Unit 4: Asia and its Interactions with Europe 1500-World War I
19. Japan from the Warring States Through the Meiji Restoration
Warring States, Ashikaga Shogunate, Oda Nobunaga, hideyoshi, Shogun, Edo, Kyoto, Ieyasu Tokugawa, Battle of Sekigahara, Samurai, Ronin, Daimyo, Inns of the Shogun, Seppuku, Bushido, Nagasaki, Dutch Traders, Kokugaku, Haiku, Bunraku, Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Hokusai, Ihara Saikaku, Commodore Matthew Perry, The Meiji Restoration, Ministry of Industry, "Revolution from above", "Incomplete revolution"
20. China from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty
The Ming or Brilliant Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor, Yongle Emperor, Guards with Brocade Uniforms, Eight-legged essays, Forbidden City, Zheng he, Champa rice, li-chia, Ta-Ming lu, Single Whip Reform, Ming porcelain, Jesuits, Wouko, Eunuchs, Mongols, Beijing, Great Canon of the Yongle Emperor, Matteo Ricci, yen Sung, Chongzen (Ch'ung-chen), Jurchen tribe, Aixinjueluo Nurhachi, Taiji or Abahai, Qing or Pure Dynasty, Li Zicheng (Li Tzu-ch'eng), Shunzhi emperor, Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Kangzi Emperor, Qianlong Emperor, White Lotus Rebellion, Taiping rebellion, Hong Xiuquan, Kingdom of Heavenly Peace, Tianjin or Tientsin, Boxer Rebellion, Treaty of Nanjing, Treaty of Tientsin, Society of Harmonious Fists, Dowager Empress Cixi, Open Door Policy, John Hay, Pu Yi, Double Ten Incident, Sun Yat Sen, National Army
21. The Islamic World from the Ottomans Through the Early Twentieth Century
Ottomans, Istanbul, Phanariots, Gunpowder Empires, Caliph, Battle of Mohacs, Sulieman, Devshirme, Sipahis, Beys, Tazimat Reforms, Ataturk, Isfahan, Abbas II, Safavids, Mughals, Purda, Sati, Akbar, Peacock throne, Taj Mahal, Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive, British East India Tea Company, Sepoy Mutiny, Sikhs, British Raj, Indian National Congress
Unit 4 Focus Readings
Gender Issues (Japan)
In the Tokugawa period, Japanese women had been kept confined to the house and followed Confucian expectations about obedience to their fathers, husbands, and sons. Women could not inherit property and could not obtain a divorce, whereas men could do both. Marriages were arranged.
However, the industrialization of the Meiji era opened up to them new opportunities for education, and women started to work in the new factories. Despite some gains in theis area, the constitution of 1890 did not grant women eligibiilty to vote, and in later years, their rights were defined within the traditional context of the family. Even by 1900, the Meiji were still prohibiting women from joining political organizations. Women contributed to industrization, especially through labor in the textile industries, but they did not receive political rewards. The inequities that continued under the Meiji for women, farmers and other members of the lower classes have been often referred to an "an incomplete revolution". Although the Meiji leaders achieved much in the way of economic and industrial transformation, they did not succeed in changing the unequal distribution of wealth so characteristic of the Tokugawa and earlier eras.
However, the industrialization of the Meiji era opened up to them new opportunities for education, and women started to work in the new factories. Despite some gains in theis area, the constitution of 1890 did not grant women eligibiilty to vote, and in later years, their rights were defined within the traditional context of the family. Even by 1900, the Meiji were still prohibiting women from joining political organizations. Women contributed to industrization, especially through labor in the textile industries, but they did not receive political rewards. The inequities that continued under the Meiji for women, farmers and other members of the lower classes have been often referred to an "an incomplete revolution". Although the Meiji leaders achieved much in the way of economic and industrial transformation, they did not succeed in changing the unequal distribution of wealth so characteristic of the Tokugawa and earlier eras.
Gender Issues (China)
The status of women in China declined during the Ming and Qing periods. The Hongwu emperor had emphasized Confucian ideals, according to which women were subservient to men. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, women were to be married as virgins. They could not seek a divorce from their husbands, but their husbands could diorce them for failure to produce sons. Female children were not highly valued, as they were not as strong and also the family would have to provide a dowry for the eventual marriage of the child.
Women entered the households of their husbands' families, and men often had concubines. Their husbands' relatives often forced widows to remarry, because the in-laws could then retain their dowries. Marriages were arranged and were not dependent on love. In fact, because the couple lived within the larger family unit, love matches were often seen as problematic, for they put too much emphasis on the couple's relationship as opposed to their duties within the larger group. Despite the growing emphasis on the Confucian scholar gentry, only one to two percent of women were literate during the Ming and Qing periods.
Women entered the households of their husbands' families, and men often had concubines. Their husbands' relatives often forced widows to remarry, because the in-laws could then retain their dowries. Marriages were arranged and were not dependent on love. In fact, because the couple lived within the larger family unit, love matches were often seen as problematic, for they put too much emphasis on the couple's relationship as opposed to their duties within the larger group. Despite the growing emphasis on the Confucian scholar gentry, only one to two percent of women were literate during the Ming and Qing periods.
Gender Issues (Ottoman Empire)
Women were generally well-treated under Islamic law and could own and inherit property. They could not be foced into marriage. Further, in the sultan's harem, women close to the sultan might gain tremendous influence. Many women in the harem were slave girls and while Christian slave boys might rise through the devshirme and services in the Janissaries, girls might rise through admission to the harem. Slaves were drawn from the non-Muslim population, as Islamic law forbade the enslavement of Muslims. Some girls of the harem were permitted to leave to marry officials, while the Queen Mother, the mother of the sultan, often arranged the marriages of her daughters to important figures and even engaged in diplomatic relations with other countries.
Gender Issues (India)
Women contributed to the success of India's cloth industry and wove the cloth in their homes. Women from mercantile families also often played an important role in business transactions. Greater visibility and involvement of women in business was made possible by Akbar's creation of market days for women, which was intended to free them from the restrictions of purdah. Purdah evolved from Islamic laws about women that reulted in their being kept cloistered at home. Many Hindus had adopted this practice.
Hindus also continued to follow the custom of sati, the practie of placing a woman on her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Hindus also arranged marriages for their female children at a young age. Akbar attempted to discourage both practices as well as the Hindu custom of prohibiting the remarriage of widow. Nevertheless, the plight of women continued to be somewhat dismal as hindus sometimes forcibly married Muslim women or stripped those Hindu women who converted to Islam of their inheritance.
Akbar also provided education to the women of his court and even established a school for girls in Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar was not entirely successful in abolishing various religious practices that subordinated women, but his reign was remarable for its attention to women's issues.
Although there were notable and powerful women in the courts of later Mughal rulers, such as Jahangir's wife Nur Jahan and Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal, the plight of women continued to decline following the reign of Akbar.
Hindus also continued to follow the custom of sati, the practie of placing a woman on her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Hindus also arranged marriages for their female children at a young age. Akbar attempted to discourage both practices as well as the Hindu custom of prohibiting the remarriage of widow. Nevertheless, the plight of women continued to be somewhat dismal as hindus sometimes forcibly married Muslim women or stripped those Hindu women who converted to Islam of their inheritance.
Akbar also provided education to the women of his court and even established a school for girls in Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar was not entirely successful in abolishing various religious practices that subordinated women, but his reign was remarable for its attention to women's issues.
Although there were notable and powerful women in the courts of later Mughal rulers, such as Jahangir's wife Nur Jahan and Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal, the plight of women continued to decline following the reign of Akbar.
Questions to Consider
Before answering the questions below, be sure to understand the readings by defining unknown words, researching allusions, and using prior knowledge to make connections with the broader strokes of history. This set of excerpts can be used for further study of the Art as a Reflection lecture at http://demott.weebly.com/indian-independence-lecture.html
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. How do these excerpt show the progression, regression, or continution of gender attitudes?
3. To what extent do gender issues relate to other elements of PERSIA?
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. How do these excerpt show the progression, regression, or continution of gender attitudes?
3. To what extent do gender issues relate to other elements of PERSIA?