Emperor Hongwu
~from peasant family
~abolished the position of chief minister
~priority to restore the position of the
scholar-gentry
~restored the civil service exam
~drove out Mongol influence
Government
~imperial bureaucracy---officials were appointed based on the CSE
~rule through terror---many public beatings and threats
~Emperor had absolute power
~Bureaucrats would oversee local networks of villages, local leaders worked on Reformation, irrigation, porcelain, cotton, silk, collected taxes
Social Aspects
~SOCIAL STRUCTURE--- Emperor, Scholar-Gentry, farmers, artisans, merchants
~Neo-Confucianism led to more rigid social structure (foot-binding)
~new crops led to a large population growth
~no dissension or criticism allowed
Rise in Power
~Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu) led military campaigns to unify china (1368)
~moved capital from Nansing to Beijing
~mongols retreated to steppes
Eunuch
A castrated man, traditionally employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.
Zheng He
~born to Muslim parents
~captured and castrated (enforce loyalty) to become a EUNUCH
~Admiral---visited 37 countries, traveled around the tip of Africa into the Atlantic Ocean and commanded a single fleet whose numbers surpassed the combined fleets of all Europe
