Brush, Seal and Abacus

This book takes three social groups—literati, scholar-officials, and merchants—as the framework for discussing the political, socioeconomic, and cultural forces that coalesced and reinforced one another to influence and facilitate change in Ming China’s lower Yangzi delta. It follows the region’s political ties with the state and commercial links with external markets. The boo...

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This book takes three social groups—literati, scholar-officials, and merchants—as the framework for discussing the political, socioeconomic, and cultural forces that coalesced and reinforced one another to influence and facilitate change in Ming China’s lower Yangzi delta. It follows the region’s political ties with the state and commercial links with external markets. The book evokes the richly textured life of Ming China’s heartland in an age of commercial and cultural strength, which then descended into distress and despair.

List of Figures
Abbreviations
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter I Brush and Abacus: Scholars and Merchants Seek Profit and Place 11
Commercial Contagion 14
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List of Figures
Abbreviations
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter I Brush and Abacus: Scholars and Merchants Seek Profit and Place 11
Commercial Contagion 14
Scholars’ Dilemma 23
“Trade and Study” 27
Profitable Niches 34
Scholars and the Rise of Merchants 39
Blurred Social Boundaries 49
Chapter II Seal and Abacus: Officials and Their Agents Catch the Fever 61
The Fusion of Seal and Abacus 62
Masters and Bondsmen 68
Tax Evasion 76
The Case of Dong Fen 85
Chapter III Tonic or Toxic? Scholars Contest the Implications of Profit 99
Benefits of the Market Economy 100
The Market and Moral Decay 106
The Middle Ground 117
The Debasement of Officialdom 120
Chapter IV A Roiling Cauldron: Imperial Misrule and Factionalism Fan the Flames 127
The Shadows of Hongwu and Zhang Juzheng 129
Obstreperous Emperor 134
Dogged Opposition 139
The Grand Secretariat’s Faction 146
Rancor over Examinations 153
The Guoben Controversy 160
Institutional Erosion 165
Partisan Divide at Home 171
A Decade of Considerable Significance 174
Chapter V Seething Protest: Great Families Provoke Public Outbursts 179
Hai Rui’s Abortive Populism 181
The Huzhou Disturbance against Dong Fen 183
Student Agitators 195
The Songjiang Riots against Dong Qichang 198
Chapter VI On a Sinking Ship: Gentry Reformers Respond to Crises 207
Charity 209
Tax Reforms 218
Disaster Relief 227
The Final Descent 233
Afterword 241
Bibliography 245
Glossary and Index 261
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