Ming Prosperity and Decline

Commercial Prosperity

*Lower Yangzi (Jiangnan)

Nanjing

Suzhou

Hangzhou

Textile industry

Silk fabrics

Domestic and export fabrics

Chinese-Spanish trade at Manila, Philippines

Ming decline

Internal Factors

Fiscal trouble

Inadequate tax system

Ming founder

Zhu Yuanzhang, The Hongwu Emperor(r. 1368-9138)

Government adrift

No Prime Minister

Reign of Wanli, r. 1572-1620

Withdrew from 1580s

Global factors

Favorable climate and population growth, 16th c.

65 million in 1380
150 million in 1600

Cooling of climate, 17th c.

Decrease of silver in world economy, 1630s

Hurts exporters and peasantry

Purchasing power of 1 string of 1,000 copper coins:

1 oz. silver 1630

0.5 oz. silver 1640

Rebellions

Last emperor of Ming

Chongzhen (r. 1627-44)

Rebels

Li Zicheng, active 1630-1644
Zhang Xianzhong, active 1630-1647

Crisis of Confidence

“Mandate of Heaven”

Moral and religious basis of government

Brook, “Collapse,” The Troubled Empire, 238-259

1. On pages 242, Brook writes that “the greatest puzzle might well be why the to figure out how the Ming remained standing for as long as it did” before the collapse of the dynasty. What does Brook mean by this?

• Also on page 242, Brook writes, “Contrary to the standard narrative of decline, the emperor may not be the place to start.” What is the standard narrative of Ming decline that Brook describes on pages 238-42 and influences Spence’s narrative in The Search for Modern China, pp. 16-25?

2. What is Brook’s revisionist narrative of Ming decline and collapse?

3. In the end, Brook says that the combination of fiscal insolvency, rebellions, Manchu attacks, and the weather was the cause of the collapse (p. 255). Do you believe that any one factor was more to blame for the fall of the Ming?