History 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

History 3 - Essay Example Despite enjoying all these earthly pleasures, the merchants and samurai who enjoyed the floating world felt that their lives were meaningless. The floating world came about due to the emphasis on formal education, literature and philosophy. The participants of the floating world culture included, sumo wrestlers, theater actors, prostitutes, geisha the samurai and the wealthy merchants. The more people were more knowledgeable after going through formal education, their social lives mainly revolved around the floating world. Tokugawa Leyasu assumed power after he was able to defeat the Hideyori (the son of Hideyoshi) loyalist and some of his other western rivals in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (Bentley & Ziegler 2011). This is after Hideyoshi had died in the year 1598. In the year 1603 Tokugawa Leyasu was appointed shogun by the then emperor. In the year 1615 Tokugawa Leyasu captured the Osaka castle. By capturing the Osaka castle this meant that he had no more rivals. Immediately after assuming power in 1600, Tokugawa Leyasu distributed gained land to the daimyo. Leyasu put in place a law that required the daimyo to spend every second year in Edo. Through these strategies the shoguns were able to control the daimyo as this made sure that daimyo were not financially stable. Tokugawa Leyasu promoted foreign trade with the English and the Dutch. However, Leyasu forbade the locals from travelling and abroad. This isolated japan from the rest of the world. During this time domestic trade and agriculture greatly improved. Another factor that led to the economic and population growth under the shoguns period was peace. Tokugawa was able to take control of warring states. Political stability also led to economic and population growth. The Qing dynasty ruled the Chinese empire from 1964 to 1912 (Bentley & Ziegler 2011). The Qing dynasty rose into power after the fall of the Ming dynasty. With the help of General Wu Sangui