Why did the Chinese elite distrust merchant activity?

In Imperial China, the merchants, traders, and peddlers of goods were viewed by the scholarly elite as essential members of society, yet were esteemed least of the four occupations in society, due to the view that they were a threat to social harmony from acquiring disproportionally large incomes, market manipulation …

What were the main features of medieval China?

Perhaps the two most important geographical features of Ancient China were the two major rivers that flowed through central China: the Yellow River to the north and the Yangtze River to the south. These major rivers were a great source of fresh water, food, fertile soil, and transportation.

What was happening in medieval China?

During the Middle Ages, Chinese rulers who supported Confucian ideas brought peace, order, and growth to China. Exploration and trade spread ideas and goods. China’s Ming rulers strengthened the government and supported trading voyages that spread Chinese ideas and goods.

When was the medieval period in China?

For the purposes of this articles, the term “Medieval China” stands for that period in Chinese history between the fall of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the fall of the Mongol (Yuan) dynasty (1368 CE).

What was medieval China like?

Medieval China thus forms a key time and place in world history. After the fall of the Han empire, the first great empire in Chinese history (202 BCE to 220 CE), China experienced more than 350 years of disunity (220 to 589 CE).

Who were the Europeans in China during the Middle Ages?

Europeans in Medieval China. This occurred primarily during the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, coinciding with the rule of the Mongol Empire, which ruled over a large part of Eurasia and connected Europe with their Chinese dominion of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).

How many Europeans lived in China during the Mongol Empire?

Given textual and archaeological evidence, it is thought that thousands of Europeans lived in Imperial China during the period of Mongol rule. These were people from countries traditionally belonging to the lands of Christendom during the High to Late Middle Ages who visited, traded, performed Christian missionary work, or lived in China.

When did the Europeans first come into contact with China?

Direct contact with Europeans was not renewed until Portuguese explorers and Jesuit missionaries arrived on Ming China’s southern shores in the 1510s, during the Age of Discovery . The Italian merchant Marco Polo, preceded by his father and uncle Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, traveled to China during the period of Mongol rule.