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Jan 1, 1550
Francis Xavier Converting People
As one of the first Catholic missionaries, Francis Xavier traveled to Southeast and East Asia, looking to convert people. Following this, he spent the next two years attempting to convert people in Japan. He was simultaneously trying to gain access to China. However, he died in 1552, before he was granted access. He was very successful in converting common Japanese people, converting over 100,000. Japanese elites found this newly introduced religion to be disruptive to society. -
Jan 1, 1557
Opening of Chinese Trade Ports
Trade had been developing more slowly in China then it had been in other countries. In 1513, a Portuguese ship was attempting to trade with China, but it was no permitted by the government. This caused the Portuguese embassy to get involved and by 1522, China had expelled the Portuguese. After many years, the Portuguese were allowed to trade with China from a base in Macao. This opened the door for other countries to begin trading with the Chinese. -
Jan 1, 1571
Crimean Attack on Moscow
The Russian Empire seemed to be great, but in reality was very poor and land-focused. The only port city was Arkangelsk, which only worked as a port when its harbor was not Frozen. The Crimean people saw an opportunity to gain land and successfully attacked, capturing Arkangelsk and Moscow. Russia then tried to move closer to the Baltic Sea, only to be badly beaten by Sweeden and Poland. -
Hideyoshi Invasion of Asia
Considered to be one of the most successful warlords, Hideyoshi launched an invasion on both Korea and China. His overall goal was not just the capturing of lands, but to make himself the emperor of China. He used an army of 160,000 troops and brutally attacked both Korea and China. Neither country was able to stop him and his invasion was a success. However, Hideyoshi died in 1598, and along with his death came the withdrawl of Japanese forces and peace was made between the countries in 1606. -
Creation of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Following the conquest of Korea and the civil war that left Japan devastated, Tokugawa Ieyasu united the Japanese together. He created a strong, centralized government that helped restore Japan. This also marked the first time the Japanese were open to trade with European merchants. The Shogunate was successful until Catholic missionaries began to convert many Japanese people. This led to massive persecutions across Japan and the cutting off of trade with Europeans by 1639. -
The End of Japanese and European Relations
Beginning in 1614, new laws were created that made it illegal for Christian missionaries to influence the Japanese. The government began to destroy the entire Christain community in 1617 and continued this over the next couple of centuries. New laws were also created between 1633 and 1639, ending the trade between the Japanese and Europeans as punishment for the Christain missionaries. The death penalty applied to any European in Japan, thus ending all relations. -
Manchu Conquering of China
The Manchu leaders were invited by a Ming leader to take Beijing back from the Chinese rebels. They successeded and rather than helping the Ming return to power, the Manchu claimed China as their own. This began a 40 year conquest of all Ming territories. By the end of the century, the Manchu had conquered all of Southern China and incorperated Taiwan into Imperial China. -
The Little Ice Age
Climate changes in both Europe and China. Temperatures reached a low point around 1645 and stayed that was until the end of the century. This caused major agricultural distress and famine. The Ming were now falling behind technologically and politically to their neighbors that did not experience this kind of climate. People became stressed, causing uprisings and the overall end of the Ming Empire. -
Conversion to a Rice-based Economy
The Togukawa government was unable to control the population, causing there to be a major decline in rice prices and the general economy. Samurai began to convert their rice into cash just to be able to finance their lives. The government realized that rice brokers could take advantage of the financial difficulties of the samurai, so new laws were created to regulate the price of rice and the interest rates. Later laws were created so that all samurai debts would be forgiven. -
Forty-Seven Ronin Incident
A young daimyo was provoked by a senior minister to draw his sword at the shogun's court. The young daimyo was forced to commit seppuku, Followers of this samurai then became ronin (masterless samurai), and by their own code were to avenge the death of their fallen master. They broke into the minister's house and killed him, sparking a legal debate about whether this was moral or not based on samurai and society laws. This created a society that promoted innovation and couldn't be exploited.
