Ming Silver

Silver has become main currency in circulation in society, so a large number of sources of silver will inevitably be required. The source of silver during Ming Dynasty was mainly government mining and influx of foreign countries. Gu Yanwu once said, "The source of silver is silver from gravel and silver from ships."

Silver is country's legal currency, so development of silver mines should be in hands of government. The Ming Dynasty established that no one could open a silver mine privately, and anyone who violated it would be severely punished. The Ming Dynasty government has two ways to mine silver, one is that government establishes establishments in silver mines for direct mining, other is to order local authorities to force local businessmen to invest in mining.

Ming Dynasty Silver Mine Ruins

During Hongwu period, due to ban on circulation of silver, only Fujian and Zhejiang had a few silver farms in country. During Yongle period, tribute trade flourished, which required a large amount of silver, so silver mines were controlled and opened throughout country, and silver farms were established throughout country. During Yongle period, country's tax revenue reached 5 million taels, highest in history. In Renxuan period, number of mined silver mines was not as large as in Yongle period, but number was also very objective: from first year of Xuande to ninth year of Xuande, there were 2.3 million taels.

Since time of Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, silver market in Ming Dynasty has been volatile, and income of silver taels has also been very unstable. During Jiajing period, when silver gradually became main currency, government increased scale of mining, reaching a total of 4.82 million taels. During Wanli period, due to frequent wars and unprecedented demand for silver, silver farms were established throughout country. However, during this time there were sharp social conflicts and serious corruption, resulting in inadequate silver actually entering treasury. After 1620, Ming Dynasty "abolished all mining taxes in world" and since then, silver mining has gone beyond scale.

In fact, main source of silver during Ming Dynasty was overseas trade. During 200 years of Ming maritime prohibition, outflow of silver was very serious because government often used silver to "reward" foreign missions. However, this phenomenon began to change during Longqing period. In 1567, Longqing announced restoration of Department of Maritime Navigation and allowed private merchants to conduct foreign trade in Yuegang, Fujian, which opened mouth of maritime ban. Since then, private trade between China and rest of world has grown rapidly. At this time, Spain and Portugal opened new sea routes and established economic exchanges with China. Spain mined large amounts of silver in Americas and monopolized 80% of world's silver production. Spain, on other hand, used large quantities of silver to purchase china, tea, and other materials from China, which allowed silver to enter China on a large scale. According to statistics, from discovery of Longqing to end of Ming Dynasty, about 40 million taels of silver flowed to China from Philippines.

Sowing of economic crops at end of Ming dynasty

Surprisingly, amount of silver entering China from Japan far exceeds that from Spain. Japan's resources are scarce, but silver mines are relatively rich. At same time, Japan also had an advantage in trade with Spain, which caused a lot of silver to flow into Japan. However, smuggling between Japan and China is very thriving, and Japan has a great demand for Chinese products: "Most of what Japan needs is made in China." Therefore, Japan used its rich silver resources for smuggling with Chinese businessmen. The reason it is called smuggling is because Ming Dynasty banned private trade with Japan. In trade between China and Japan, large amounts of Japanese silver also flowed to China. The "Internal Silver Mining in Ming Dynasty and Several Parts of Foreign Influx" mentions that from 1601 to 1640, East Asia received a total of about 160 million taels of silver, of which 120 million taels came from Japan and mostly flowed to China. In addition to Japan and Spain, a large amount of silver flowed to China from Portugal.

Silver as a precious metal currency has a much more stable value than banknotes and copper coins. When silver became main currency of society, commercial development of Ming Dynasty became more stable and trading capital became more active, which greatly contributed to development of commodity economy. Silver has a higher value and is more suitable for long-distance trade and commodity trade than copper coins, which contributes to growth of national trade. During Ming Dynasty, trading groups such as Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, Guangdong merchants, Fujian merchants, and Wuyue merchants emerged, which were mainly engaged in long-distance trade and wholesale of goods.

Huizhou

As a world currency at time, silver was link to global economy. The monetization of silver under Ming Dynasty also accelerated connection between domestic economy and world market, which promoted economic exchange and cultural ties between China and foreign countries. During late Ming Dynasty, economic ties between coastal regions of China and foreign countries were clearly strengthened, for example, textile industry prospered very much, and many handicraft factories appeared. Historians call this phenomenon "germination of capitalism".

Silver monetization had a great impact on Ming government. Thanks to large-scale influx of silver, income of Ming treasury increased significantly. The influx of silver will inevitably also contribute to an increase in income of treasury of Minsk government. Prior to discovery of Longqing, income of Ming treasury was mainly dependent on domestic agriculture; after discovery of Longqing, silver in silver treasury increased rapidly from 2.3 million taels in 1570 to 4.3 million taels in Wanli in five years. . At that time, expansion of treasury during Wanli period was directly affected by Zhang Jiuzhen's reform, but "one-whip method" in Zhang Jiuzhen's reform was also result of monetization of silver.

In 1581, Zhang Jiuzhen enacted "One Whip Law", that is, he combined past land tax, population tax, corvée and various taxes into one and collected silver according to number of acres of land. The move signifies that taxation in China has officially moved from being taxed in kind to being taxed in cash. At same time, this reform also weakened personal dependence of peasants, who adapted themselves to development of a commodity economy. The introduction of One Whip Law was a symbolic event in China's tax reform. The "One Whip Law" was silver currency of Ming Dynasty. At same time, whip method also contributed to a further expansion of volume of silver circulation.

The monetization of silver is one of landmark events of transition from Ming and Qing dynasties to modernity in China. In addition, there has been growth of trading gangs, widespread cultivation of cash crops, growth of Western learning, emergence of enlightenment thoughts, etc. However, due to closed measures and pressure measures taken by Ming and Qing governments in general, China's modernization transformation has met with resistance. Therefore, impact of silver monetization is also limited. No event is an isolated event The monetization of silver reflects changes in Chinese economy and is also an important manifestation of changes in global pattern.