EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
A History of the World since 1300
Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E The Influence of Silver on the Ming Dynasty Notes taken on May 19, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
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Ming China (1368-1644)
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China recovered from Mongol conquests and Black Death in the 13th century with the creation of the Ming Dynasty
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became a major importer of silver
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from mines in Japan
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trade through Manila
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from 1570s onward, through supplies in the New World, increasing demand for silver in China
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silver coins from the New World, many minted in Mexico from Mexican silver
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1500-1650: half of all European imports from Asia would be paid for in silver
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China wanted silver because
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it had instituted an important fiscal reform, an effective tax system
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1581: The Single Whip Tax
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land tax that would be payable in one denomination: silver
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silver readily accessible from Japanese and North and South American mines
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important for intensifying Ming state formation
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silver brought about many changes
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increased urbanization
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new kinds of commodities
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Chinese upper classes took an affection for Japaneses laquerware
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imports could be paid for by silver
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imported live turkeys from Americas
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private libraries
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cultural efflorescence
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Neo-Confucionism
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self improvement
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moral vigor
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self cultivation through education and study
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China's imperial exams
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Wang Yangming (1472-1529)
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each moral virtue is naturally embedded within each person
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but it has to be cultivated
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had a strong individualist and egalitarian philosophy
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very influential on Ming theorists
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rejection of modernization
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but no denying that there was an enormous amount of dynamism in the Chinese state
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felt on the borders of China
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China was an agrarian aristocracy
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turned its attention to the outer frontiers
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founder of the Ming dynasty argued that agriculture is the foundation of the nation
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therefore open up new lands for settlement
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initial fixation was on the south
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increasing opportunities for producing staples
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lure farmers to activities in south
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Canton
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used as a base in southernization
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where much silver entered into China
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money flowed in, silk flowed out
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mulberry trees planted for silk production
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at the expense of the native, tropical forests, natural swamps filled in with mulberry trees, rice paddies
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technology
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used to drain swamps
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natural ecological systems gave way to agricultural systems
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this spelled doom for the non-human macrofauna and other animals of the region
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at least one species of elephants in southern China went extinct
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tigers nearly extinct
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population increase:
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1400: 4 million
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1640: 12 million