First Discussion Of The South-pearl And East-pearl During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Pearl in our country can be divided into south-pearl and east-pearl.Theformer is a kind of seawater pearl existed in the coastal area ofGuangdong、Guangxi and Hainan provinces. And the latter is another kindof freshwater pearl produces in northeast China. The pearl-fishery has along history in China. Emperors in every dynasty, before Ming and Qingdynasties, not only inherited the traditional management measures ofpearl-fishery, but also achieved further development. However, themanagement of pearl-pond industry reached the unprecedented rigorousstage in Ming dynasty.In order to guarantee the quantity as well as quality of pearl formeeting the need of pearl for imperial household, Ming Government sentsome eunuches to pearl pond for overseeing. Soldiers also were dispatch tothere for guarding. Later, Qing Government appointed the local officers totake over the pearl catching, bringing pearl-fishery directly into its control.The paper focusing on the catching of South-Pearl and East-Pearl in Mingas well as Qing dynasties, combining pearl-catching activities andmanagement systems, states the ups and downs at that time. Then revealsits negative result which did harm to people and government when it was asa special industry run by government. In this topic, It focus on presentingthe south-pearl catching in Ming dynasty, including management andoperation. It also reviews the history of pearl-catching before Ming and Qing dynasties, then states its development process and managementsystem, from which the fact----wasting money and wasting manpower isindicated. In addition, it also discusses the management of local officersand the east-pearl fishery in Qing dynasty. After summarising the point ofpearl-catching by comparing Ming with Qing dynasty, It reveals that thepearl-fishery play a part in China traditional economic structure.It can besaid that pearl-catching play an insignificant role in national economy, butit mainly meet the need of luxury consumption in imperial household,which was an typical industry run by government. Therefore, themanagement of pearl-fishery not only embody the features ofgovernment-run enterprises but also possessed its own specialcharacteristics. What’s more, pearl-fishery would effect by the reference ofemperors and some relevant factors, so it was temporary, volatile andinstable. Those people who undertook the pearl-catching enjoyed low status,heavy work and low salary were all in a terrible situation. It is worthnothing that endless catching without immoderation resulted in the shortageof pearl resource.In general,south-pearl and east-pearl got a remarkable development inMing and Qing dynasty. But its harm which effected people was obvious，especially in Ming dynasty,the pearl-fishery was criticized by people.