Centralization and Decentralization: Talking about China

Author: Hu Min, Ma Xueqiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: The general thesis is that the Ming Dynasty, after the Ming Dynasty, was still similar to the Song Dynasty. Politically, there was no special class distinction. Socially, all citizens of the country were protected by the same laws of the government. Economically, it remained under a relatively balanced and restrictive system, preventing the sharp antagonism of extreme poverty and wealth. The Ming Taizu rose from the grasslands and was able to overthrow the Hu Yuan, subdue the various warlords, and his talent cannot be called insignificant. Although he rose from the grasslands, he was also able to understand politics. The schools, imperial examinations, and tax systems he established were all followed by the Qing Dynasty, lasting for six hundred years. The system of Weishu was later flawed, but tracing back to its legislative origins, it was indeed a very complete system that could create numerous and strong armies without burdening the people. Therefore, the scale of the Ming Dynasty's founding cannot be considered insignificant. Unfortunately, he was too selfish. He abolished the prime minister, leaving the court without key ministers, and in later generations, power fell into the hands of eunuchs. He relied too much on the descendants of the dukes, marquises, and earls, which led to the decline of the military government. His use of was originally harsh, and he also established the Embroidered Guard to conduct intelligence and surveillance, leading to the rise of the Eastern Bureau, Western Bureau, and Inner Bureau in later generations. All of this cannot be blamed on his poor legacy. His enfeoffment of his sons in various places directly led to the Jingnan Rebellion. With the collapse of the Mongol Empire and the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, China gained a respite from ethnic minority rule. A poor farmer later became a rebellious general and established the Ming Dynasty. He not only controlled all the Han regions but also expanded his power into the southwestern regions. The early Ming emperors worked hard, often using terroristic methods to make officials follow the rules, in an effort to establish personal control over a vast and complex empire. Although the rulers were extremely autocratic, the competition to join the bureaucratic group quickly reached and surpassed the level of the Song Dynasty. In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, literary culture was very vibrant, and the urbanization level was very high, with the publishing industry also developing rapidly. One reason for the prosperity of this region is trade development, which includes foreign trade along the coast. Although the Ming rulers had little interest in commerce and tried to incorporate foreign trade into the tributary system, the Ming government could not keep China out of the rapidly developing international trade system, because there was strong demand for Chinese silk and porcelain abroad. As a result, silver flowed in, accelerating the monetization of the Chinese economy and causing widespread social and cultural impacts, some of which help explain the social order of the 17th century.