Asian Transitions in an Age of Golden Change
Vasco De Gama who found Calicut and the ports of east Africa have found a foray into Asia. It was a trading network along the coats of Africa, middle east, and Asia. This network also called the Asian Sea Trading Network was broken down into three zones. The Arabs were masters at glass, carpets, and tapestries. India had cotton textiles, and China was known for the porcelain and silk textiles.
The Portuguese wanted in on the trading network They used military force to capture Ormuz, Goa, and Malacca. These bases served as naval bases and points where spices could be stored. But soon after the Dutch wanted a piece of this as well. They were military more capable than the Portuguese. The Dutch took over Malacca and built a new port in 1620 at Batavia. Now they have established the Dutch Trading Empire. After that, the Portuguese took control of Luzon and Mindanao. In India however missionaries such as Jesuit Francis Xavier and Robert di Nobili were trying to convert Muslims/hindus into Christians. Jesuit tried to convert the untouchables and Robert the upper class. The most successful of all the missionaries was the Philippines because they had not been exposed to world religions. However, they mixed Christianity with some of their native traditions.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a rebel war lord attempting to overthrow Yuan dynasty. Zhu conquered most of china, and declared himself the Hongwu emperor in 1368. The Chinese were now anti- Confucius and were very hard on the children in education. They took exams that would last up to days. They sat in cubicles where they ate and slept. Over 4000 people took these exams so only 150 could get a degree. Also Hongwu abolished Chief minister of the central government and if government officials were caught doing anything that would hurt the government they got public beatings, some didn’t even survive. This was a way to keep the government in check. Hongwu, like most...