Study On Overseas Trade In The Middle Of Ming Dynasty(1491-1572)

In early Ming Dynasty,the leading force of overseas trade was an official tribute trade,while in later period,it turned to the nongovernmental private one.In early Ming Dynasty,the government did not allow civilian force to participate in the overseas trade,so a tributary system has been established centered on this dynasty by virtue of its tremendous national power.In this way,it laid a foundation for the formation of the world trade system in East Asia.However,tribute trade itself inevitably has its own defect,so with the changes in the domestic and overseas situation,such a trade gradually was on the decline.By the contrast,the private overseas trade saw a sustainable development,and finally it cut the cord from the government.Moreover,after the “Openness in Reign of Emperor Longqing”,the trade boomed within the legal range,becoming a leading force for overseas trade in Ming Dynasty.The contents of this article is divided into four chapters for specific exposition.The first chapter presents the overseas policies in the beginning of the foundation of Ming Dynasty,and describes the establishment process of the tribute trade as well as the specific management of the government on the trade.An analysis is conducted in the second chapter into the changes in domestic and international situation in middle period of Ming Dynasty,and its economic recovery and development,as well as a slack political management.A new sea route has been opened internationally,the Portuguese undertook a direct exchanging collision with the Ming Dynasty.In the meantime,the tribute trade was increasingly on the wane,while the civilian force took part in the overseas trade,constantly developing.The third chapter Focuses on a contradiction that Ming Shizong reiterated a ban on maritime trade and the civilian force revolted against such a ban.On this basis,this chapter describes in detail the concrete measures to the reiterating the ban on maritime trade,and the outbreak of “Japanese pirates” riot during Jiajing period when the folk opposed the ban.This shows a ban on maritime trade inside the Ming government and rescinding prohibition struggle has become white-hot.The fourthchapter involves maritime openness policy by the Ming government in Reign of Emperor Longqing in few places,where “Yuegang System” was formed in Zhangzhou,Fujian while the binary trade regime centered on “Guangzhou-Macao” in Guangzhou.Since then,the nongovernmental private overseas trade has officially replaced the tribute trade dominated by the government,becoming a leading force for overseas trade in Ming Dynasty.A rapid growth of overseas trade exerted influences on Chinese society,of which the greatest is an influx of a large number of silver.