The first reading of the semester was an overview of Ming China leading up to its collapse. It began with a discussion of the apparent might of the Ming, with focus on the artistic accomplishments of the Ming. Chief among these were the four great novels of the Ming. The reading and class discussion both pointed to the Ming as placing priority on fiction and poetry writing; I would be interested in knowing how much non-fiction writing still was practiced, since it was a tradition in China for millennia before the Ming came to power.
The next portion of the reading focused on the factors that undermined the Ming dynasty during the final years of their rule. The first factor that was identified was the corruption that permeated Ming bureaucracy; this was particularly flagrant among the eunuchs of the imperial court, particularly under the eunuch Wang Yangming. The abuses committed during his de facto reign proved impossible for the Ming to overcome in terms of regaining popular trust. The other great drain on imperial resources was the many directions that its military was pulled during the period. During the period, the most apparent military threat to the Ming was the northern nomads who attacked the Northern districts of the Empire. Defending against these incursions was a major drain on Ming resources, and prevented them from properly dealing with the rebellions and pirate attacks going on in the rest of the empire. The military activity of the late Ming might be an area of further research for me in a show and tell project.
To me, the most desperate problem for the late Ming was the breakdown of society in the country. With the Ming forces stretched so thin, there was no one to protect farmers when marauders attacked them. Moreover, poor harvests drove farmers to prey on each other and break down the highly effective country economy. With that breakdown, the small towns began to have their economies break down, and so on until the entire Ming society was at risk.
It was with this society-wide disaster that Ming might seems (to me) to have fully crumbled. The common people became discontent enough to join rebellions, which further undermined the Ming, and eventually overran the capitol, forcing the last Ming emperor to suicide.
For Friday, we read a passage and an excerpt about what made modern China, or rather what made China China and what the definition of modern is. Interesting problems for this are that Chinese society has been complex for millennia but also has lacked certain features that may be requisite for status as modern. Additionally, the China of today is not merely the homeland of the ethnic Han people. For my own part, I am unsure of what I would make pre-requisite for modernity and am equally unsure of when China would make the leap; I can say that I believe that contemporary China would fit as modern.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. W.W. Norton Company, 2013.
Mitter, Rana. Modern China: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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