What changes led to the decline of China in Ming and Qing Dynasties (political economy, etc.)? )

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, world history made rapid progress. 17-18th century, world history inherited the great turning point and great changes in the previous period and developed in a deeper and broader direction. In Europe and North America, the foundations of feudalism and colonialism have been impacted, the era of bourgeois revolution has arrived, and world history has entered a new historical period. However, different from Europe and America, the feudal forces in China at the same time were unprecedentedly strengthened, and the social economy began to decline gradually. At the time of the rise and development of western capitalism, China in Ming and Qing Dynasties gradually fell behind western European countries.

First, the social and economic modernization of China in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

(A) the development of regional economy. Developing characteristic regional economy is an important content and feature of China's economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties. China has a vast territory, different natural conditions and different development backgrounds. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the development tracks and characteristics of different regions were also very different, forming several distinctive economic zones.

1, Jiangnan economy which pays equal attention to efficient agriculture and silk and cotton textile industry. Jiangnan, centered on Taihu Plain, has been the most economically developed area in China since the Tang and Song Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development of Jiangnan was mainly to make rational use of existing agricultural resources and further improve the intensive production. The agricultural management mode of high input and high output is one of the characteristics of Jiangnan economy; The development of agricultural and sideline products processing industry, especially silk and cotton textile industry, is another feature of Jiangnan economy; Market development started earlier, and towns with agricultural and sideline products processing and distribution centers are densely covered; The proportion of urban population and non-agricultural population is high, and the level of urbanization is far ahead in the country.

2. Foreign trade-oriented, rapidly rising Pearl River Delta. The development of the Pearl River Delta generally began in the Song Dynasty. Although it started late, it developed rapidly. By the middle of Qing Dynasty, it had become one of the advanced countries in China. With the change of agricultural production structure, the initial formation of market mechanism and the rapid growth of commercial population, an economic structure oriented by foreign trade and centered on entrepot trade is gradually taking shape.

3. North China Plain. Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces in North China Plain are located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is one of the earliest developed areas in the history of China. During the hundreds of years from 12 to 14 century, the economic development of this area was destroyed and its economic status was reversed. In Ming Dynasty, the government's immigration and reclamation policies made the economy of North China Plain rise again, and further developed in Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the economic development of North China Plain was mainly manifested in the adjustment of planting structure, the rise of agricultural and sideline products processing industry and the formation of rural market network.

4. The upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River are the largest commodity grain export areas in China. Jiangxi was the earliest in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and began to immigrate to Huguang from the end of Yuan Dynasty. The development of the two lakes began with the influx of immigrants from Jiangxi. The first climax was in the middle of Ming Dynasty, the second climax was in the early Qing Dynasty, and it was further extended to Sichuan Basin. "Jiangxi fills Huguang and Huguang fills Sichuan", accompanied by a large-scale immigration and development process; By the early Qing Dynasty, the grain supply and demand pattern of "Jiangsu and Zhejiang grain and rice have always belonged to Huguang and Huguang to Sichuan" had been formed. As the most important commodity grain export area in China, the establishment of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River not only improves its status, but also has great significance to the economic development of Jiangnan and even the whole country.

In addition, the Qing Dynasty was the formation period of China's unified multi-ethnic country. After the establishment of the Qing dynasty, we vigorously developed and governed the frontier areas. Among them, the authors of Economic Benefit are Northeast Plain and Taiwan Province Province. After nearly 200 years of immigrant development, by the middle of Qing Dynasty, the agricultural economy of Northeast China and Taiwan Province Province had made great progress and became a new grain production base. Agricultural products processing industry and commerce have also made initial development, laying a solid foundation for future larger-scale development [1].

(B) the development of commodity circulation. From Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, the scope and scale of commodity circulation in China increased greatly, and the circulation pattern also changed greatly. The development of commodity circulation is another remarkable feature of China's economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

1, the expansion of circulation. In Ming dynasty, the sea was banned for a long time, and the Yangtze River shipping was underdeveloped. The north-south trade is mainly the canal, and the east-west trade is mainly confined to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the Qing Dynasty, with the opening of the sea ban, the economic development of the North China Plain, the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the development of new areas such as Northeast China and Taiwan Province Province, the coastal and riverside trade developed on a large scale. According to the book "The Germination of Capitalism in China", it is estimated that in the early Qing Dynasty, the inland shipping mileage of China had reached more than 50,000 kilometers, and the coastal routes reached 1 1,000 kilometers, basically reaching the modern scale [2]. On the other hand, with the expansion of the national territory of the Qing Dynasty and the development of border trade, the trade between Xinjiang and Mongolia and the mainland also developed on a large scale, and the land trade line of northern Xinjiang opened by Shanxi businessmen from Mongolian grassland to Russia also reached Wan Li.

2. the scale of circulation has expanded. The types and quantities of commodities in circulation in China in Qing Dynasty were greatly increased compared with those in Ming Dynasty. First of all, the growth of grain circulation is very remarkable. The commodity grain circulating in the canal and the Yangtze River has increased from several million stones in the Ming Dynasty to tens of millions of stones, and the circulation along the coast has also increased greatly. Secondly, with the expansion of cash crops such as cotton and tobacco, the introduction and promotion of peanuts and sweet potatoes became commodities in circulation in the Qing Dynasty. With the development of foreign trade, the import of foreign goods such as woolen goods, watches and clocks, glasses has also increased greatly; Low-value commodities such as bean cake, sesame cake, reed, Vitex negundo, mulberry bark and fragrant crumbs became bulk commodities in long-distance circulation, which was also rare in the Ming Dynasty.

The increase of tax revenue can reflect the expansion of circulation scale from another aspect. During the reign of Kangxi, the total national tariff was 6,543.8+2,000 taels, which increased to 45,000 taels during the reign of Ganjia, and quadrupled in the year of 654.38+0.20. The proportion of tariffs in the national fiscal revenue has also increased from less than 4% in Kang Yong to about 12%. In the early Qing Dynasty, the tariffs of the main tax gates in China did not change significantly, and the tax rate did not increase significantly, so the increase in tax revenue was mainly the result of the increase in commodity circulation [3].

3. Changes in circulation layout. From Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, the most important development of national commodity circulation should be the change of macro-layout. That is, from the canal circulation to the coastal and Yangtze river circulation. In the Ming Dynasty, the sea was forbidden, and the exchange of materials between the north and the south mainly depended on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In the Qing Dynasty, with the opening of the sea ban and the economic development in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, coastal and Yangtze River shipping gradually replaced the canal as the most important circulation trunk line in the country. This change of circulation pattern is not only an important symbol and part of the change of national economic layout, but also represents the inevitable trend of economic development.

This change in circulation layout is reflected in the setting of banknotes and taxes. In the Ming Dynasty, the sea was forbidden, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was the backbone of national commodity circulation. Seven of the eight national treasury bills are located along the canal, from north to south: Chongwenmen (Beijing), Hexi Affairs (moved to Tianjin in Qing Dynasty), Linqing, Huai 'an, Yangzhou, Hushu (north of Suzhou) and Beixin (Hangzhou). These seven tariffs account for about 90% of the total tax revenue of eight kinds of treasury bills. In the early Qing Dynasty, all seven passes of the Canal were reserved. Later, with the development of trade along the coast and along the Yangtze River, the Qing government successively added several customs duties such as Jianghai (Shanghai), Zhehai (Ningbo), Minhai (Xiamen) and Yuehai (Guangzhou), and Tianjin Customs and Shanhaiguan gradually became important customs duties along the northern coast. Yangtze River customs such as Kuiguan, Wuchang Customs, Jiujiang Customs, Wuhu Customs, Longjiang Jiangxi Xinguan (Nanjing) and so on.

(C) the formation of urban and rural market network system. The formation of urban and rural market network system is another important content and component of China's economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties. This urban and rural market network system can be divided into three levels: circulation hub cities, medium-sized commercial towns and rural fairs [4].

The most epochal and historic development of China's economy in Ming and Qing Dynasties should be the transition to a market economy [5]. Specifically, the government's direct intervention in the economy is gradually weakening, and the role of market mechanism in economic development is constantly strengthening. This is consistent with the general trend of world economic development expounded by Hicks in the book Theory of Economic History, from custom economy to command economy to market economy. The weakening of the government's direct intervention in the economy is directly related to a series of changes in the tax system since the middle of the Ming Dynasty: the abolition of forced labor and the craftsman class system, the final distribution of land, so that farmers gradually get rid of the government's personal control; Changing tax to silver decouples agricultural production from land tax, which is beneficial for small farmers to operate independently. This tax reform has released the shackles and provided a wide range of possibilities for all families and regions to develop their economies according to local conditions.

By the mid-Qing Dynasty, an urban and rural market network system with wide coverage and free operation had been formed all over the country. The development of coastal and riverside trade has gradually replaced the canal as the most important circulation trunk line, and a number of important coastal and riverside circulation hub cities have risen one after another. Most of these port cities became the earliest trading ports after the Opium War. In the vast rural areas, at the latest in the years of Qianlong and Daoguang, a fairly dense market network has been formed. This grass-roots market network is connected with commercial towns and urban and rural markets on the circulation trunk line, so that the commodity circulation can cover almost every county or even every village in the country, thus connecting economic regions with different natural conditions and development levels into a whole, making the division of labor between regions complementary, adjusting the economic layout and optimizing the allocation of resources. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's traditional economy still maintained its internal power and vitality without a big breakthrough in productivity and production relations, mainly because the market mechanism was at work. The formation of urban and rural market network system in Ming and Qing Dynasties is an important symbol of the transformation from traditional economy to market economy.

The formation of urban and rural market network system in Ming and Qing Dynasties is also an important part of China's modernization process. The formation of China's modern market system did not begin after the port was opened, at least in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it had already reached a considerable scale in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. /kloc-After the invasion of foreign capitalism in the middle of 0/9th century, a new market system was not established, but the original market system in China was utilized and partially reformed to serve it. Almost all the trading ports chosen by the invaders after the Opium War were commercial cities developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the early Qing Dynasty. After the First and Second Opium Wars, the main trading ports opened according to unequal treaties were Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Chaozhou, Tianjin, Niuzhuang, Zhenjiang, Hankou, Jiujiang and Yantai. Before the opening of these ports, the business of these dozens of ports has developed considerably. They are either national tax clearing places or regional business centers.

Although the commodity economy also developed and prospered in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the level of economic modernization in China was low in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Science and technology have not developed in the field of production, and commodity economy has not developed in the direction of socialization of production.

Second, the inward development of China's social economy in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Western capitalism began its globalization process from16th century. The first half of16th century to the first half of19th century is the beginning stage of capitalist globalization. This period coincided with the Qing Dynasty in China. Different from the world expansion of capitalist economy, China's economy has shown an inward evolution trend. It is these two different sports situations that lead to completely different results of Chinese and foreign economies. From the middle of Ming Dynasty to the middle of Qing Dynasty, China's economy evolved inward, which widened the gap between China and the West.

(1) China's inward evolution tendency has two historical origins. One is the influence of the surrounding ethnic groups on the Central Plains society. This introverted development model has experienced many historical changes. Looking back at history, we can see that there are many nomadic people around China who invaded the frontier or occupied the Central Plains. Huns invaded the north in Qin and Han dynasties; During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, ethnic minorities such as Jie, Xianbei, Ba, Qiang and Di migrated to the mainland. In the Song Dynasty, the Liao and Jin Dynasties enfeoffed the northern countries; In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolian troops crossed the river to the south. These neighboring nationalities have a common feature, that is, the separation of strength and civilization; Although they are strong in force, the development of civilization lags behind the Han nationality in the Central Plains. After these nomads invaded the Central Plains, they were conquered and transformed by the Central Plains culture, but their backward production mode and economic system often destroyed the Central Plains economy and even led to social retrogression. The feudal rulers and people in the Central Plains have a set of contempt and fear for other ethnic groups around them. The other is the cultural values and world outlook of Chinese centralism. "Han official dignity, all nations come to Korea" has gradually become a tradition; Once the value orientation of society is condensed into culture, it is difficult to change. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, this Huaxia-centered theory was further generalized. 1793, British ambassador Magyarny came to China, and refused to kowtow to Emperor Qianlong three times when he met the Qing emperor. His mission of coming to China without leaving Wan Li failed. One claims to be the most powerful country in the world and the other is the only civilized country in the world. The two may regard each other as tools, but it is impossible to communicate sincerely. The rulers of Qing dynasty not only refused to open foreign trade, but also resisted all external influences. Gifts carefully selected by foreign envoys to represent western science and technology are nothing but strange new court playthings for the masters of the Qing court.

(2) China government's domestic trade policy in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The expansion of commodity circulation is beneficial to the expansion of market and production, but its political and social value is negative to the ruling group and social elite. 14-18th century, the long-term surplus of China's import and export, the massive inflow of silver, the development of the relationship between money and commodities, the increasing erosion of feudal ethics, the "collapse of rites and bad music" and the "declining world trend" shook and eroded the ideology and ruling order of feudal society. This is very different from the western European countries in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the late Middle Ages. European monarchs' policy of accumulating wealth and mercenary system make the economic value of industrial and commercial development consistent with its political value. This is the fundamental reason why western rulers have different attitudes towards commodity economy in this period. If domestic business has indispensable social needs, then the attitude towards overseas trade can better reflect the orientation of China rulers. The nomadic people's invasion of the simple commodity economy and the limited market economy in the Central Plains has never caused changes in the development of socialized mass production. The restriction and indifference to overseas markets made it impossible for the turbulent commodity economy in feudal society in Ming and Qing Dynasties to gain new market development space. In the later period of feudal society, the market relations bred in it need a relaxed market space to expand, and the changing production relations need new market demand to pull. Overseas trade is the most suitable and potential market space. Hicks said: "It is foreign trade that is most likely to develop into an indispensable and important thing (that is, social value). However, if foreign trade wants to win this important position, it must provide greater opportunities than domestic ones. " [6] For the southeast coastal areas, overseas trade will inevitably provide more market opportunities than mainland trade. In the embryonic stage of traditional handicraft capitalism in China, the development of silk industry was higher than that of cotton textile industry, which was related to the export of China silk industry overseas. For bulk transportation, the cost of sea transportation may be lower than that of inland trekking. The expansion of the market leads to the expansion of production and the evolution of production mode, which leads to the transformation of production socialization and the transformation of market-oriented allocation of production resources. Active overseas trade is likely to make the southeast coastal areas of China develop a regional market economy, just like the coastal cities in the Mediterranean and Atlantic in the 6th century. Contrary to the expansion and development of western capitalism in16-18th century, the limited commodity economy in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties could never promote a new economic change-the socialized development of production.

(3) The relationship between population and resources is unbalanced, and the introverted model leads to large-scale social and economic destruction. Intensive cultivation, the expansion of commodity flow, the expansion of trade routes and the development of handicrafts in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are all economic growth under the pressure of population and the extension growth under the condition of basically the same level of productivity. The room for such growth is very limited. When population growth, resource growth and productivity development are uncoordinated and seriously unbalanced, social crisis comes. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the increasing population scale, the relationship between population and resources was tense and social contradictions became increasingly prominent. On the one hand, the mode of inward evolution increases the frequency of peasant uprising and peasant rebellion, on the other hand, the scale of peasant war is getting bigger and bigger; Periodic dynasty changes have also caused more and more damage to industrial and agricultural production. The Li Zicheng Uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, the Chuanchu Anbaili Uprising in the middle Qing Dynasty, and the peasant war in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were unprecedented in both the number of people participating in the war and the areas participating in it, resulting in unprecedented social and economic losses. On the one hand, China society in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in addition to the harassment of neighboring ethnic groups, also increased the threat of overseas aliens. In the Ming Dynasty, maritime merchants and pirates invaded the southeast coast, followed by Portuguese and Dutch invaders. The enemy kills people and steals goods, doing all kinds of evil, and the harm is particularly serious. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, on the one hand, the government carried out military encirclement and suppression, on the other hand, it ordered a sea ban. In the early Qing Dynasty, Manchu rulers suppressed the anti-Qing forces in the southeast coastal areas, cut off the contact between the coastal people and Zheng Chenggong of Taiwan Province, and imposed a sea ban. 17-18th century, the frequency of trade between western businessmen, especially British businessmen and China increased, and envoys knocked on the door many times. The Qing court was wary of those Europeans who were "bullying, afraid of hard work and unruly". On the one hand, the long-term business system in the early and middle Qing Dynasty restricted foreign businessmen, on the other hand, it cut off the direct contact between outsiders and China people. On the other hand, with the sharp increase of population, the contradiction between resources and population has become increasingly prominent, social control has become very fragile, and it is difficult to resist new external shocks, and the foreign policy of rulers has become more and more conservative. At the same time, in order to stabilize agriculture, ensure food supply after population growth, eliminate social unrest caused by large-scale refugees and disorderly people, we will further implement the policy of "restraining business" to curb the erosion of "agricultural capital" by business.

(d) The Ming and Qing governments in China despised and prevented the achievements of the Western industrial revolution. /kloc-the beginning of economic globalization in the second half of the 0/6th century means that the forms of economic development in countries all over the world have changed unconsciously, and the development of productive forces and social progress are no longer carried out in isolation and step by step as in the Middle Ages. The communication between a country and other countries and its connection with the world market are playing an increasingly important role in economic development. The "space" of social evolution is not only time, but also the expansion of economic activity space and the expansion of resource allocation scope has become a "veritable space" of economic development. From the first half of16th century to the beginning of globalization in the second half of18th century, the gap between Chinese and western production levels was not as big as it was later, and the strength of national strength was not disparity. The world market is still developing, the western countries have not monopolized the world market, and the competitive advantage has not yet been fully formed. If China can actively participate in the interaction between the world market and the international economy in the past 300 years, then in the first round of western economic development, China may also take advantage of the advantages of resources, manpower and backwardness to compete with the West and occupy a place in the development of the world market. However, the inward development of economy in Ming and Qing Dynasties made China lose the favorable opportunity to absorb the achievements of western industrial revolution and catch up with developed countries at the beginning of globalization. Western modern science was born in 17th century, and there were many advanced production machines in Europe in17-18th century. From the middle of18th century to the beginning of19th century, the United Kingdom and other European and American countries carried out a production technology revolution, created many production machinery and equipment with new impetus, and greatly improved productivity. During these 200 years, Russia, Germany and other countries tried their best to learn and introduce advanced equipment and technology from Britain. The imbalance of economic development among countries is a natural phenomenon in world history. It is the most effective way for backward countries to actively communicate and learn from advanced countries. In China, due to the closed door, the achievements of the western industrial revolution did not attract the attention of the Qing court at all, and the spread of advanced western science and technology was foolishly blocked from the land of China, thus losing the favorable opportunity to narrow the gap between China and the West and catch up with developed countries. The glorious prosperity of Qianlong is the last turning point for China to lag behind the world. This opportunity is gone forever. Unlike physical phenomena, the closer you look, the clearer the historical movement. Looking back at the history of Ming and Qing Dynasties today, we can clearly see the huge deviation of this historical trend, which seriously delayed the renewal of China's productive forces and the start of modern market economy, and missed an excellent period for China to integrate into the world.

Judging from the short-term periodic cycle of China's historical development and the long-term periodic historical changes spanning several dynasties, the "involution" of China's social and cultural mentality since the Ming Dynasty, the sharp increase of population after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the overall deterioration of China's humanistic, economic and geographical environment, and China's failure to participate in the economic activities of the global production and trade system that was forming at that time eventually led to the poverty and backwardness at the end of 19. The change of China's economic status caused the change of China's social status in the global scope, and also caused the western predatory war against China.

Concluding remarks

The peasant war at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the civil annexation war in the middle of14th century caused great damage to China's social economy. After the recuperation in the early Ming Dynasty, the economy of Ming and Qing Dynasties developed along the "track" inertia of China's feudal economy, and there was once a scene of prosperity and luxury during the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty and the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. The development form is gradual accumulation, the number is slowly increasing, and the development direction is inward-oriented. The government and society do not attach importance to or even restrict or refuse to open to the outside world, and foreign economic relations do not occupy an important position in the whole social and economic operation, and adopt a policy of retreating to defend the expansion of western capitalist countries. Internally restrain the development of market relations, ignore or even oppose economic innovation, the development of productive forces changes slowly in the form of internal natural accumulation, it is difficult to expand domestic and foreign markets, the allocation of resources is sluggish, the process of production socialization is difficult to start, and the market economy is difficult to sprout and grow. A series of factors have led to the transformation of China's social and economic status. Capitalism moves towards globalization, and China's economy also moves towards modernization, but it is more introverted.

The social and economic changes in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties were mainly the development of modernization and internationalization. On the one hand, China's economic modernization has promoted China's progress; On the other hand, the internationalization of China's economy makes our country backward and widens the gap between China and the West. By discussing these two aspects of economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is shown that economic modernization is the general trend of China's economic development, but the main line of China's economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties is internalization, which is also the main aspect of China's socio-economic status change in Ming and Qing Dynasties and the fundamental reason why China lags behind the world. That is to say, the economic development of China in Ming and Qing Dynasties was going to the world, and it was lagging behind the world. Through the analysis of these two aspects of economic development in Ming and Qing Dynasties, we can understand the reasons for the economic changes in China during this period and find out the reasons for the gradual decline of feudal economy in China since Ming and Qing Dynasties.