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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, 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>
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.
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.
By sometime early in the dynasty, Chinese luxury goods were already widely traded and treasured in distant parts of the world. Silks and porcelains in particular were prized by wealthy elites from India to Iberia. Ming traders operating chiefly out of the ports of [[Hangzhou]], [[Quanzhou]], and [[Guangzhou]] sailed to the [[Pescadores]], [[Taiwan]], [[Kyushu]], the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryukyus]], [[Luzon]], and other parts of maritime Southeast Asia, while Chinese ports and coastal towns grew and flourished as sites of import and transshipment of goods from all around the world, as well.<ref>Tignor, Elman, et al, 430.</ref> Every year, as many as one hundred Chinese ships, with 20,000 tons of cargo space between them, sailed for Southeast Asian ports, bringing back thousands of pieces of silver, plus a myriad of tropical products. Chinese activity at [[Batavia]] (Jakarta) alone exceeded the entirety of the [[VOC|Dutch East India Company's]] operations throughout the region.<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 24.</ref>
By sometime early in the dynasty, Chinese luxury goods were already widely traded and treasured in distant parts of the world. Silks and porcelains in particular were prized by wealthy elites from India to Iberia. Ming traders operating chiefly out of the ports of [[Hangzhou]], [[Quanzhou]], and [[Guangzhou]] sailed to the [[Pescadores]], [[Taiwan]], [[Kyushu]], the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryukyus]], [[Luzon]], and other parts of maritime Southeast Asia, while Chinese ports and coastal towns grew and flourished as sites of import and transshipment of goods from all around the world, as well.<ref>Tignor, Elman, et al, 430.</ref> Every year, as many as one hundred Chinese ships, with 20,000 tons of cargo space between them, sailed for Southeast Asian ports, bringing back thousands of pieces of silver, plus a myriad of tropical products. Chinese activity at [[Batavia]] (Jakarta) alone exceeded the entirety of the [[VOC|Dutch East India Company's]] operations throughout the region.<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 24.</ref>
While this was a period of lively maritime activity, the vast majority of such activity was illicit, or at least private trade; the Ming Court severely limited both the size and frequency of tribute missions which each polity could send, and did not officially recognize or condone most other maritime activity. At times, for lengthy periods, the Court outlawed much maritime activity, rendering the many Chinese and non-Chinese traders on the high seas as smugglers. No longer able to rely on the authorities for protection, many of these smugglers armed themselves, in order to defend themselves against attack, or against unfair dealings; likewise, many also armed themselves in order to force upon others unfair dealings, turning to extortion, piracy, coastal raiding and so forth. Thus was born the ''wakô'' (lit. "Japanese pirates/raiders"). Though many ''wakô'' were Japanese, many were also Chinese, Korean, Malay, or from other Southeast Asian origins; nevertheless, they continue to be remembered today in China and Korea as "Japanese," and as examples of the violent and predatory nature of the Japanese people; though the Ming government demanded on numerous occasions that the Ashikaga shogunate (and, later, figures such as [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]) take steps to end the pirate threat, the pirates were not encouraged or commanded by Japanese central authorities, and such authorities had no effective power to move against them.
==The Fall of the Ming==
==The Fall of the Ming==
