We know that the West is basically a capitalist country, and its social economy is very developed! In fact, they did not achieve it overnight, but also underwent centuries of germination, and finally broke through the cocoon into a butterfly and formed today's capitalism. At the same time, because of the gap in national strength between modern China and Western capitalist countries, the century-old humiliating history of China's modern times has led many historians to explore the time node of the budding of Chinese capitalism in modern times, and formed a mainstream view in the academic community:
The budding of capitalism has also appeared to a certain extent in Chinese history, some people think that it is the two Song Dynasties, but more people think that it is the late Ming Dynasty!
Figure 1, the bustling market of the late Ming Dynasty society
Now when we mention the late Ming Dynasty, more people think of social unrest, Wanli slacking off, party strife, and castration of party dictatorship. Is this really the case? In fact, at that time, whether from the social atmosphere or people's ideological concepts, it can be said that it was a special historical period that carried on from the top to the bottom, and the old and the new alternated.
Let's take a look at some of the convergence points between China's late Ming Dynasty and the budding capitalism today!
From the word late Ming Dynasty, some data can also be drawn:
The end of a country is usually called the last year, rarely the name of the late Ming, take the late Ming: in fact, until the forty-seventh year of the Wanli Calendar (1619) Salhu, a large area was also the world's Chengping, especially jiangnan, and formed an early humanism and civic class.
A story from the late Ming Dynasty novel "Awakening to the Everlasting Word" can also be explained from the side:
Shi Fu and his wife lived in Shengze Town, Suzhou, and lived by raising silkworms and weaving silk, and were originally small families. Because of the brilliance and luster of the silk they woven, they sold well in the market and earned a lot of silver. A few years later, they bought three or four more looms, and in less than ten years, they accumulated several thousand taels of silver, and later they bought two large houses and thirty or forty looms, hired people to weave silk, and became machine guards.
Figure 2, Shi Fu and his wife become machine households
Shi Fu and his wife are only the epitome of the civic class in the late Ming Dynasty, and there are countless examples of such cases at that time. At the same time, this story also shows that in the late Ming Dynasty, the production relations in some large cities such as Suzhou and Hangzhou have gradually changed: from the previous more small-scale peasant economy (tenants or slaves) to the emergence of certain industrial and commercial enterprises, breeding many hand workers, and part of the production relations into employment, it can be said that it is a major significant feature of the budding of social capitalism at that time!
In addition: in order to solve the spiritual life of the citizen class at that time, novels and periodicals began to become popular, and mainstream novels such as "Golden Bottle Plum" and "The Tale of the West Chamber" came into being.
This is the point of convergence between social relations of production and the budding capitalism of Western capitalism! Let's look at the convergence point between the social climate change and the budding of Western capitalism after the change in the social atmosphere at that time.
According to the Chronicle of Wanli Tongzhou:
The middle-aged children of the present, said that Luo Qi is not precious enough, and seek distant Wu Silk, Song Jin, Yun miao, camel brown, high price and beautiful, think that the clothes, under the caught pantyhose, are also pure, the clothes they make, long skirts, wide collars, wide waist and fine folding, suddenly mutated, the number is the same...
It means that the young people at that time pursued enjoyment, and even looked down on clothes such as Luo Qi, and went to pursue a variety of more precious clothes in the distance, which people regarded as fashionable at that time.
Figure 3, the middle school children pursue pleasure
From this, we can see that hedonism was born at that time, and hedonism needed to have a certain market economic foundation to emerge.
The change in social atmosphere is not only this, but also the concept of money and wealth of the scholar elite has also quietly changed.
Wang Mengduan Yongle, a famous painter of the Ming Dynasty, went to the capital to run errands during the year, stayed overnight in an inn, heard someone blowing a pipe, felt very wonderful, and improvised and painted a bamboo, and the next day he sent the painting out. You must know that at that time, he was already famous, and even if the painting was not worth thousands of dollars, it had a certain value, so he casually changed hands and gave it away. At that time, a businessman learned of this matter, gave him a gift, and asked him to paint another painting, Wang Mengduan thought that he had been insulted, snatched the painting that had been sent out before, and tore it up, and left angrily.
From this, we can see that at least in the early Ming Dynasty, the scholar class was still relatively weak in fame and fortune, but by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this concept had been completely changed, and it can be seen from the performance of some famous literati and scholars of the late Ming Dynasty such as Wen Zhengming and Tang Bohu:
They must be paid to write and paint, and use money as spiritual food. For some relatives and friends who are not easy to refuse, when painting and writing for them, they often need to take out money and put it aside to arouse their interest.
Figure 4, such as some literati rioters of the late Ming Dynasty
It's a show of the supremacy of money! In their eyes: anything can be used as a commodity, which can also be said to be a manifestation of the relative market economy!
It is also another significant feature that fits the budding of Western capitalism!
In addition, the reason why the late Ming Dynasty was able to give birth to the bud of capitalism had a lot to do with some political changes at that time, the most famous of which was the Longqing switch in the Longwan Great Reform and the Reform of Zhang Juzheng in the early Wanli Period, plus the slacking off in the late Wanli Period.
Longqing switch
In the first year of Longqing (1566), Muzong announced the lifting of the sea ban, so that private merchants gained legal status in overseas trade, and the goods of the Ming Dynasty were sold far and wide, and private capital was greatly accumulated. According to statistics, in the decades from the Longqing switch to the Ming Dynasty, the silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from overseas was as high as 330 million taels!
The Ming Dynasty scholar Zhang Xie also recorded in the "Examination of the East and West":
"In the first year of Longqing, the Governor of Fujian, Yushi Tu Zemin, asked for a ban on the sea and allowed him to sell the East and West. If the kingdoms of Luzon and Sulu in the East and the kingdoms of Sulu in the West, in the West, if they are in cahoots, Champa and Siam, they are all foreign ministers and have no treason, and it is especially forbidden to sell slaves, which is better than the example of receiving help from all over the world. ”
This letter from the Inspector of Fujian had a major impact on the history of later generations, promoted the development of private industry and commerce, laid the economic foundation for Zhang Juzheng's reform in the later period, and gave birth to the bud of capitalism to a certain extent.
Figure 5 shows the endless overseas trade after the Longqing switch
Zhang Juzheng reformed
Zhang Juzheng's reform, also known as Wanli Zhongxing, was a reform carried out under the auspices of Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the cabinet at the time, in the early Wanli period, in addition to the examination law on the administration of officials, a whip law affecting the economy was implemented in the ninth year of the Wanli Calendar (1581), the main contents are:
The land endowments, servitude, and other miscellaneous levies of each prefecture and county are summed up into one, and the silver is collected together and paid according to the mu conversion. This greatly simplifies the tax system and facilitates the collection of taxes. At the same time, it makes it difficult for local officials to cheat, thereby increasing fiscal revenue.
In addition to increasing the revenue of the Ming government, this also increased the liquidity of major currencies such as silver, which to a certain extent activated the market economy and provided favorable conditions for the emergence and development of the budding of capitalism.
Figure 6 shows that the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty before and after the implementation of a whip law is correct
Wanli slackened the government
Perhaps the wanli slack government did not play a positive role in the society at that time in the eyes of many people today, but I personally feel that we should analyze it from multiple levels. In fact: after the twenty years of the Wanli Calendar (1592), in addition to the major state events such as the Crown Prince, the Fu Wang, the Three Great Expeditions, and the wars in Liaodong, many basic affairs were handled by the cabinet, and even in the late period, the loss of officials was serious, and the normal operation of the country was very difficult, you can say that it is not good, but from another point of view, why not increase the space for autonomy for society?
Like what:
Li Shizhen worked in the Tai Hospital, because he was not willing, and finally visited the famous mountains and rivers to taste herbs, and after twenty-seven years, he wrote a treasure in the history of Chinese medicine - "Compendium of Materia Medica".
Two years after his death, the book was officially published in the twenty-fifth year of the Wanli calendar (1597).
The same is true of Xu Xiake, because he had no intention of making a name, he trekked to the famous mountains and rivers in half his life and compiled the precious "Travels of Xu Xiake", which is also a major treasure in the history of geography.
The list goes on and on.
Figure 7, Wanli slackened administration
In addition, in terms of thought, the late Ming Dynasty also collided with many fierce sparks, and at the end of the period, Gu Yanwu and other great thinkers have put forward the concept of the state and the world, and gradually realized that the world is not a family and a surname, which has great similarities with the Western Renaissance.
It can be said that the budding of capitalism in the late Ming Dynasty proved to exist objectively to a certain extent from the social production relations, the atmosphere, the economic and political factors, the social system, and the changes in concepts and ideas.
The above copyright is still owned by the sun and moon millennium, please indicate the source when reprinting!
References: "Awakening to the Everlasting Word", "Wanli Tongzhou Chronicle", "East and West Yang Examination".