Adhering to the aspiration of "learning from China and the West", the topic brought to you today is: "The Sprout of Capitalism" in the Ming Dynasty, why can't history textbooks find its trace? After reading my sharing, welcome everyone to actively discuss in the comment area, if you are interested in my content, please like and follow, so that you can share a different world with you every day!
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"Was there a germ of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty?"
"Did the Qing Dynasty kill these sprouts?"
This is a very controversial topic in the academic circles now, some scholars believe that there were germs of capitalism during the Ming Dynasty, but the Qing Dynasty killed these sprouts, and some scholars believe that the germ of capitalism during the Ming Dynasty is just a statement in the academic circles, not true.
The prevailing view in academic circles is to downplay these two views, believing that both statements are wrong.
So did the Ming Dynasty have the sprouts of capitalism, and did the Qing Dynasty stifle these sprouts?
1. The bud has not grown into full-fledged capitalism, which is under pressure and hindered.
Capitalism is a mode of production under capitalist relations of production, and it is a mode of production that came into being after the emergence of capitalist relations of production.
The emergence of capitalist relations of production is based on the continuous development of the productive forces.
During the Ming Dynasty, feudal production relations were still very prevalent, and the development of productive forces was also very limited, so even if there were sprouts of capitalism during the Ming Dynasty, these sprouts were not really mature capitalism.
During the Ming Dynasty, feudal production relations were dominant, and the mode of production was still dominated by manual production, and the mode of production under feudal production relations was very different from that under capitalist production relations.
The feudal mode of production is based on agriculture, and agricultural production is based on natural production, and only a bumper harvest in agricultural production can ensure the smooth progress of production in society.
The capitalist mode of production is based on industry and machine production, which can greatly increase the efficiency of production, so as to ensure a great increase in the quantity of goods produced.
The mode of production in the Ming Dynasty was bound by feudal production relations, and the production efficiency was very low, so the number of commodities produced would naturally be very small, and the price of commodities would be very high.
This led to the very difficulty of commodity exchange in the Ming Dynasty, the production efficiency was low, and the commodity exchange was difficult, which led to the imperfection of the land property system under the feudal mode of production, which seriously constrained the development of productive forces.
Although the sprouts of capitalism appeared during the Ming Dynasty, the growth of these capitalist sprouts was also hindered by many obstacles, and in the end they did not grow into the big tree of capitalism, and were eventually suppressed and constrained by feudal production relations.
The Qing Dynasty did not stifle the germination of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty only restricted the commercial activities of the Ming Dynasty to a certain extent, but did not completely prohibit commercial activities.
In the later part of the Qing Dynasty, some reforms were carried out to gradually introduce China into the path of capitalist development.
2. There were capitalist buds during the Ming Dynasty.
Although there were no capitalist relations of production in the true sense during the Ming Dynasty, there were germinations of capitalism during the Ming Dynasty.
What are the main aspects of the germination of capitalism that emerged during the Ming Dynasty?
1. The development of handicraft workshops.
During the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft production mode was gradually developed, which could greatly improve the production efficiency and reduce the production cost, so that the production quantity of commodities could be greatly increased, and the price of commodities could be reduced, so that the commodity exchange could be better carried out.
During the Ming Dynasty, the production method of handicraft industry was very popular and very developed.
During the Ming Dynasty, the production methods of handicrafts were also very diverse, and they were very specialized, which could greatly improve production efficiency.
2. Coastal trade.
During the Ming Dynasty, commercial activities along the coast were also very popular, because the emperor of the Ming Dynasty ruled in Beijing in the north, so this led to the very developed production of goods in the north, and the coastal areas in the south happened to be the place where these goods were produced, so there was an exchange of goods between the north and the south.
Many of the goods in the Beijing area are produced in the south, so they need to be exported to foreign countries through the ports in the coastal areas, and the goods in the northern areas are also imported to the Chinese mainland through the ports in the coastal areas.
In this way, the commercial activities in the coastal areas have been greatly promoted, and the economic development of the coastal areas has also been greatly promoted.
3. The rise of commercial cities.
During the Ming Dynasty, the rise of commercial cities was also very popular, and the rise of commercial cities was also very beneficial to promote the exchange of goods.
The rise of commercial cities means the prosperity of commercial activities, and the rise of commercial cities will also attract a large number of merchants to trade, so as to better promote the exchange of goods.
4. Bureaucratic landlords participate in commercial activities.
During the Ming Dynasty, the bureaucratic landlord class was also very prevalent, and these bureaucratic landlords were very powerful politically, and their participation in commercial activities could ensure that the goods they produced could be exchanged smoothly.
In this way, it can ensure that the goods they produce can be better exchanged, and it can also bring them better profits.
However, it is also very dangerous for the bureaucratic landlord class to participate in commercial activities, and once the commercial activities fail, they will face the danger of bankruptcy, which will also cause social turmoil, so in feudal society, commercial activities are also very restricted.
III. Conclusion.
At present, the general view in academic circles is to downplay the discussion of the dispute between the Ming and Qing dynasties and to downplay the relationship between the Ming and Qing dynasties, because the relationship between the Ming and Qing dynasties is very complex.
The emergence of the budding capitalism does not mean that it will inevitably develop into a mature capitalist society, the development of history is very complicated, and the trend of development is also very difficult to predict.
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