Trade and Economy of the Thai Kingdoms

Trade and Economy of the Early Thai Kingdoms

• Ayutthaya was an international trading center (it was the major trading center in South East Asia)
• Dutch and Portuguese traders established ports in Thailand
• Muslim merchants brought cloth, opium and minerals with which they traded for spices, Chinese goods, gold, jewels, and aromatic guns.
• Chinese traders brought in tea, silk, porcelain, minerals, spices, foodstuffs, aromatic wood and a variety of forest products.
• The Dutch expanded the trade network (imported European cloth and glassware)
• The trade system is formed by the Chinese merchants
• Thai economy was based on valley economy- which means that the farmers from the village would send the rice to bigger city which is usually the capital city.
• Because of trade, Ayutthaya became extremely wealthy
• There was a connection between Thai trade and Burmese invasion because they felt intimidated and they felt threatened by the Thai capital. Thai trade allowed Thailand to be prosperous, so the Burmese were envious.
• Money, geopolitical ambition, Burma needs trade in order to get the guns from the Europeans, so they can dominate Thailand
• After the Burmese invaded: 1820 and 1830, the military threat from Burma gradually disappeared, Thai economy increased dramatically.
• Plantations of sugar, pepper, tobacco, and cotton, indigo sprang up in the countryside.
• The economy is based on rice. (Solid base of rice production)
• Luxury items, necessary items
• Countries that trade in Ayutthaya included China, Portugal, Spain, India, Arabia, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, England and Holland

Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

Map

The Yuan Dynasty a part of the Mongol Empire 1279 AD – 1368 AD

Technology/Economy

During the Mongol Empire there weren’t many major inventions. But one major advances during the dynasty was that they had rebuilt the Great Canal so that it would be easier for the trade which brought in more profit. Also during this time the astronomy and mathematics were improved. During the time of the Yuan Dynasty the economy was going well. This was all because Kublai had improved a lot of things in China. He had improved the problems with flooding, he also encouraged people to start the silk production, and also they had more land for agriculture. He had also improved the roads. Most of the trades in China were under the foreign control which had given China a lot of profit in the country. There were also more trade routes opened in China. Also during the Yuan Dynasty they changed their currency from metal to being paper because all the metal coins were finished. In China during the Yuan Dynasty the Mongol had two tax systems which they had taken from during the Tang Dynasty. The two tax systems were the poll-taxed which was used in the north and in the south they used the double tax system. They had raised the tax they too k from the farmers which was too much for the farmers. Later towards the end of the Yuan Dynasty the economy started to get worst which caused differences between the rich and the poor and the money that they get form trade wouldn’t be used for the Chinese people but the Mongols used it all themselves.

This was the money they used to use in China because they started using the paper money.

Social Changes

During the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols had ruled over China who didn’t respect the Chinese customs and culture and they didn’t want to act like the Chinese so they kept their own language and customs. So while they were ruling the Mongols didn’t use the Chinese language but instead used their own language. But they didn’t change a lot in the society. Like they kept the custom for drinking tea. The changes that they made were in clothing they wanted people to wear clothing which is a combination of the Mongolian and the Han dynasty. The Mongols also didn’t allow the Chinese to do foot binding for the girls and they didn’t allow the women to own any property. Also during the Mongol Empire drama productions were more known and they had played a lot of plays which included singing and dancing during the Yuan Dynasty. These are just some of the main social changes that occurred during the Yuan Dynasty.

This is a picture showing the elephants holding Kublai Khan’s command for what he wants in the battle which also can include that they are going to use their own language and customs.

Government

At the time of the Yuan Dynasty the Mongols had used the same government structure that had already existed from the Song Dynasty. All the people who were in the government were Mongols or non-Chinese people. They didn’t let any of the Chinese people work in the government. The Mongols had used the same system for taxation, state examinations for official recruitment and the imperial library. Like the Song Dynasty they had three government offices in one office were the secretariat, in the second office were the censorate which was used for controlling over the whole bureaucracy and the third office were for the military bureau. During this time the military was also divided into three troops which were the Mongol army, their allies, and the Chinese troops.

This is the sign that showed that the Yuan Dynasty were ruling.

Religion/Philosophy

In the Yuan Dynasty the Mongols didn’t really force people to change their religion and philosophy, because there were already so many religions that people believed in during the Mongols Empire. But the Mongols themselves believed in shamanism. So people had continued believing in what they believed. Like for the people who believed in Confucianism and Taoism continued believing in their philosophy. Also a majority of people in China believed in Buddhism which also continued during the Yuan Dynasty. Since it the Dynasty was under the Mongols Empire the Muslims had some special privileges which the Chinese people didn’t get. The Mongols gave the Tibetan Buddhism some special privileges because they had influences a lot of people who believed in shamanism.

This is the symbol of Shamanism which most of the Mongols believed and worshiped.

Leaders/Contemporaries

Leaders in the Mongol Empire

1. Kublai Khan- He was born in 1215 and died in 1294. He was the founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire. He is the grandson of Genghis Khan who conquered China. He renovated the Great Canal and extended the highways in China. He also improved agriculture in China and started trading with foreign countries. He gave special privileges to the Tibetan Buddhism.

This is a picture of Kublai Khan

1. Chu Yuan-Chang- He was born in 1328 and past away in 1398. He was born in China and he was really good military leader during the Yuan Dynasty. And in 1356 he took over Nanking and by 1364 he had conquered Hupeh, Hunan, Kiam. Then later he took over the Mongols and took them out of China and became the Chinese emperor himself and that was the time when the Ming Dynasty started.

Leaders from another civilization

1. Marco Polo- He was born on September 15^th 1254 and past away on January 8^th 1324. He was born in Venice Italy. He was a trader and an explorer. Marco Polo was also one of the first Westerners to that traveled on the Silk Road in China. He came to China during the Yuan Dynasty and met Kublai Khan. He was a great traveler who discovered the Orient.

He is Marco Polo a great explorer who came to China during the Yuan Dynasty.

1. Al Malik Al-Ashraf Khalil- He ruled Egypt from 1290 until his he was murdered in December 1293. He was very famous because he conquered the last state that was created by the Western Europeans in Palestine.

Other

1. Some other interesting facts about the Mongol Empire were that they didn’t want to get influenced by the Chinese language and custom so they had used their own language and custom during the Yuan Dynasty.
2. Other interesting fact is that they had divided the people in China in 4 different classes during the dynasty. The first class where the Mongols, the second class were the non-Chinese people or the Muslims, the third class were the North Chinese people and the last class was the South Chinese people. The Mongols didn’t like the South Chinese people ironically the South Chinese people had a better education than the Mongols.

Summary

Technology: During the Yuan Dynasty there were no major inventions but one of the advances was that they rebuilt the Great Canal and the astronomy and mathematics were improved.

Economy: During the Yuan Dynasty the economy was going good and they had two tax systems which one was used for the North and the other was used for the South and the trading was going well but towards the end of the Dynasty the economy started to fall.

Social Changes: The Mongol Empire didn’t respect the Chinese customs and language so they changed some of the customs like the clothing and they didn’t allow foot binding and also they used their own language but they also kept some of the customs like to drink tea.

Government: The government structure that the Mongols used was the structure that was already existed since the Song Dynasty which consisted of three offices one was for the secretariat, then second one was used for censorate and the third office was for the military bureau.

Religion/ Philosophy: During the Yuan Dynasty the Mongol Empire didn’t force any religion that the people had to follow because they were already many religion that people were following and they continued to follow that but the Mongols themselves followed the shamanism and they also gave some special privileges to the Tibetan Buddhism.

Leaders/Contemporaries: Some leaders during the Yuan Dynasty was Kublai Khan who was the founder of the Yuan Dynasty and another leader was Chu Yuan-Chang he was a good military leader who slowly conquered some of the provinces in China. Some leaders from another civilization during the Yuan Dynasty were Marco Polo who came to China and was a good explorer and Al Malik Al-Ashraf Khalil who had conquered the last state that the Western Europeans created.

Timeline:

1279-Yuan Dynasty was established and controlled all of China which was ruled by
Kublai Khan
1275-1292-Marco Polo travels in China
1281- Kublai Khan tired to invade Japan but failed
1300-1368- The White Cloud Society and Red Turbans rebelled against the Mongol rule
1340s- Due to the Yellow River it started flooding which caused famine

1368-Mongols lost their power and so the Ming Dynasty took over

Work Cited

• "Yuan Dynasty." Travel China Guide . 26 December 2006. 8 Feb 2007 .
• Hooker, Richard . "The Mongolian Empire: The Yuan." The Chinese Empire. 6 June 1999. 8 Feb 2007 .
• "Kublai Khan ." encyclodictionalmanacapedia. 8 Feb 2007 .
• "Inventions/Improvements." History of the Yuan Dynasty. 8 Feb 2007 .
• "Mongoliam Interlude-Yuan Dynasty 1271-1368 99 Years ." Chinese Dynasty Map. 11 February 2007. 12 Feb 2007 .
• Carr, Dr. Karen. "Yuan Dynasty-Mongol invasion." Kidipede-History for Kids. 10 November 2006. 12 Feb 2007 .
• Koeller, David W.. "Yuan Dynasty 1280-1368." China and East Asia Chronology. 12 Feb 2007 .
• Roberts, Jay. "Mongol Dynasty ." Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. 12 Feb 2007 .
• "Yuan Dynasty Background (Year 1279-1368)." Chinatown Connection. 12 Feb 2007 .
• Gilmore-Lehne, William J.. "The Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368." The Global History Consortium. 12 Feb 2007 .
• "Yuan Dynasty." Later Imperial China. 12 Feb 2007 .

Done By: Anjana Arora (Nikki)
Asian Studies

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