16 CultureShock! China
Power became increasingly centralised in the emperor
himself, who eventually moved the capital from Nanjing
to Beijing. It was at this time that the Imperial Palace (also
known as the Forbidden City) was constructed and the Great
Wall, as we know it today, completed.
The enforcement of a strict adherence to Confucianism
under the Ming led many to label the philosophy of that day
‘Neo-Confucianism’. The government rigorously applied the
centuries old examination system to select officials for the
central bureaucracy. Based on the works of Confucius and
Zhu Xi, the examination system was expanded during the
Ming to include the ‘eight-legged’ essay, a special style unique
to this period and especially demanding for scholars taking
the imperial exam.
Despite a focus on things internal, engagement with
cultures outside China’s borders didn’t come to halt. Between
approximately 1405 and 1433, seven major maritime
excursions took place, led by the eunuch Zheng He. Able to
boast possibly the world’s largest seagoing fleet at the time,
the Ming rulers sent Zheng He and his ships throughout the
oceans of the world, reaching as far west as eastern Africa
and as far south as Java and Sumatra. Despite the wealth
of experience and exposure that Zheng He brought back to
China, however, the excursions suddenly stopped and ChinaCopper coins with a square hole in the middle, used during the Yuan and
Ming dynasties.