Ming China and the early global economy

The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) came to power after driving out the Mongol Yuan dynasty, ruling first from Nanjing and then, from 1421, from Beijing, where it built the Forbidden City; it also rebuilt much of the Great Wall. From 1405 to 1433, Admiral Zheng He led huge treasure fleets through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean as far as East Africa, displaying Ming power and collecting tribute, but later rulers ended the voyages and focused on threats at home. China remained central to world trade anyway: Europeans and others wanted Chinese silk, tea, and porcelain, and China increasingly demanded payment in silver. Silver mined by enslaved and coerced laborers in Spanish America, carried across the Pacific on Spanish galleons from Acapulco to Manila beginning in 1571 and then into China through Asian trade networks, along with silver from Japan and silver that reached Asia by way of Europe, flowed into China, tying the Americas, Europe, and Asia together in one of the first truly global economic networks.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong. 🚩 Report