Study On Chinese Private Handicraft Market From 1368 To 1840

As an important social and economic activity, the production and circulation of handicraft are also affected by the social and economic laws. In modern times, many scholars conducted researches in the field of handicraft, and had achieved many important achievements. But most were focused on the shape, color, craft, material, etc., research on handicraft market was almost empty, which is not conducive to unfold the complete academic recognition of handicraft. In order to clarify the context of the development of arts and crafts, hold the laws of development of arts and crafts industry, from the arts, economics, marketing and other cross-disciplinary perspectives, this thesis tries to unfold exploratory research for arts and crafts market in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which may provide a reference to grasp the laws of the arts and crafts market and develop contemporary crafts industry.According to the different forms of production and management, handicraft in China is divided into government-run handicrafts and private handicrafts. Government-run handicraft is to adapt to the needs of the feudal autocratic rule, all production operations are dependent on feudal autocratic privileges, less affected by the laws of the market; private craft developed based on commodity economy, largely affected by the laws of the market. Although the craft market has been formed during Qin and Han Dynasties, due to restraint of "agricultural suppression" policy, private handicraft developed slowly and tortuously, which did not head to prosperity till the Qing dynasty, particularly after the mid-Ming. The development of China's private arts and crafts market in Ming and Qing Dynasties, mainly in the following aspects: Firstly, on the basis of the traditional supply of raw materials, specialized handicraft raw materials market gradually raised; Secondly, in the weakening of the feudal shackles, the labor market emerged, in which farmers and craftsman were free to sell their labor; Thirdly, on the basis of developed transportation network in water and land, the country's handicraft market distribution network also improved, a unified national market system was initially established.