Technology and Society in Ming China, 1368-1644

Download or read book Technology and Society in Ming China, 1368-1644 written by Francesca Bray and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historians of Chinese technology have tended to pay little attention to the Ming dynasty, characterizing it as a stagnantperiod unmarked by significant inventions of the kind that in Europe gave rise to the industrial revolution and the modern world. Yet the Ming was a period of extraordinary social, cultural, and economic vitality and change, and it would be curious if technology had played no part in these changes. This pamphlet approaches the material world of the Ming from a more anthropological perspective than has been conventional among historians of China, emphasizing the role of technologies in social order and identity.