A Study On Ming Dynasty Money And Currency

Silver Monetization during the Ming Dynasty is a significant event of the social economy in the late period of the Chinese traditional society. It brings out changes in many aspects of the traditional state system and society.In recent years,by the combined action of the exterior influences of the context of anti-Eurocentric in the west and the internal logic in the development of Chinese academic research,Chinese and foreign researchers have come to a common understanding on which an international trading net had established and the international market since the middle and late period of the Ming Dynasty.This period is not only the beginning of Chinese ancient society's turning to the modern society,but also the beginning of economic globalization.Silver Monetization is of epoch-making significance in Chinese history and in the world history.Why the west world,which got behind China,won the worldwide competition,but China continually lost the developing chances thence and produced much pity in history,then? So many researchers,engaging in the study of the Ming-Qing social economic history and monetary economic history,often directly equate the amount of silver with the state and the levels of Chinese social and economic development.It's hard to deny that in a way Silver Monetization has brought the variation of the traditional state system and society.But,when the researchers exploring the role that Silver Monetization played,some of their judgments are deviated or overestimated for neglecting restricting factors of the environment of traditional Chinese system and society.In order to know, understand and evaluate the state and social changes of China during the middle and late period of the Ming Dynasty,we should observe Silver Monetization by putting the event into the developing sequence of the whole state and society.Only when the development clue and process are systematically cleared up and the complex relationship of silver with other monetary form and the actual use of silver in the environment of state and society are sufficient investigated,we can understand the significance and historical meaning of Silver Monetization.On this basis, we may appropriately and objectively valuate this important event.For these reasons,we will concentrate on the monetary and currency during the Ming Dynasty and try to systematically discuss these problems given above in this dissertation.According to the present research and existed problems,the paper includes six parts:In chapter one,we mainly discuss to systematically and completely introduce monetary system and policy during Ming dynasty,including monetary forms,monetary policy,currency issue and management. Furthermore,we appropriately analyze monetary system and policy by revising the traditional ideas and views and discussing some new problems.In chapter two we present a discussion about the demonetization of Daming Baochao Monetary System——the legal tender in the first period of Ming dynasty.Firstly,we make research on the currency depreciation and measures taken to overcome the crisis of Daming Baochao by the government and their advantages and disadvantages,on the basis of examination of what motive and aim behind the sovereign's issuing Daming Baochao.Lastly,the thesis discusses the whole plan to issue notes during Chongzhen,Ming Dynasty.In chapter three there is a strong emphasis on the relationship between Silver Monetization and the changes of taxation and corvee system of the government during Ming dynasty.We in this part mainly discuss on three problems:firstly,differing with the theory of Silver Monetization during Song and Ming Dynasty that historical field respectively emphasizes,we put this problem into the whole history of Chinese social economy,so that we give view of Silver Monetization:it is a historical event which lasts lengthy period of time.The author think Song Dynasty is the first stage of Silver Monetization,Ming Dynasty the second and the completion phase.Secondly,aiming at the view of that Silver Monetization is a bottom-up and top-down processing,which brings out the changes of taxation and corvee system of the government,we narrated the evolution and found that it first began from the field in taxation and corvee of the government,in which process state finance ever played an important guide role;Thirdly,we systematically analyze the negative aspect of tax in silver during Ming Dynasty in order to completely understand about the influence of Silver Monetization on the changes of state system,which reminds us not to ignore the operating environment of Chinese traditional state system in related research.In chapter four we describe the actual circulation of official coppers during Ming Dynasty.Official coppers' circulation denotes five characters.Based on this,we choose the problem of illegitimate in Nanzhili in the year of Wanli Sanshijiu nian(1611)as a case study to explore illegitimate coppers during Ming Dynasty.In chapter five we discuss the problems of the social economy in the period of Silver Monetization,putting emphasis on the negative aspect and impacts of that in the development of the social economy.At first, we analyze domestic and foreign researchers' estimating of the stock of silver during Ming dynasty and the effects of Silver Monetization on the social economy.While Silver Monetization has a positive effect on the development of the social economy,it also brings out some noticeable phenomena,for instance,the hoard of silver,arbitrage and illegitimate coppers currency,which greatly affect silver to perform its functions. But researchers placed insufficient emphasis on those problem,even few pay an attention to in previous studies.In chapter six discuss the regional character of money currency in order to demonstrate the difference between unity of system and polices of monetary and the diversity of the regional money,focusing on the regions of Jiangnan,West and South in China or Min and Guang.We founds there are distances between objective and actuality based on the preceding study,because of the custom,geographical features or historic discrepancy.Final part,we inspect and examine the system of Ming Dynasty monetary in modern sight.In the other hand,this paper raises some different points and advances on silver-capital.