Effects Of The Ming Dynasty

Tied to this type of economy, businesses became too reliant upon the silver economy, so when the market turned bad the silver imports dropped with devastating effect for the people of China. Samuel Hawley describes the economy of the Ming as huge as evidenced by the list of items produced which were grain, cotton, silk, porcelain, tobacco, paper, peanuts, lacquer, ink, and indigo. The producers of these goods had become too reliant on the silver system and Atwell points out that a drastic reduction in silver would cause catastrophic economic difficulties for China. One problem was in the agriculture realm where the people had to sell their agricultural goods in order to pay their taxes, rent, and loans. Without sufficient silver, the farmers can’t sell their goods, and the same applied to the textile industry. Atwell believes the declined in foreign trade and deflation causing China’s economic problems were contributing factors in the downfall of the Ming dynasty. Xiantang believes that silver had two effects, and they were the accelerating the speed of the Chinese economic wheel but more …show more content…
Northern China, the Mongolian plateau, and central China have experienced periods of aridness throughout the Chinese history. Xunming Wang and fellow authors of “Climate, Desertification, and the Rise and Collapse of China’s Historical Dynasties” point out that China’s historical culture has been strongly influenced by the changes in weather patterns, especially the desertification cycles. They base their belief on archaeological evidence revealing that “dynasties flourished when desertification was reversing and biological productivity was increasing, and collapsed when desertification expanded in their core