Changes

Having overthrown the Mongols, the first foreign (barbarian) group to conquer all of China, and who ruled for nearly a hundred years, the Ming have been described as perpetually paranoid about the Mongols. The Ming Court rebuilt and expanded the Great Wall of China, and in the 1410s-20s launched five military expeditions deep into Mongolia. The Dynasty remained at war with various Mongol groups on and off for two hundred years, with one Emperor being captured by the Mongols in [[1449]], and a Mongol army at one point in the mid-16th century making its way to the very walls of Beijing. It was not until [[1571]] that the Ming managed to establish an official peace with the Mongols; and, only a few decades later, a separate group, the Manchus, came knocking on China's door.

Having overthrown the Mongols, the first foreign (barbarian) group to conquer all of China, and who ruled for nearly a hundred years, the Ming have been described as perpetually paranoid about the Mongols. The Ming Court rebuilt and expanded the Great Wall of China, and in the 1410s-20s launched five military expeditions deep into Mongolia. The Dynasty remained at war with various Mongol groups on and off for two hundred years, with one Emperor being captured by the Mongols in [[1449]], and a Mongol army at one point in the mid-16th century making its way to the very walls of Beijing. It was not until [[1571]] that the Ming managed to establish an official peace with the Mongols; and, only a few decades later, a separate group, the Manchus, came knocking on China's door.

The Yongle Emperor also launched military expeditions into [[Annam]], but withdrew after twenty years of fighting, with no significant gains.

Almost immediately after founding the dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor sent missions to every major polity in the region, seeking a reaffirmation, or beginning, of [[tribute]] trade relations. Submission to Ming authority by [[Koryo Dynasty]] Korea, among others, would do much to symbolize foreign recognition of the legitimacy of Zhu Yuangzhang's new dynasty. Rebuffed initially by Korea, the Ming reduced Korean missions in [[1374]] to taking place only once every three years, and later, when [[King Taejo|Yi Sŏng-gye]] established a new dynasty in Korea, the [[Joseon Dynasty]], the Ming initially refused to provide investiture. In light of concerns about Mongols and Jurchens on the border, the Ming Court needed to know it had Korea's loyalty. Meanwhile, beginning in [[1372]], all [[Sanzan Period|three kingdoms]] active on [[Okinawa Island]] entered into tributary relations with the Ming. [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], which conquered its neighbors in the 1420s, would continue these relations into the 1870s.

Formal tribute/[[kango boeki|tally]] trade relations were established with Japan for the first time in [[1401]]-[[1402]], under the [[Jianwen Emperor]], and then continued briefly under the Yongle Emperor before being severed by Shogun [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]]. Relations were later restored, then severed again in the 1550s, due in part to [[wako|pirate/raider]] activity (see below), which was blamed on the Japanese. Official Sino-Japanese relations would not be restored again until the late 19th century, but unofficially (and thus, for the most part, illegally in the eyes of the Chinese Court) a vibrant trade continued between China and Japan throughout the Ming and Qing periods. Up until the very last years of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese and Japanese merchants both traveled in great numbers between the two countries, trading Chinese silk for Japanese silver, among many other goods; though the Chinese had opened new mines in the southwest, many of their other silver mines were already beginning to run dry at the very beginning of the Ming period, and so the influx of silver from Japan and the New World (carried by European trade) was much welcome. From the 1540s onward, Europeans were also prominent intermediaries in transporting and selling Chinese goods to Japan, and vice versa.<ref>Eastman, 125.</ref>

Formal tribute/[[kango boeki|tally]] trade relations were established with Japan for the first time in [[1401]]-[[1402]], under the [[Jianwen Emperor]], and then continued briefly under the Yongle Emperor before being severed by Shogun [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]]. Relations were later restored, then severed again in the 1550s, due in part to [[wako|pirate/raider]] activity (see below), which was blamed on the Japanese. Official Sino-Japanese relations would not be restored again until the late 19th century, but unofficially (and thus, for the most part, illegally in the eyes of the Chinese Court) a vibrant trade continued between China and Japan throughout the Ming and Qing periods. Up until the very last years of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese and Japanese merchants both traveled in great numbers between the two countries, trading Chinese silk for Japanese silver, among many other goods; though the Chinese had opened new mines in the southwest, many of their other silver mines were already beginning to run dry at the very beginning of the Ming period, and so the influx of silver from Japan and the New World (carried by European trade) was much welcome. From the 1540s onward, Europeans were also prominent intermediaries in transporting and selling Chinese goods to Japan, and vice versa.<ref>Eastman, 125.</ref>

The famous voyages of [[Zheng He]] were undertaken in the early Ming, as well. Zheng journeyed across the Indian Ocean on a series of trips from [[1405]]-[[1433]], ostensibly spreading awareness of the power and virtue of the Chinese Emperor, seeking nominal pledges of submission and tribute, and bringing back numerous luxuries, including exotic animals. However, such voyages were terminated as expensive and unnecessary, a luxury that the Court could not afford while focusing efforts on the more vital concerns of domestic matters, and border defense against the Mongols.

The famous voyages of [[Zheng He]] were undertaken in the early Ming, as well. Zheng journeyed across the Indian Ocean on a series of trips from [[1405]]-[[1433]], ostensibly spreading awareness of the power and virtue of the Chinese Emperor, seeking nominal pledges of submission and tribute, and bringing back numerous luxuries, including exotic animals. However, such voyages were terminated as expensive and unnecessary, a luxury that the Court could not afford while focusing efforts on the more vital concerns of domestic matters, and border defense against the Mongols.