A Research On Sichuan’s Town Economy And Market Mechanism In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,Sichuan’s town economy developed rapidly,and the number of towns increased,forming a multi-level town network system,which enhanced the influence on the overall economy.The relationship between Sichuan’s industrial structure and the development of town economy shows that only by effectively and optimally allocating resources through market forces and promoting the improvement of regional industrial structure,can the endogenous power of town economy be stimulated and the development of town economy be promoted.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,market mechanism and town economy supported and interacted with each other,reflecting the great progress of commodity economy in this period,and also reflecting the historical limitations of their development.The body is divided into six chapters,which discuss the relationship between Sichuan’s town economy and market mechanism in Ming and Qing Dynasties from aspect of natural resources endowment,town structure,town and industrial economic structure,town businessmen and commercial activities.The first chapter discusses the natural environment and resource endowment that the Sichuan town economy relied on during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Including geography,geological environment,mineral reserves,climate and water resources,fabric characteristics and cultivated land and food production.The second chapter discusses the forms of Sichuan towns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the number of towns,town density and trade areas.It contains in the two micro-research of the construction and distribution patterns of Yunyang and Jintang.The third chapter summarizes the model of market transaction and collection period in Sichuan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The paper holds that the market met the daily needs of the villagers,and realized the intercommunication between the villagers.At the same time,as the basic building blocks of the economic space network,it formed a regional market system together with other hierarchical markets.The market was both the starting point for the purchase of rural goods and the end of the sale of goods.In the era of traditional agriculture,the market supported the development of the economy.The fourth chapter focuses the relationship between Sichuan towns and industrial and commercial economic structure in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.From the perspective of the towns,this paper sets forth the development of the town network and the Sichuan sugar industry,the town distribution and the development of the tung oil industry and the economic factors of the salt industry and the transformation of modern cities in Zigong;from the perspective of industry,respectively explains the impact of the development of Sichuan grain transportation and mining and metallurgy on the town economy.The fifth chapter discusses merchants,business activities and capital forms in Sichuan towns during the Qing Dynasty.It mainly includes the macroeconomic environment of the market and industry and commerce,the origin of the town’s merchants,the business activities and their motivations,broker and broker-house,the source and scale of commercial capital,etc.The sixth chapter discusses the commercial organization and trade rules of Sichuan towns in Ming and Qing Dynasties.The merchants concluded guilds and trade associations by geographic and industrial affinities,and showed the characteristics of feudalism,commerce and monopoly.Taking ship Gang as an example,this paper elaborates on its distribution,trade rules and operation mechanism.By making Jintang and Daxian as samples,this paper discusses the important role of ship gang in commodity transportation in towns.