page_title: Economic history of China before 1912
section_title: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of China before 1912 / Late imperial era / Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty China
context_page_description: The economic history of China covers thousands of years and the region has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. China, for last two millennia, was one of the world's largest and most advanced economies. Economic historians usually divide China's history into three periods: the pre-imperial era before the rise of Qin; the early imperial era from Qin to the rise of the Song; and the late imperial era, from Song to the fall of the Qing.
  Neolithic agriculture had developed in China by roughly 8,000 BCE. Stratified Bronze Age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang and Western Zhou, a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou in 771 BCE, leaving China fragmented during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras.
  As the feudal system collapsed, most legislative power transferred from the nobility to local kings.
context_section_description: Following the unrest in the late Yuan dynasty, the peasant Zhu Yuanzhang led a rebellion against Mongol rule. He founded the Ming dynasty, whose reign is considered one of China's Golden Ages. Private industries replaced those managed by the state. Vibrant foreign trade allowed contact to become established between East and West. Cash crops were more frequently grown, specialised industries were founded, and the economic growth caused by privatisation of state industries resulted in one of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history, exceeding that of the earlier Song dynasty.
  The Ming was also a period of technological progress, though less so than the earlier Song. It is estimated that Ming China had a population of approximately 150 million in 1600.
caption: Portrait of the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398)
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