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Cited by 74Historical Economic and Social StudiesChinese history and philosophyGlobal Maritime and Colonial Histories

Time, Money, and the Weather: Ming China and the “Great Depression” of the Mid-Fifteenth Century

Atwell, William S.·2002·The Journal of Asian Studies
DOI 10.2307/2700190
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Abstract

During the fifteenth century, especially during its middle decades, “almost all parts of the then-known world [i.e., Europe, the Middle East, and the economically advanced regions of Asia] experienced a deep recession. By then, the ‘state of the world’ was at a much lower level than it had reached in the early fourteenth century. During the depression of the fifteenth century, the absolute level of inter-societal trade dropped, currencies were universally debased (a sure sign of decreased wealth and overall productivity), and the arts and crafts were degraded” (Abu-Lughod 1993, 85; see also Lopez and Miskimin 1962; Lopez, Miskimin, and Udovitch 1970; Postan 1973, 41–48; Wallerstein 1974, 21–38; Munro 1998, 38–39). In much of Eurasia, the worst years of this “depression” probably ended sometime during the 1460s or 1470s. Over the next six or seven decades, economic conditions in many parts of the world improved significantly, reflected in dramatic increases in agricultural and handicraft production; in the volume of interregional and international trade; and, except for the western hemisphere where Afro-Eurasian diseases decimated native populations during the early sixteenth century, in demographic growth.

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  • The Mt Tambora eruption is the key factor that facilitated the decline of China from the prosperity of the 19th century.

    “This event is the key factor that facilitated the decline of China from the prosperity of the 19th century.65”

    From Climate change and Chinese history: a review of trends, topics, and methods (2015) · cites this paper as [65]

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Authors
Atwell, W. S.
Corresponding author
Atwell, William S.
Venue
The Journal of Asian Studies
Publisher
Duke University Press
Published
2002-02
Volume
61
Issue
1
Pages
83-113
ISSN
  • 0021-9118 (ISSN-L)
  • 1752-0401
DOI
10.2307/2700190
OpenAlex
W2100362191
Cited by
74
References
162
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
FWCI
0.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 2975 d)
Locations
The Journal of Asian Studies (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Chinese history and philosophy
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
Keywords
Ming China, currency debasement, economic history, time and money, weather and climate, population growth

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