim eunuch, Zheng He led one of these expeditions to many places like, India, Indonesia, Arabia and East Africa, bringing back people to make the Ming even stronger. "Bringing order to the world," the Ming presented tribute with these people and finished their trading opportunities.
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I do agree with most of what you are saying, especially the point that you made about how the Ming worked extensively to repair damages caused by the Mongols, but I do disagree with just one thing. I disagree with what you said about the Ming having a well built centralized government. I don't agree with you on that point, because If this were true about them, the Ming would have lasted a lot more than they did. Also the Ming wouldn't have fallen so easily as they did. Their empire falling only by itself and not because of another empire taking over proves that their government was really weak. They fell because they had opposing sides in government, the Eunichs vs the Officials and a well centralized government wouldn't have differing people like this.
ReplyDelete"I disagree with what you said about the Ming having a well built centralized government. I don't agree with you on that point, because If this were true about them, the Ming would have lasted a lot more than they did. Also the Ming wouldn't have fallen so easily as they did."
ReplyDelete-Agustin
I'm going to have to disagree with you, Agustin. I think that the reason why the Ming Dynasty fell was not because of their lack of a centralized government, but rather that they cut off the economic connections they had with the outside world. Instead of contiuning to trade along the silk road and the Indian Ocean Basin, China formed a protectionist society. The reason why the Ming dynasty fell, in my opinion, is because they were closed to foreign trade; in turn, other civilizations throughout the world were able to surpass the Ming Dynasty in terms of their military advancements. There were other reasons why the Ming dynasty fell, but I don't think that the fall of the Ming Dynasty can be attributed to their decentralized government.
-Cy