How did foreign relations change during the Ming Dynasty?

From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, China's foreign relations changed from opening up to the outside world to closing the country to the outside world. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, foreign exchanges were active, and in the Song and Yuan dynasties, foreign exchanges entered a more frequent period, and overseas exchanges were developed. During the Ming Dynasty, foreign exchanges moved from openness to seclusion, and the national strength was strong in the early stage, and Ming Chengzu began to send Zheng He to the West seven times, reaching as far as the east coast of Africa and the Red Sea coast; From the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, due to the decline of China's feudal system and the invasion of Western colonizers, the rulers implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, strictly restricting foreign affairs, and only opening one Guangzhou as a foreign trade port.

From closed to open, from friendly to conquest, it changed according to the needs of society at that time.

In order to maintain the stability of the country's external stability, the Ming Dynasty implemented a series of foreign policies, which were not only influenced by their predecessors, but also carried out certain innovations. The Ming Dynasty had a profound Han cultural tradition and a rich historical and cultural heritage.

Therefore, in the cultural exchanges with other countries, the Central Plains culture has a certain advantage. These foreign policies could only maintain short-term stability, but they could not resolve conflicts between different ideologies and cultures, and the foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty was very controlling.

The foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty underwent many changes, but it was generally open to the outside world, pursued harmonious coexistence, and established friendly relations with neighboring countries.

In the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the military was strong and there were many famous generals. After recuperation in the Hongwu period, the Yongle period already had the strength to go out to fight, and also sent Zheng He to the West to promote the national prestige, and experienced the rule of Renxuan, and the national strength reached its peak. Open to the outside world and conquer the world.

Then it experienced the change of Tumubao, from prosperity to decline, the coastal Japanese invaded constantly, and the northern ethnic minorities continued to plunder. Set up a nine-sided town in the north to passively defend; Maritime bans were imposed along the coast, but feudal landlords and bureaucrats continued to smuggle and even colluded with the Japanese to create incidents. The external strategy is passive and passive, and Gou is at peace for a while.

In the end, after Zhang Juzheng's reform, the decline was slightly reversed, and the successive strange monarchs, eunuch dictatorships, literati groups formed parties for personal gain, land annexation became more and more intense, and the common people rebelled again. At this time, the external weakness, sitting and watching the Jurchen grow, the internal suppression was not effective, the rebel army was surging, and under the internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty collapsed.

The foreign relations of the Ming Dynasty were as follows:

1. The Ming Dynasty was in the late stage of China's feudal society, and the germ of capitalism also appeared, which made the Sino-foreign exchanges appear unprecedentedly prosperous.

2. During the Hongwu period, the foreign policy was basically centered on "harmonious coexistence and friendly exchanges", and Zhu Yuanzhang personally opposed expansionism and practiced peaceful and upright diplomacy.

3. At that time, the Ming Dynasty implemented a ban on the sea and tribute, prohibiting the people from participating in foreign exchanges, but requiring overseas countries to make "tribute" to the Ming Dynasty, and Tupei brought some goods when paying tribute, which were purchased by the Ming court authorities, and the surplus could be traded with Chinese merchants.

4. It was decided to send Zheng He to lead the fleet of ships to go out to those places in the West to develop foreign relations, and the ruler of the Ming Dynasty at that time, that is, Ming Chengzu, believed that the Ming Dynasty was already very powerful, and it should strengthen its external propaganda, so that more countries in the world would know the existence of the Ming Dynasty and the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

5. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, because the national strength of the Ming Dynasty began to decline, the defense of the coastline was relaxed, and at this time, the samurai from Japan colluded with some pirates and merchant ships in China to rob the villages in the coastal areas of our country.

There was also the later deeds of Qi Jiguang's resistance to the Japanese.

1. Adhering to the principle of peace, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, actively restored and adjusted the foreign relations affected by the war. In terms of diplomatic concepts, the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to carrying forward the traditional Confucian culture and the idea of benevolence and righteousness, and corrected the tense diplomatic relations brought about by the foreign policy of the Yuan Dynasty that was constantly fighting and subduing the world. In diplomatic practice.

2. Pursue a foreign policy of good-neighborliness and friendship of "good-neighborliness and harmony with morality", a foreign trade policy of "thick exchanges and thin exchanges" and a policy of ethnic equality of "equal treatment", and actively build a diplomatic relationship of peaceful coexistence in which "nothing happens to each other" and "enjoy the blessings of peace forever".

3. In the institutionalized handling of foreign relations, a perfect external work organization has been set up, with the host and guest department "in charge of the tributary reception and giving of the vassals", the pedestrian department "the affairs of the festival and the envoy", the city department "in charge of the overseas tributary city of the tributary city", and the Honglu Temple "in charge of the ceremonial affairs of the court meeting and guests".

1. The people of the Ming Dynasty were extremely open to the outside world.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, on the one hand, he sent Zheng He to the West to promote national prestige, and on the other hand, he sent Chen Cheng to the Western Regions, and the successor of the Timurid Empire, Shaharu, gave up the anti-China policy and sent envoys to communicate with the Ming Dynasty, restoring the relationship between the "suzerain" in the Zhu Yuanzhang era, but the "anti-China forces" in Central Asian countries are still active.

2. Patriotism.

The pre-war war led by Qi Jiguang was a war against aggression, and he was a great national hero and a returnee in the history of our country. Qi Jiguang led"Qi Jiajun"to the southeast coast to fight against the Japanese, south to Zhejiang. In 1561, he led the army in Taizhou, Zhejiang, and annihilated more than 10,000 Japanese invaders.

After that, he led his army into Fujian and Guangdong, so that the plague in the southeast coast was basically lifted.

Adhere to the policy of opening up to the outside world, but have the courage to resist when encountering foreign aggression.

Adhere to the policy of opening up to the outside world, persist in self-reliance, absorb advanced foreign technology, win over in the face of friendship, and fight hard in the face of aggression.

Adhere to the policy of opening up to the outside world, adhere to self-reliance, and absorb advanced foreign technology and experience.

Closing oneself to one's own country and being blind and arrogant will inevitably lead to backwardness.

Lesson 15: The foreign relations of the Ming Dynasty are as follows:

From the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the feudal system in the East declined, and capitalism in the West began to rise. With the colonial expansion of the West, the world was connected, and the hidden scum states of the world market gradually formed. With the development of the first industrial revolution, a situation was eventually formed in which the West was advanced, the East was backward, and the East was subordinate to the West.

Expand your knowledge:

Zheng He's voyage to the West was a sea voyage during the Yongle and Xuande years of the Ming Dynasty, the first voyage began in the third year of Yongle (1405), and the last voyage ended in the eighth year of Xuande (1433), a total of seven times. Because Zheng He served as the main envoy of the mission, and the fleet sailed to the west of Borneo (that is, the so-called "Western Ocean" in the Ming Dynasty), it was named.

During the seven voyages, Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, led a fleet from Nanjing, assembled at Liujiagang in Taicang, Jiangsu, and anchored at Taiping Port in Changle, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, sailing to the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, visiting more than 30 countries and regions.

Zheng He's voyage to the West was the largest sea voyage in ancient China, with the largest number of ships and seafarers, and the longest sea voyage, and it was also the largest series of sea expeditions in the history of the world before the voyage of the great geographical discoveries of Europe at the end of the 15th century. However, there are still controversies about historical facts such as the purpose of Zheng He's fleet, the range of navigation of the Liang faction, and the evaluation of the seven voyages.

Zheng He's navigation technology in the Western Ocean was based on marine scientific knowledge and nautical charts, and used nautical instruments such as nautical compasses, logs, and sounders to ensure the navigation route of ships according to the records of nautical charts and needle books. When sailing, the route of navigation is clearly determined, which is called the needle road. The error of the compass does not exceed degrees.