Significant of the Ming Dynasty

The Song and the Ming dynasty are in many ways similar, each had a well-developed commercial economy, a Neo-Confucian influenced government administration, administrators who had mostly come up through the imperial examination system, both dynasties fostered rich cultural developments in the arts and literature, both were also beset with problems caused by eunuchs, but who also made important contributions to the economy, both had strong navies and were interested in international relations and export trade, most people lived in small, highly urbanized towns, and both dynasties were able to produce on an industrial scale.

Yet, despite their similarities, the Ming shows qualities to be a more significant dynasty. Perhaps it is Ming’s acknowledgment for proper rulership that made it significant which was shown through their economic growth with the silver market, the concern of their people, and expansion.

One of the biggest differences we see in the Ming from the Song is their heavy reliance on the silver market. Previously, taxes was collected from the Chinese in the form of labor, grains, and textiles but the Ming collects in the form of silver, and in the effort to simplify land taxes they introduced the concept of “single-whip tax system” which are “Land taxes…payable in silver by installment…allowed peasants to remain solvent during planting season…thus reducing the need to borrow at high rates from moneylenders…”.

It can be said that this concept was brilliant in a way that benefits the Ming economy. Since the peasants don’t have the need to pay off tax all at once now, they have the time to focus on raising their crops which in turn may lead to a surplus in the harvest.

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Although this may not sound great but having a surplus in food sources meant a healthy population and more people paying taxes to the empire will lead to a stable economy. Besides, a wealthy economy does relate to a properly functioning government. Furthermore, tax collected was used wisely by the empire.

As seen beforehand, the Ming dynasty is one that showed concern towards its people. With their concern, they established an “Empire-wide famine relief and grain purchase and storage for disaster use” (Lecture 21). Here they used the surplus silver that they had in hand to buy and build grain storage so that in times of disaster, they will have the resources that can help their people repopulate. From this, we can assume that the Ming acknowledges that the wellbeing of an empire is mainly derived from the wellbeing of its people. While the Ming did a great task in maintaining stability within their empire, they opened their door towards foreigners at the same time through explorations.

It is during the Ming Emperor Yongle’s rule that we see some expansion of the empire as the Chinese began to have more contact with foreigners. With Yongle’s appointment, Zheng He’s “first voyages…aimed largely at overawing any nearby foreign powers that might be harboring pretenders…”  but later voyages “focused on trade and exploration and ranged further and further afield”. There may be different views on these explorations led by Zheng, but it can be said that they helped open the door to the outer world for the Chinese. By opening the Chinese to a world in which they have not really come to contact with, they are, in a way, modernizing their society through interacting with objects they may not have known before.

Overall, after examination on the Ming, it can be established that they are more significant compared to the Song. The reason that made them more significant than the other is shown through their ideas to rule with maintain order within and expanding forward. Through concerns of their people, the Ming was able to maintain a healthy population and with the introduction of a new tax collection system, they were able to have a wealthy economy. Additionally, perhaps it is their idea of expansion that made them more what makes the Ming most significant was that they had voyages that helped open themselves to the outer world that some previous dynasties tried to avoid. Nonetheless, the Ming’s method of the ruling shows their significance as they had an effective way of governance and their expansion of China outward.