On Guangdong's Maritime Silk Trade In Ming & Early Qing Dynasties

Originating from GuangDong, radiating to Japan, Southeast Asia, Arabian peninsula, Africa, West Europe and Latin America, the Maritime Silk Road had always been one of the significant passages for the friendly contacts between ancient China and people of other parts of the world. During the period of Ming and Qing dynasties, silk trade through this passage reached its utmost high tide. However, affected by some artificial factors such "Maritime Prohibition" policy, silk trade during this period from China to foreign countries was mainly carried out in one place ?GuangDong province. With the intention to probe into this period's historical reality, on the basis of the researches by our predecessors and the further textual research by myself, mis thesis focuses on the tidying up of the basic tliread of GuangDong's silk trade llirough the sea during this period, and then proceeds to a focal analysis of some specific issues as the origins of the product, the scope, style and managing of trade, the evolution of trade channels, etc., hoping that the fundamental laws summed up here from this period's silk trade through the sea could provide a historical mirror for GuangDong today concerned the economic development.