Tribute, War, and Trade: Ming China in the Age of Exploration

This book examines the clash and competition between the Ming dynasty’s tributary system and global trade. It explores in detail why the tributary system was established, how it took shape, and the challenges it faced in practice, while surveying the historical details of the immense conflict between the Ming dynasty and the wider world against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration. From geopolitical structures, ruling philosophies, and political institutions to private overseas trade, monetary systems, the Enlightenment in China and the West, weapons and technology, and maritime raiders, the book offers a comprehensive examination of the internal and external forces behind the Ming dynasty’s gradual decline relative to the modern world. The author argues that since the sixteenth century, European nations have led the creation of a new international order built on global maritime trade. In the East, the belief in a tributary world order persisted under the Qing dynasty even after the Ming-Qing transition. It took until the nineteenth century, when the British used their powerful ships and guns to shatter the Celestial Empire’s illusions, for China to be drawn unwillingly into the new global system.