Ming Dynasty Trade

Anpull smashing of Minnesota Stokes June 5, 2011 Ming Dynasty stinting system Its harvest- bed covering and its decline. By Andrew cap of Minnesota Stokes groovy of Red mainland mainland china Union University 1P a ge Andrew cap of Minnesota Stokes June 5, 2011 Ming Dynasty Economy The Ming Dynasty The economy of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) of main take mainland china was the largest in the field at the sentence. It is regarded as genius(a) of china state of wares trio golden historic periods (the different 2 be the Han and Tang dynasties), the Ming is in any case the dynasty where the stolon spr forths of Chinese capitalism terminate be seen.The stinting maturation so unpatterned under the Ming Dynasty continue under the Qing Dynasty, up until the time of the Opium War in the 1840s. During this time, mainland chinas domestic economy was a dynamic, commercial message messageising economy, and in round modes, even an industrialising economy. The Ming Dy nasty, champion of the coarseest eras of sitely giving medication and variantly stability in pitying biography 1, was the stand native imperial beard dynasty in Chinese history, sandwiched surrounded by the two dynasties of contradictory origin, Yuan and Qing. The Ming stand as the go bad attempt to hold Chinese organisation in native hands and the break dynasty run by ethnic Hans.As chinaware was humiliated and oppressed by the rule of the Mongolians, the Ming Dynasty rose up out of a kid rebellion led by Zhu Yuanzhang to preside all over the greatest scotch and social conversion in chinaware to begin with the modern period. Trade was exclusivelyowed between china and populations in the west, specie crops were much frequently grown, specialised industries were seted, and the scotch growth ca employ by the privatisation of state industries resulted in a prosperous period that exceeded that of the earlier cry Dynasty.At the finale of the Ming Dynasty , shortly before the Manchus overthrew the Ming and accomplished the Qing Dynasty, chinas economy was a period of involution. vernal food market places were being founded, and merchants were extending their businesses across provincial lines and even into the South china Sea. Establishment of the Ming under the Hongwu emperor moth It had function very apparent that the Yuan Dynastys ability to govern, to maintain order in lodge, to administer principal and local regimenn, and to hive a behavior taxes was eroding closely before the nerve center of the fourteenth century. Agriculture and the economy were in a shambles and rebellion stone-broke out among the hundreds of Reischauer, Edwin Oldfather Fairbank, joke male monarch Craig, Albert M. (1960) A story of eastern nigh Asiatic Civilisation, Vol 1. eastside Asia The Great Tradition, George Allen &038 Unwin Ltd. 2 Mote, Frederick W. (1988) The Rise of the Ming Dynasty 1330 1367 in Twitchett, Denis Fairbank, la vatory K. (eds. ) The Cambridge storey of china, Vol 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368 1644, Part 1. Cambridge University Press, p. 11 1 2P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes thousands of crosspatchs c each in in alled upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River.In the 1350s, several rebel leaders, some all of whom came from the merchant or start classes, seized cities and set themselves up as kings or even, with tho a small add together of territory, pro postulateed themselves to be emperor. The Yuan emperor no coarseer seemed to be in control of the situation, and indeed the expanse, it had been carved up into pieces by rebel warlords. The Ming Dynasty was an age of sectionalization in which throughout nigh of the country the conduct of daily life dep stop on and ended up on come out recourse to violence.It provides a classic mannequin of the gradual militarisation of Chinese ordination and, because of that, the struggle among potent rivals to succeed the Mongol (Yuan) regime by imposing, through soldiery force, a switch regime that could claim the mandatary of enlightenment. 3 Zhu Yuanzhang, who would later exit the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was a peasant. He was the yet person from such poor and basal origins ever to found a nonion Chinese dynasty. It is said that a bookman told him he would succeed if he followed three simple rules a. build strong metropolis walls b. ) gather as much tittle in storage as accomplishable c. ) be slow to assume titles. Zhu followed these rules assiduously. With his army, Zhu slowly conquered the territories of all the warlords whilst carefully watching the organizations armies. By 1368, he has conquered all of southern China this is the date at which the Ming Dynasty positively begins. He had control of all of China by 1369. June 5, 2011 Ming emperor moth Hongwu (1368 1398) emperor exceptterfly Hongwu made an adjacent effort to retrace state infrastructure.He built a long wall around Nanjing, which thus became the official capital of the Ming empire (the Yuan had their capital located in capital of Red China), as hearty as new palaces and government halls. 4 He enacted a series of policies designed to favour agriculture at the put down of former(a) industries. Aid was given by the state to farmers, also providing them with land and hoidenish equipment, as well as a full revision of the ib. Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers.It is quasi(prenominal) to the atomic number 63an concept of the divine accountability of kings, in that two sought to legitimise rule from divine approval however, impertinent the divine right of kings, the Mandate of Heaven is predicated on the conduct of the ruler in question. The Mandate of Heaven postulates that heaven (Tian) would hallow the authority of a just ruler, as defined by the pentad Confucian Relationships, but would be displeased with a despotic ruler and wo uld withdraw its mandate, lede to the overthrow of that ruler. The Mandate of Heaven would so transfer to those who would rule beat out.The mere fact of a leader having been overthrown is itself indication that he has bemused the Mandate of Heaven. 4 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999) The Cambridge Illustrated archives of China. Cambridge University Press. pp. 190-1. 3 3P a ge taxation system. 5 The Ming government abolished the mandatory labored repel by peasants that was used in archeozoic dynasties and replaced it with profit labour. A new class of affiance labourers sprung up where none had existed before. In Jingde alone, it was in body that there were no less than ccc pottery factories, all operated by occupy labourers. According to historian Timothy Brook, the Hongwu emperor moth attempted to immobilise rules of order by creating rigid, state-regulated boundaries between villages and larger towns, discouraging mete out and travel in society non permitted by the gov ernment. 7 He also forcibly send awayd thousands of wealthy families from the southeast and resettled them around Nanjing, forbidding them to move once they were settled. 8 , In order to better administer the state, the emperor coherent surveys and censuses to be taken and the data pull together in government registers and records. This enabled the central government to regulate taxation.In addition, he made all occupations transmitted in order to come on prevent social mobility he unders excessivelyd, as a former peasant himself, the hazard of social mobility. All members of Chinese society were grouped into three large hereditary classes peasants, crafts multitude, and soldiers. To defy track of merchants activities, he forced them to register all their goods once a month. 9 It seems his main goals were to attempt to curb the influence of the merchants and landlords, but it turned out that several of his policies would eventually encourage them to foregather more wealth. Hongwus system of immense drive was seen as being too oppressive and encouraged peoples desire to escape the harsh taxes that were enforce on the wealthy by get itinerant retailers, peddlers, and migrant workers finding populate landowners who would rent them space to farm and labour upon. 10 By the middle of the Ming era, succeeding emperors had abandoned Hongwus unpopular relocation system and instead entrusted local officials to document the numbers of migrant workers and their earnings in order to bring in more revenue. 1 Hongwu believed that agriculture was the core creation of the economy, Hongwu favoured that industry over all else, including that of merchants. However, subsequently his death, around of his policies were turn by his successors. By the late Ming, the state ended up losing origin to the very merchants which Hongwu had wanted to restrict. Andrew Paul Stokes June 5, 2011 5 Mote, Frederick W. (1988), Introduction, in Twitchett, Denis Mote, Frederick W. (eds. ), The Cambridge biography of China, Vol 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368 1644, Part 1. Cambridge University Press, p. 6 Li, Bo Zheng, Yin. (2001) 5000 divisions of Chinese history. Inner Mongolian Peoples publishing House. pp. 994-7 7 Brook, Timothy. (1998) The Confusions of joyfulness qualifying and socialization in Ming China, Berkeley University of atomic number 20 Press. p. 19 8 ib.m pp. 28-29 9 ibidem pp. 65-67 10 ibid. pp. 27-28 11 ibid. p. 97 4P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes The Agricultural Revolution. June 5, 2011 through and through several of Chinas dynastic periods, the economy, like near pre-modern economies was agriculturally foundingd with all new(prenominal) sectors all servicing it or drawing materials from it.During the poem dynasty the Chinese developed the cosmoss most creative agricultural system. Mongol domination and the Ming dynastys beginning to motive left much of China devastated and move uninhabited. 12 The Hongwu emperor moth had as one of his central tasks the rebuilding of the Chinese economy which had been devastated by the excesses of the Mongol rulers. amid 1370 and 1398, China experienced a revolution in agriculture unparalleled in history. Hongwu revived the agricultural sector to urinate self-sufficient communities that would non regard to depose on commerce, which he assumed would only remain in urban areas. 3 The surplus created from this revival encouraged farmers to guess profits by removeing their goods in regional urban markets. 14 on radical separate crops, rice was grown on a large scale with the submission of Champa Rice from southeast Asia. Population growth and the decrease in fertile land made it necessary that farmers produce cash crops to earn a living, and as the countryside and urban areas became more connected through commerce, households in rural areas began taking on traditionally urban specialisations, such as the toil of silk and cotton, as well as producing model dyes and growing sugar cane. 5 The Cambridge fib of China states about the Ming that The commercialisation of Ming society within the context of expanding communications black-and-bluethorn be regarded as a distinguishing picture of the history of this dynasty. In the matter of clientele good production and circulation, the Ming tag a number point in Chinese history, twain(prenominal) in the scale at which goods were being Graham, James. (Unk flatn Date). Quantitative Growth, qualitative Standstill Chinas scotch Situation 1368-1800. From HistoryOrb. com website. http//www. historyorb. com/asia/china_economy. shtml (accessed 03/06/2011). 13 Brook, Timothy. 1998) The Confusions of enjoyment commerce and Culture in Ming China, Berkeley University of atomic number 20 Press. p. 69 14 ibid. pp. 65-66 15 ibid. pp. 113-117 12 5P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes produced for the market, and in the genius of the economic traffic that governed commercial exchange. 16 June 5, 2011 The Yongle Emper or, the guerrilla Founding Hongwus successor and grandson assumed the wad as the Jianwen Emperor (13981402) by and by the death of Hongwu in 1398. afterwardwards a short period of civilian war, he was overthrown by his uncle, Zhu Di, who assumed the bay window under the title the Yongle Emperor.The reign of the Yongle Emperor is considered by many to be a second founding of the Ming Dynasty since he had reversed many of his fathers policies. 17 Also, during his reign, China had recovered many of the territories lost during earlier dynasties, as well as those lost during the much earlier Five Dynasties &038 Ten great powerdoms era (907960AD). One year after assuming the throne, he entitle that the new capital and function base will be moved to back up to Beijing and a new palatial complex to be built, and the current capital, Nanjing, was to be demoted to a secondary capital.Construction began on what is now known as The Forbidden metropolis in 1407. Construction of the n ew metropolis took place between 1406 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily. 18 The Yongle Emperor also Ming Emperor Yongle 1402-1424 initiated many different grand building projects, such as the restoration of the fantastic canal, which had lain dilapidated for many decades. The primer this restoration was measurable was to do work the perennial problem of shipping iota northernmost to the capital.Shipping the annual four cardinal shi 19 was made difficult because the introductory method of shipping through the due east China Sea or by various inland canal routes that include the loading and unloading the Heijdra, Martin. (1988) The Socio-Economic evolution of unsophisticated China During the Ming, in Mote, Frederick W. Twitchett, Denis (eds. ), Cambridge History of China The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644, Part One. Cambridge University Press. p. 580 17 Atwell, William S. (2002) Time, Money, and the Weather Ming China and the Great Depression of the MidFif teenth Century, The diary of Asian Studies ( bulk 61, Number 1). p. 83-113. 18 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley Walthall, Anne Palais, James B. (2006) East Asia A Cultural, Social, and semipolitical History. Boston Houghton Mifflin party. p. 272 19 Ancient Chinese measurement. One shi is couple to about 107 litres. 16 6P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes mite onto several different barges was proven to be rather inefficient and time consuming. 20 June 5, 2011 To a certain boundary, the Ming state itself facilitated the movement of goods to market by relocating the capital to Beijing in the far north, away from the rich and prosperous rice growing areas of southerly China.This resulted in a natural market for the demands of goods in the north, if for no other reason than to feed the imperial household and court. This was one of the reasons why it was so primal to keep up the Grand Canal in working(a) order. It was a major conduit for grain, salt, and other important commodities. Any taxes tha t were paid in kind were paid in grain, which was shipped along the Grand Canal. Thus, control of the Grand Canal was of censorious importance to the Ming government. It was under the reign of Emperor Yongle that the Chinese prime(prenominal) began to flip-flop and interact with Europeans on any prodigious scale.The charge of Europeans would eventually prove to be the most contentious aspect of modern Chinese history, but during the Ming, European trade greatly expanded Chinese economic life, specially in the southern regions. Through most of their history, the Chinese pose concentrated for the most part on land, commerce, and exploration. However, the Yongle Emperor began to sponsor a series of naval expeditions during 1405 and the old age that followed. The debate for these naval expeditions are varied, but the Yongle emperor wanted to expand trade with other countries and had a taste for imported and inappropriate goods.Merchants and Overseas Trade. From 1405 till 143 3, the Chinese imperial eunuch Zheng He led cardinal ocean expeditions for the Yongle Emperor that are queer in world history. During this time, Zheng He travelled all the way from China to Southeast Asia and then on to India, all the way to major trading sites on Indias southwest coast. In his fourth voyage, he travelled to the Persian Gulf. But for the last three voyages, Zheng went even further, all the way to the east coast of Africa. These expeditions made China the worlds greatest commercial naval power in the world at the time, far superior to any European nation. 0 Early seventeenth century Chinese woodblock print, conception to counterbalance Zheng Hes ships Brook, Timothy. (1998) The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China. Berkeley University of California Press. pp. 46-7. 7P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes One social occasion of these lavish expeditions was to overwhelm foreign peoples and to change them beyond any doubt the extent and grandeur of Ming po wer, but more so, it was to improver Chinas contacts in these areas and establishing stateregulated trade there. 21 The Ming government constantly intervened in foreign trade.Under the reigns of Emperors Hongwu, Yongle, and Jiajing, foreign trade by private merchants was completely prohibited. In reality, the bans on this trade never succeeded in anything but preventing the government from taxing private merchants. offstage trade continued in concealed because the coast was impracticable to patrol and practice of law adequately, and because local officials and scholar-gentry families in the coastal provinces in truth colluded with merchants to build ships and trade. The smuggling was mainly with japan and Southeast Asia, and it picked up after atomic number 47 lodes were discovered in Japan in the early 1500s.Since argent was the main form of money in China, lots of people were willing to take the risk of slide to Japan or Southeast Asia to sell products for Japanese capit al, or to invite Japanese traders to come to the Chinese coast and trade in secret ports. Something that can be seen in Chinese society before the Ming dynasty is the customary disgust and disapproval of merchants and foreign salesmen, but during the mid and later move of the Ming dynasty, merchants brought along a large centre of social revolution and change. By the fifteenth Century, the Ming had abolished the restriction on private foreign trade and Ming merchants prospered.An extensive expansion of trade followed with only trade to nations at war with China prohibited. 22 At that time, Denis Twitchett claims that China, unconnected from being a lucrative market for Ming Paper Money Europeans, was the largest and wealthiest 23 nation on earth. The most important parts of all this trade was the importation of capital. The governments of both Hongwu and Zhengtong (1435-1449) attempted to cut the flow of silver into the economy in favour of write up funds, yet mining the Jun e 5, 2011 21 22 Li, Bo Zheng, Yin. (2001) 5000 Years of Chinese History.Inner Mongolian Peoples Publishing House. p. 996 ibid. p. 996 23 Huang, Ray. (1988), The Ming Fiscal presidential enclosure, in Twitchett, Denis Fairbank, John K. (eds. ), The Cambridge History of China, flashiness 8 The Ming Dynasty 1398-1644, Part Two. Cambridge University Press. pp. 110-113. 8P a ge precious coat simply became a lucrative illicit pursuit practiced by many. 24 Emperor Hongwu seemed unaware of the situation of economic inflation, even as he continued to hand out multitudes of composing money as awards by 1425, paper currency was only worth around 0. 014% its fender look on.Eventually, the state stopped issuing paper currency because the population had lost belief in it. 25 Andrew Paul Stokes June 5, 2011 By the late sixteenth century, China was well-nigh a part of the growing world(a) economy. The Chinese were trading actively with the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Japanese, who all traded silver for Chinese silks and porcelain. The Ming shipped silks to Manila in the Philippines and there traded with the Spanish for silver, firearms, and American goods such as sugar, potatoes, and tobacco. Chinese Ming blue and white porcelain became all the rage in Europe and was laid-backly prized.The Dutch East India Company alone handled the trade of 6 billion porcelain items from China to Europe between the geezerhood 1602 to 1682. 26 Patricia Buckley Ebrey writes of the considerable size of commercial transactions on the silk goods traded to Europe In one case a galleon to the Spanish territories in the red-hot World carried over 50000 pairs of silk stockings. In return China imported mostly silver from Peruvian and Mexican mines transported via Manila. Chinese merchants were active in these trading ventures, and many emigrated to such places as the Philippines and Borneo to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities. 27 In 1435, however, court scholars inco rrectly convinced the Hongwu emperor that the decline of the dynasty would be signalled by a taste in foreign wares, so China greatly contracted its commercial and naval expansion it had begun so benignantly. They would later be re-create under the rule of the Yongle Emperor, but over again they were curtailed after the death of Zheng He. The situations of missions access to an end resulted in the eviction of Ming troops from Vietnam which brought significant costs to the Ming treasury. 8 The lavish spending of the sailing fleets with high eunuch power at court was another vauntingly factor (Zheng He himself was also a eunuch as were many other naval commanders), so the halting of documentation for these ventures was seen as a means to curtail further eunuch influence and power at court and in high positions. 29 There was also the great menace of a revival of Mongol power in the north which drew much of the attention away from other matters to face this threat, a massive get of funds and manpower was Brook, Timothy. (1998) The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China.Berkeley University of California Press. pp. 68-69 25 Fairbank, John K. Goldman, Merle. (2006) China A New History. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 134. 26 ibid. p. 206 27 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999) The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press. p. 211. 28 Fairbank, John K. Goldman, Merle. (2006) China A New History. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, p. 138 29 ibid. pp. 138-139 24 9P a ge Andrew Paul Stokes used to restore, rebuild, and extend the Great Wall. 0 legion(predicate) scholars and historians believe that Yongles move of the capital from Nanjing to Beijing in the north was largely in response of the need to keep a closer eye on the Mongols in the north and to better reach to defend. June 5, 2011 Economic and Dynastic Collapse. There were many causes for the decline and fall of the Ming despite th e auspicious start of the dynasty under the Hongwu emperor. The most immediate and direct cause of the fall was the rebellions in the seventeenth century and the aggressive force expansion of the Manchu armies.The decline of the dynasty, however, began much sooner, perchance even as early as the initial establishment of the dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, what is now referred to as the Little grump bestride 31 severely curtailed Chinese agriculture in the Northern provinces, famine, drought, and other disaster befell Northern China, bringing peasant revolts. The inability to collect taxes resulted in armies not being paid. Many of these troops join the rebels making the situation worse.During the last years of Emperor Wanlis reign, and those of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centred on a fulminant general lack of the empires chief medium of exchange silver. Through acts of piracy staged by the Protestant Dutch and the English against the Catholic empires of Spain and Portugal in order to weaken their global economic power, the flow of silver into China slowed. 32 The only flow of silver into China came from the illegal smuggling from Mexico and Peru across the peaceful in favour of shipping like a shot from Spain o Manila. In 1639, the new Tokugawa regime of Japan shut down most of its foreign trade with Europe, causing a further halt of silver coming into China though the Japanese silver still flowed in small amounts. 33 The occurrence of these events at the same time caused a dramatic spike in the value of silver and made the salary of taxes nearly impossible in most provinces. For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver musical composition conducting local trade and exchange their crops with copper coins. 4 Famine, as well as tax increases, widespread host desertions, flooding, the inability of the government to properly neck irrigation ibid. p. 139 Little Ice Age was a per iod of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period. While not a true ice age, the term was introduced into scientific literature by Francois E. Matthes in 1939. It is conventionally defined as a period extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries. 32 Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for ripe China Second Edition. New York W. W. Norton &038 Company. p. 19 33 Brook, Timothy. 1998) The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China. Berkeley University of California Press. p. 208 34 Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for new-fangled China Second Edition. New York W. W. Norton &038 Company. pp. 20-21. 31 30 10 P a g e and flood control projects, caused the widespread loss of life and suffering. 35 overdue to lack of resources, the central government didnt involve the means to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Andrew Paul Stokes June 5, 2011 The Ming Dynastys economy was always in disarray because of the lack of knowledge on how to run an effect ive treasury.Paper money remote from circulation and was replaced with coinage, which eventually lost most of their value due to counterfeiting. However, since there were not decorous coins in circulation, counterfeiting became a massive problem. At this point, the provinces were required to mint their own coins unfortunately, some of them added lead to the coins, which depleted their value. Due to the abundance of counterfeit coins, their value again declined. This coin problem was amplified by an increasing need for money due to the growth of trade, and the threat of military campaigns that proved very costly.Chongzhen, The stretch forth Emperor. During the rule of the final Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, the situation just began to worsen. Chongzhen tried to rule by himself and did his best to try and salvage the dynasty, correcting all the mistakes of those who control previously, but it seemed it was too little too late. After years of internal corruption and an alm ost empty treasury, it became almost impossible to find capable ministers to fill important government posts. It also didnt garter that Chongzhen was incredibly suspicious and mistrusting of the few dexterous subordinates that he did have.In 1644, the rebels under the command of Li Zicheng took Beijing, ending the Ming rule in the North. preferably than face capture, humiliation, and possible execution at the hands of the newly proclaimed ban Dynasty 36, Chongzhen arranged Ming Emperor Chongzhen (1627-1644) a feast and gathered all the members of the imperial household, out from his sons. Using a sword, he killed everyone there. ibid. p. 21 Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xian on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion.Li, however, only went by the title of King (? ), not Emperor (?? ). The capture of Beijing by the Shun f orces in April 1644 marked the end of the Ming dynasty, but Li Zicheng failed to change integrity his mandate in late whitethorn 1644, he was defeated at the betrothal of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu prince Dorgon. When he fled back to Beijing in early June, Li finally proclaimed himself emperor of China and left the capital in a hurry. The Shun dynasty ended with Lis death in 1645. 36 35 11 P a g e Andrew Paul StokesEveryone died except his miss Princess Changping. Chongzhen then fled to Jingshan Hill and committed suicide by hanging himself from a point in the garden. 37 Regimes loyal to the Ming throne continued to reign in southern China until 1662. June 5, 2011 Conclusion. So in conclusion, during the Ming Dynasty, China saw perhaps the greatest change and rebirth in their history. The Ming Empire found the perfect balance of empirical power and Confucianism, culture and technology were revolutionised, allowing the expansion of wea lth trade and nationalism.Political implements and modification had contoured China into a strong and supple empire, extending its fingers south to Vietnam and north to Manchuria. Combining typical Confucian methods of governance, a strong empirical head, and an extended base of power amongst court eunuchs, Ming China successfully rehabilitated the greatness of the Tang and Han dynasties. It was the worlds largest economy of its age. It was also the most sizable and largest military power in all of Asia. Science, economy and military strength from the early Ming Dynasty onwards culminated in the greatest age of maritime exploration in Chinese History. 8 Economically, the Ming Dynasty was a period during which the feudal society began to show the declining trend while the concept of capitalism started to originate. In agriculture, both the food output and the implements of production surpassed that of earlier dynasties. The most spectacular advancement in Ming China probably was the evolution of maritime exploration which opened China up to the world albeit briefly. The increased knowledge of the seas and the navigational tools aided the Chinese in hammer an empire that could trade with places half the world away.But, inexperience and neglect by the Ming rulers contributed greatly to the downfall of the dynasty, as well as corruption of the court officials and the domination of the eunuchs inwardly the court. If, for instance, instead of turning to eunuchs to help encumber on Court officials, the emperors turned to his immediate relatives or maternal relations, it could also have led to, as history of Han and Jin dynasties had shown, factionalism that emasculated the empire. Instead of eunuchs being the problem, imperial relations would have been the problem.The government officials were cruel and extorted illogical taxes. The combination of natural calamity and homophile oppression drove the peasants to a revolt. The disasters of Ming dynasty can be ap portiond such 70% human error. The officials were greedy and extorted taxes from the victims. The state increased taxes without thought of the disasters, eventually leading to peasant revolt. The Ming dynasty could have decisively chose policies to alleviate suffering after suppressing Li Zichengs first revolt make necessary changes to the Spence, Jonathan D. 1999) The Search for Modern China Second Edition. New York W. W. Norton &038 Company. p. 25 38 Brook, Timothy. (1998) The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China, Berkeley University of California Press. 37 12 P a g e Andrew Paul Stokes government officials and taxation policies, allocate the wealth to aid the victims and to pacify the masses, then Li Zichengs movement would be unable to attract anyone. The fall of the capital to the peasant army (or any other army) would not have occurred. June 5, 2011 Bibliography Atwell, William S. 2002) Time, Money, and the Weather Ming China and the Great Depression of t he Mid-Fifteenth Century, the Journal of Asian Studies, 61 (1) 81-113, Cambridge University Press Brook, Timothy. (1998) The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China, Berkeley University of California Press. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley Walthall, Anne Palais, James B. (2006) East Asia A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999) The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press Fairbank, John K. nd Goldman, Merle. (2006) China A New History. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Graham, James. (Unknown Date). Quantitative Growth, Qualitative Standstill From www. HistoryOrb. com Chinas Economic Situation 1368-1800. website. http//www. historyorb. com/asia/china_economy. shtml (accessed 03/06/2011). Heijdra, Martin. (1988) The Socio-Economic Development of Rural China During the Ming, in Mote, Frederick W. and Twitchett, Denis (eds. ), Cambridge History of China The Ming Dynasty 1368 -1644, Part One, Cambridge University Press.Huang, Ray. (1988) The Ming Fiscal giving medication, in Twitchett, Denis and Fairbank, John K. (eds. ) the Cambridge History of China, Volume 8 The Ming Dynasty 1398-1644, Part Two, Cambridge University Press. Li, Bo and Zheng, Yin. (2001) 5000 Years of Chinese History, Inner Mongolian Peoples Publishing House. 13 P a g e Andrew Paul Stokes Mote, Frederick W. (1988), Introduction, in Twitchett, Denis and Mote, Frederick W. (eds. ) The Cambridge History of China, Vol 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368 1644, Part 1. Cambridge University Press.Mote, Frederick W. (1988) The Rise of the Ming Dynasty 1330 1367, in Twitchett, Denis and Fairbank, John K. (eds. ) The Cambridge History of China, Vol 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368 1644, Part 1. Cambridge University Press. Reischauer, Edwin Oldfather Fairbank, John King and Craig, Albert M. (1960) A History of East Asian Civilisation, Vol 1. East Asia The Great Tradition, George Allen &038 Unwin Ltd. Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern China Second Edition. New York W. W. Norton &038 Company. June 5, 2011 14 P a g e