Ming China in the Global Context:
New Trends of Ming Studies in Mainland China1
Zhaohui He
This report can be regarded as an updated one to “Trends in Ming History Research
in Mainland China” given by Wu Yanhong in 2002 (published in Ming Studies, 47,
2003). I will talk about some new trends since then.
Each year there is a survey article published in the journal Trends of recent
researches on the history of China(zhongguoshi yanjiu dongtai)2, which gives a list of
publications on the Ming history in mainland China. Here I would like to share with
you some of my personal observations on the current state of Ming studies in mainland
China.
In an article published 6 years ago,3 Professor Edward L. Farmer mentioned that
scholars in mainland China and those in the United States had not communicated with
each other enough as they should have. Scholars in these two areas had different
research topics or would differ in research perspectives when they were working on the
same topics. Now the problems still exist, but the situation is changing. After all, it is
a time of globalization. The world is getting smaller and smaller. The inhabitants in
the two hemispheres of the global village have much more common topics than before.
One of the most important trends which bring Chinese scholars and American
scholars closer is to study the Ming history in a global context. Professor Farmer is an
advocate of studying the Ming history with a visual field of global history. He has
pointed out that the Ming dynasty was the most densely populated and richest nation and
society in early modern world. The scholars of the California School have done much
work in revaluating the late empire China in a global economic system. Somewhat
influenced by the western scholars, the global visual field has been reflected in some
recent hot topics of Ming studies in mainland China, especially research on the late
Ming period and research on Zheng He’s voyages.
The late Ming period has been a remarkable research field in recent years. Some
important works were published, including Fan Shuzhi’s The History of Late Ming4, Liu
Zhiqin’s Discussion on the late Ming History: Rethinking the Decline and Change in the
Last Phase5, and Social Transition in Late Ming: Questions and Studies6 edited by Wan
Ming. The importance of the late Ming period is that it was the beginning of Chinese
modernization (jindai hua) and the beginning of China’s association with the western
world. Chinese scholars have systematically studied the characteristics of the late
Ming, including new trends of population flow, monetization of silver, the growth of
market and commodity economy, the growth of civilian power, the rising of civil
societies, the sprout of political parties, the change of social relationship, etc.. In
general, the late Ming was a significant time of social transition. It was a time of
“collapse of Heaven and disaggregation of Earth” (tian beng di jie), and a time of new
elements sprouting. Some scholars have argued that the period of late 16th century and
early 17th century was the time when there were the most vitality and diversity in
Chinese social history and cultural history.7
In the works mentioned above, the historical trend of late Ming was examined in a
global context. In Fan Shuzhi’s The History of Late Ming, the first chapter was used to
describe the global situation which affected the late Ming. The second chapter
discussed the growth of markets and industries in the Jiangnan area which was related to
the overseas market.8 To Wan Ming, the monetization of silver was the key to
understand the late Ming society. She has made a great effort in studying the process
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of the monetization of silver in the Ming dynasty and its relation with the world market9.
According to Wan Ming, the demand of silver in China affected the exploitation of silver
mines in Japan and America. The Ming China played an active role in the construction
of a global market. Through this research, Chinese scholars have made contributions
to illuminate the role China played in the early modern world system.
In the field of social economic history, the significant change of social economic
structure in the Jiangnan area in late Ming was reexamined when comparing with the
early modern Europe. Rather than the traditional theory of “sprouts of capitalism”,
many scholars now prefer other terms like “the formation of market economy” or “early
industrialization”. The new interpretative frames reflect a vision field of a global
system, and provide new platforms for dialogue with western scholarship. Wu
Chengming, Jiang Xidong, Li Genpan and other scholars’ analysis of the characteristics
of the economy in late empire China10 and Li Bozhong’s work11 have given some new
perspectives in this area.
Meanwhile there were also some different opinions from the hypothesis of the early
modern global system and viewpoints on the California School. Li Xiantang has
argued that the negative effects of silver on the Chinese economy cannot be neglected,
and its role cannot be exaggerated12. In one article Zhao Yifeng has argued that there
had not existed any divergence between China and Europe in early modern age at all as
the histories of China and Europe had never combined before that13.
When putting Ming China into a global context, scholars have considered how the
Ming people looked at the rest of the world. Pang Naiming, Li Xiaolin and Xie
Guian’s studies have examined the Chinese view of the outside world when China began
to be a part of a world system14. This change of research angle is noticeable as it
embodies the spirit of “discovering history in China”, comparing with earlier research
focusing on the West’s intrusion and China’s responses.
The year 2005 was the 600th anniversary of Zheng He’s voyages. This brought a
rush of studies on Zheng He’s voyages in the recent several years. A series of scholarly
conferences on Zheng He’s voyages were held. The proceedings of some conferences
have been published15. Some retrospective works on Zheng He’s voyages were also
published, including: Selected Papers on Zheng He in the last Century16, Selected
Papers on Zhenghe’s Voyage(1905-2005)17, Collection of Documents on Zheng He’s
Voyage(enlarged edition)18. Other works include Annotation of Ming Edition of The
Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores (Yingya Shenglan)19 by Wan Ming, and Zheng
Yijun’s The Full Biography of Zheng He20.
The vision field of this global context has brought some new angles of the research
on Zheng He’s voyages: the position of Zheng He's expeditions in the world maritime
history, the rise and fall of Chinese sea power, the peaceful character of Zheng He's
mission, Zheng He's influence in Southeast Asia and Middle East, etc. Comparisons
have been made between Zheng He's expedition and the subsequent pioneering of new
routes by the westerners, who brought about a global economic system while Zheng He
did not. Many professional historians have doubted Gavin Menzies’ striking
hypothesis, but it has simulated scholars to use broader research materials and to explore
more possibilities. The use of overseas materials, including historical documents in
foreign languages and overseas archaeological materials, will significantly expand the
research field of Zheng He’s voyages in the future.
Some important developments in other fields: In the field of political history and
legal history, there was Zhang Xianqing and Lin Jinshu’s The Political History of Ming
Dynasty21, Wu Yanhong’s Studies on the Military Exile in the Ming Dynasty22, and Bai
Hua’s two books on the local administration in the Ming dynasty23. The routines of
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people’s daily life in the Ming has aroused scholars’ interests in recent years. In 2004
an important book appeared in this field, Chen Baoliang’s The Social Life in the Ming
Dynasty24. A related work was Fang Zhiyuan’s Cities and Civilian Literature in the Ming
Dynasty25. Chang Jianhua’s Studies on the Lineage in the Ming Dynasty26 was the
distillate of many years’ work in this field. Xie Guian’s Studies of Ming Shilu27 was an
important study on the huge official history of the Ming dynasty. Zhu Honglin’s
Studies on the Works and Lives of Ming People28 is a textual research on some works in
the Ming period.
Endnotes:
1
First I would like to thank Professor Edward L. Farmer and Professor Ann Waltner, who made my visit
to the United States possible. And I am grateful to the Society for Ming Studies and the Center for
Early Modern History of the University of Minnesota, which supported me to give a speech at the
annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies on which this article based.
2
Zhang Jinkui, “Survey of Ming studies in 2003”, Trends of recent researches on the history of China
(Zhongguoshi yanjiu dongtai), No. 5, 2004; Zhang Jinkui, “Survey of Ming studies in 2004”, Trends of
recent research on the history of China (Zhongguoshi yanjiu dongtai), No. 4, 2005.
3
Edward L. Farmer, “New trends of Ming studies in the English world in recent years”, Trends of recent
researches on the history of China (Zhongguoshi yanjiu dongtai), No. 1, 2000.
4
Fan Shuzhi, The History of the Late Ming (Wan ming shi), Fudan University Press, 2003.
5
Liu Zhiqin, Discussion on the late Ming History: Rethinking the Decline and Change in the Last Phase
(Wan ming shi lun: chongxin renshi moshi shuaibian), Jiangxi Universities and Colleges Press, 2004.
6
Wan Ming, ed. Social Transition in Late Ming: Questions and Studies (Wan ming shehui bianqian: wenti
yu yanjiu), Commercial Press, 2005.
7
Zhang Xianqing, Wan Ming, Chen Baoliang, etc., Discussion of “Studies on the social and cultural
transition in the late Ming”, Chinese Culture Studies (Zhongguo wenhua yanjiu), Vol. Spring, 2004.
8
See also: Fan Shuzhi, “The late Ming in the vision of ‘globalization’”, Fudan Journal (Philosophy and
Social Sciences) (Fudan xuebao), No. 1, 2003.
9
Wan Ming, “Primary observation on monetization of silver in the Ming dynasty”, Research in Chinese
Economic History (Zhongguo jingji shi yanjiu), No.2, 2003; Wan Ming, “Monetization of Silver in the
Ming Dynasty: New Visual Angle of the Connection of China and the World”, Hebei Academic Journal
(Hebei xuekan), No.3, 2004.
10
Wu Chengming, Jiang Xidong, Li Genpan, etc., Discussion on “Revaluation of the traditional
economy”, Researches in Chinese Economic History (Zhongguo jingji shi yanjiu), No.1, 2003.
11
Li Bozhong, Observations of the Economic History of the Jiangnan Area from Multiple
Angles(1250-1850 )(Duo jiaodu kan jiangnan jingji shi), Joint Publishing, 2003.
12
Li Xiantang, “The dual effects of silver on the Ming and Qing Economy—review on the myth of
“global economy” cooked up by Frank and Pomeranz, Hebei Academic Journal (Hebei xuekan), No.2,
2005.
13
Zhao Yifeng, “Divergence or concourse: the civilization perspective of history on the historical trends
in Ming and Qing”, Journal of Northeast Normal University (Dongbei shida xuebao), No.1 2005.
14
Pang Naiming, “Observations on Ming people’s opinions about Portuguese”; Li Xiaolin, “The
limitation of Ming people’s cognition of Japan”; Xie Guian, “The input of Western appliance and its
social effects in the Ming dynasty”, The 11th international conference of Ming studies, Lanzhou &
Xining, Aug. 2005. Xie Guian, “The input of Western appliance in the Ming dynasty and pre-modern
Chinese society”, Academic Monthly (Xueshu yuekan), No.8, 2003
15
Carry on Civilization, Open to the World, for Peace and Development: Proceedings of International
Academic Forum in Memory of the 600th Anniversary of Zhenghe’s Expedition (Chuancheng wenming,
zouxiang shijie, heping fazhan: jinian zhenghe xia xiyang 600 zhounian guoji xueshu luntan lunwen ji),
Social Sciences Archives Press, 2005; Wang Tianyou, Xu Kai, Wan Ming, ed., Zheng He’s Voyages and
World Civilization: Proceedings in Memory of the 600 th Anniversary of Zheng He’s Expedition (Zheng He
yuanyang yu shijie wenming: jinian zhenghe xi xiyang 600 zhounian lunwen ji), Peking University Press,
2005.
16
Wang Tianyou, Wan Ming, ed., Selected Papers on Zheng He in the last Century (Zheng He yanjiu
bainian lunwen xuan), Peking University Press, 2004.
3
Selected Papers on Zheng He’s Voyage(1905-2005)(Zheng He xia xiwang yanjiu wenxuan), Sea Press,
2005.
18
Zheng Yijun, Collection of Documents on Zheng He’s Voyage (Enlarged edition)(Zheng He xia xiyang
ziliao huibian (zengbian ben)), Sea Press, 2005.
19
Wan Ming, Annotation of Ming Edition of The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores (Yingya Shenglan)
(Ming chaoben ‘yingya shenglan’ jiaozhu), Sea Press, 2005.
20
Zheng Yijun, The Full Biography of Zheng He (Zheng He quan zhuan), Chinese Youth Press, 2005.
21
Zhang Xianqing, Lin Jinshu, The Political History of Ming Dynasty (Mingdai zhengzhi shi), Guangxi
Normal University Press, 2003.
22
Wu Yanhong, Studies on the Military Exile in the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai chongjun yanjiu), Social
Sciences Archives Press, 2003
23
Bai Hua, Studies on the Sub-prefecture and County System in the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai zhouxian
zhengzhi tizhi yanjiu)，China Social Sciences Press, 2003; Bai Hua, The Sub-prefecture and County
Magistrates in Ming and Qing (Ming qing zhouxian guan qunti), Tianjin People Press, 2003.
24
Chen Baoliang, The Social Life in the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai shehui shenghuo shi), China Social
Sciences Press, 2004.
25
Fang Zhiyuan, The Cities and Civilian Literature in the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai chengshi yu shimin
wenxue), Zhonghua Book Company, 2004.
26
Chang Jianhua, Studies on the Lineage in the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai zongzu yanjiu), Shanghai People
Press, 2004.
27
Xie Guian, Studies of Ming shilu (Ming shilu yanjiu), Hubei People Press, 2003.
28
Zhu Honglin, Studies on the Works and Lives of Ming People (Mingren zhuzuo yu shengping fawei),
Guangxi Normal University Press, 2005.
17
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