Alec C wrote...11/23

Today in class we talked about the differences and similarities of Ming China and Tokugawa Japan. We were given some slides from a powerpoint and had to match them with the correct titles. The first slide was the agricultural slide. This said how when the Chinese went through droughts and natural disasters and there was a lack of food, the people higher in the social pyramid would sometimes take advantage of them. In Japan, the rice production was run by the government for a much smoother transaction. The next slide we talked about was the absolutism slide. Both China and Japan had formed bureaucracies(probably not spelled correctly), and they both censored writing, while Japan banned books from the west, china only censored certain readings. The next slide was the sea-based expansion slide. China explored somewhat but then stopped, but Japan slowly stopped all ships from leaving the country at all. The next slide was the global trade slide, which stated that chinese goods like porcelain and silk were in high demand in Europe. The chinese traded for mostly silver and firearms. Japan at first traded for fire arms and designs for weapons, but slowly they stopped global trade until it was confined to one island. The last slide was the gunpowder trade slide. This said how china traded gunpowder for European silver, and the Europeans later introduced firearms using gunpowder to japan, along with plans to build other weaponry. The similarities I found atleast were they both had bureaucracies(again, spelling), they both traded with Europe, at least Japan did at first for firearms, and that they both censored writing. The differences were that China explored for longer then Japan did, China did not isolate itself as Japan did and China had a worse agricultural system then Japan did(atleast in terms of when there was a shortage). The main focus of class today was the differences between Tokugawa Japan and Ming China. I randomely chose the next person and its Nick M