Characteristics of Ming and Qing Dynasties

Characteristics of Ming and Qing Dynasties:

1. Politically, the monarchy was strengthened (the Ming Dynasty began to abolish the Prime Minister and set up a cabinet, and the Qing Dynasty Yongzheng set up a Ministry of War).

2. Economically, capitalism sprouted in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

3. Ideologically, stereotyped writing began to appear in the imperial examination, which imprisoned people's thoughts.

4. Externally: After Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean, China basically embarked on the road of Shanghai's ban and closed door.

5. Commerce: With the expansion of the domestic market, the diversification of agricultural products and the development of international long-distance trafficking trade, towns famous for industry and commerce have appeared in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Ming and Qing Dynasties were a period when feudal society turned from prosperity to decline. During this period, imperial power was highly concentrated, feudal absolutism intensified, the germination of capitalism developed slowly, and ideas were strictly controlled.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties are generally regarded as an important period of social transformation in China, especially in the Qing Dynasty. The multi-ethnic situation in China has been consolidated, and the territory of China has been roughly laid.

Extended data

The Ming and Qing Dynasties (before the Opium War) was an important period in which China's ancient society developed highly and began to transform into modern times. The social and historical characteristics of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

First, autocratic centralization has further developed. In the early Ming Dynasty, the system of "Prime Minister of the Province of Books" was abolished, and the supervision and control of officials at all levels were strengthened by military institutions and secret service organizations, and the control of grassroots people was strengthened by household registration system and grassroots organizations.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of War was established and the memorial system was implemented, so that the emperor could act arbitrarily and the cabinet was reduced to a transactional institution dealing with ordinary affairs. Authoritarian centralization was further strengthened.

Second, a unified multi-ethnic country was finally formed. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, after long-term ethnic integration, ethnic exchanges and ethnic conflicts, ethnic ties became closer and closer. After a series of struggles against ethnic separatism and foreign aggression, a unified multi-ethnic country has been further consolidated and developed, forming a vast and unprecedented unified situation and laying the foundation for today's Chinese territory.

Third, the economy has developed greatly, and some areas have begun the process of early industrialization. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the area of cultivated land increased unprecedentedly, and cash crops such as cotton were planted in a large area, which greatly improved the commercialization rate of agricultural products. Handicraft industry has a fine division of labor and expanded scale, and the commercialized cottage industry has developed rapidly.

Emerging industrial and commercial towns have sprung up in a large number in some areas, and the national market has gradually formed. At the same time, with the reform of labor from whip to stall and the change of craftsman system, the super-economic personal attachment relationship has been relaxed, and the free employment relationship has appeared in some areas of the south of the Yangtze River. Early industrialization in the south of the Yangtze River flourished.

Fourth, Chinese and western cultures communicate in the collision. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, a group of missionaries came to China with western colonists, bringing advanced knowledge of western culture and science, greatly broadening China people's horizons and strengthening cultural exchanges between China and the West.

However, due to the great cultural differences between the two sides and the autocratic papacy, the Qing court gradually tended to be conservative in cultural exchanges, which made China lose the opportunity to make progress in exchanges.

Fifth, criticize and summarize the traditional culture. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, thinkers such as Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi and Gu sharply criticized the traditional system and traditional thought. The rise of civic literature such as "San Yan Er Pai" shows a new flavor of the times.

Ganjia Puxue was popular for a while, and China's traditional culture was comprehensively summarized. China's masterpieces of traditional culture, such as Yongle Dadian, Integration of Ancient and Modern Books and Sikuquanshu, were all completed during this period.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Ming and Qing Dynasties