A Change Happened To The Social Status Occupied By The Craftsmen In Late Ming In Jiangnan Region

Craftsman is the main body of craft creation in the handicraft age and the provider of daily necessities,luxuries and consumer goods in the traditional society,and its importance is self-evident.However,due to the slave nature of the early craftsmen,their social status was not high.From the perspective of easy management,the rulers implemented a strict management system for the craftsmen and regulated their status as corvee workers.In addition,traditional Confucian values do not emphasize craftsmanship,and craftsmanship is regarded as a“wonderful skill”.These factors led to the low social status of craftsmen,which was changed in the late Ming dynasty,especially in the jiangnan region.The evolution of craftsmen' s social status in jiangnan area in late Ming dynasty is a complicated historical process.The reform of the management system of the government craftsmen in the late Ming dynasty was the basic premise for the improvement of the social status of the craftsmen.Jiangnan region economy development during the period of late Ming dynasty,craftsmen for freedom of the individual development provides a good external economic environment,since jiajing,jiangnan social commodity market increasingly active and towards the peak,in the jiangnan craftsman become beneficiaries.In the social changes of the late Ming dynasty,craftsman,with the improvement of their skills,achieved the goal of becoming rich,famous and official by their skills,and improved their social status at different levels.In addition,the participation of literati in the late Ming dynasty was an important driving force for the improvement of craftsmen's social status.Jiangnan literati recorded a lot of information related to craftsmen in their anthologies and diaries,wrote poems and biographies for craftsmen,and even introduced,promoted and helped craftsmen in person,which played a positive role in spreading the reputation of craftsmen.