Changes

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

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

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.

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, 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.

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.