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... of the forgotten City of Beijing. And even nowadays the city amazes a great number of visitors from the whole world. Yongle was a sponsor of legendary expeditions of Admiral Zheng He. All these positive moments are also remembered by Asians and Africans.
Yongle strengthened the power of the absolutist empire and extended his influence upon Vietnam, Korea and Japan. He calmed down the conflict between China and Mongolia. And due to him the empire recovered. (Pi-Chung Hsu 4) Yongle enable the possibility of compilation of texts and even encyclopedia. As to productivity hew as a successful Emperor.
During his reign the crops of corn were really abundant and rice was rice was stored in the granaries. Achievement of Yongle in military and civil field overshadowed the achievements of his father. Yongle was clever and wise in those areas despite his cruelty and ruthlessness. History told us that Yongle conquered the thrown by force.
And his becoming an Emperor was connected with many victims. It was even said that he bathed his hands in blood of the killed people. He was to blame for such awful events. Empire for him was a source of fame, power and wealth. Bloodshed didnt end. (4) Yongle was afraid of being overthrown. Thats why he organized the network in order to get information about the all actions of officials.
Eunuchs staffed this network and had to tell the Emperor about attempts to challenge his legitimacy and absolutism. He was a real usurps. In his fathers times eunuchs were not permitted to deal with politics. It is a matter of fact that Yongle's father was obsessed by witch-hunt, though his son was less paranoiac and suspicious about that. But it didnt mean that he was less merciless and ruthless. He was a tyrant.
In order to protect political achievements Yongle would stop at nothing. He was said to rewrite the history of Chine, because he feared to be considered as cruel and violent ruler. He had an opportunity to do everything he wanted. And nothing and nobody could stop his in his intentions. Yongle couldnt sleep at nights as he was always haunted by the ghosts of his father and all killed political victims.
The title Perpetual Happiness explained all Yongle deeds and actions in elegant way without details. And we have to think over about such controversial person who simultaneously destroyed and continued his fathers heritage. (4) While studying the topic I came across a very interesting description of one day of Yongle's life. Pi-Chung Hsu wrote the following: Although on that freezing winter day of 1423, the shadow of death was upon Yongle -- he had only one and a half more years to live -- the emperor did not relax. In the palace of the dragon kingdom, hours were measured by an ingenious water clock, and everything proceeded to the beat. Even before daybreak, the emperor was already awakened by the fourth drum, rose from his bed, made his toilet, got dressed, and prepared himself for the court audience at dawn. After the courtiers went back to work, the emperor conducted state ceremony, felt unwell, was tended by his physicians, and, despite discomfort, resumed his daily routine.
Yongle worked very hard indeed. He had to listen to reports both from court officials (some of them absent, having been thrown in jail by Yongle) and from eunuch / secret police of the Eastern Depot. The emperor gathered intelligence through both the yin and the yang channels, and made his own judgment. When writing prescripts he did not rely on the drafts prepared by his staff, unlike his less diligent descendants to come. (Pi-Chung Hsu 4) And of course it is necessary to tell some words about the Manchu conquest of China. It was also a remarkable event in the history of China.
It is known that Manchu had been under the power of two sovereign before the empire of Ming dynasty was conquered by them. Manchu established their kingdom in 1618 and then made Ming their province. There kingdom was called Manchuria. Seligman gave the definition of this term as following: The name, Manchuria, is unknown to the Chinese and Manchu languages. It is a foreign term coined by Europeans. The Chinese name for this region was anciently Liao Tung, the land "east of the Liao" (river).
After the Manchu conquest the three provinces of Manchuria were collectively known as "the three eastern provinces. " The Manchus designated their empire as "Ch " ing" (Pure) and in accordance with the Chinese custom the official name of the empire was that of the dynasty reigning. (Seligman 25) Manchu conquest of Chine wasnt a planned or deliberate act. It was rather a combination of circumstances. It was conquered by accident. As it was mentioned above the differences between the north and the south territories of China were considerable and noticeable. The Manchu occupied the north territory of China by consent. The south territory was conquered by force.
The struggle was long, cruel and fierce. The Manchu conquest was perceived by the south and the north in different way. The empire system also had controversial opinions. When the second Emperor of Manchu died, the thrown was inherited by the eleven-year boy. The regency was composed of the Emperors brothers. The regents didnt have an opportunity to get the power and they concentrated on the conquest of China. (Tong 23) And, of course, it is necessary to lighten some social aspects of life such as development of drama, novel and architecture.
Drama developed late in the empire. In the west territories the earliest and considerable works of literature were written mainly for the stage and plays. Drama was outlined among the other kinds of art. In China people didnt consider dramatic plays as literature at all.
For Chinese people theater was only a place of amusement and the drama was far behind poetry, history or philosophy. In those times drama had no opportunities to develop until the 13 th century A. D. That was the beginning of drama development and rise. It took shape as a separate branch of art. With time drama, like a novel, achieved universal popularity in spite of being neglected and denied.
Now China had links not only with novel but also with dramatic plays, which became a popular culture. (Seligman 34) It was the early Ming dynasty that was connected with the rise of drama. It is a pity but drama had existed only in the rudimentary form for several centuries before the development took place in China. During the Ming dynasty the scholars did their best to rescue the theatre history from neglect, which was a part of mere popular kind of art. The history told that drama in those times included dances of the wu and magicians.
These performances were based on the religion and served as spectacles at festive occasions or banquets in order to entertain and to impress guests. (Danto 13) The wu dances didnt become a part of dramatic art. It had nothing in common with performances and stage plays which became very popular by people in China. The rite became an important part of theatre and its aim was to honor the ancestor of the family or clan. It became a habit for some families, especially for young boys, to imitate the dead and get the sacrificial offerings on his behalf.
The short dramatic scenes were performed on such occasions. It was noticed that Manchu devoted themselves to the culture of China and to orthodox tradition. Huge collections of classical literature were made during this period and at their command. The examinations became more predictable and classical, even removed from reality. (Tu Wei-Ming 23) The intense conservative outlook was supported by the whole official hierarchy, Chinese and Manchu alike. Their classical traditions excluded non-Confucian philosophy and based on the most contradiction interpretation of that philosophy.
This type of mind entered the idea of progress for change. The system was self-perpetuating, immutable and unchallengeable. The main cause of the Manchu Empire decline in the 19 th century was intellectual strategy brought by the ruling class and frightened cultural population. The rising conflict and the progress of foreign enemies only confirmed that Confucianism was a fundamental necessity. Even the rebellions were associated with another doctrine and regime. (Seligman 19) To sum up it is necessary to mention that China relieved difficult end controversial times connected with the Ming dynasty and the Manchu. There one can find positive and negative moments in the history and traditions of the dynasty.
All those events mentioned above led to greater difference between the north and the south territories of Chine, though Emperors tried to calm down the conflict. Works cited. Danto Arthur. Ming and Qing Paintings. The Nation 23 October 1989: 13. Mcdermott, Joseph.
The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China. Pacific Affairs 1999: 2. Robinson, David. Bandits, Eunuchs and the Son of Heaven.
China Review International 2002: 9. Seligman, C. China: A Short Cultural History. New York: Appleton-Century, 1938. Tong, James. Disorder and Heaven.
Collective Violence in the Ming Dynasty. Stanford: CA, 1991. Tu Wei-Ming. Neo-Confucian Thought in Action. Berkley: University of California Press, 1976. Pi-Ching Hsu.
Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle. The Journal of the American Oriental Society 2002: 4.
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