Overlooked Silver: Reassessing Ming–Qing Silver Supplies

Abstract

abstract: Numerous silver mines in the southwestern borderlands of Ming and Qing China (present-day Yunnan Province, Myanmar, and Vietnam) are known from occasional historical mention. Despite some regional attention, they were regarded as a marginal source of silver for the Chinese monetary system. This article presents a new research approach that overcomes the scarcity of written sources by tapping mineralogical material remains on historic mining sites. We present case studies of three well-documented sites and discuss our comparative assessment of forty-seven identified mines of importance. Our reconstruction of total silver outputs based on slag dumps permits quantification based on material evidence. We estimate southwestern mines' outputs at 20,000 to 50,000 tons of monetary-grade silver for the period 1400–1850. Domestic silver flows on this order revise the current view that the monetary system of early modern China depended on overseas silver. 摘要: 本文根據古爐渣遺存開拓了技術史的方法 ， 重新研究了明清時期中國西 南 、 緬甸和越南邊境地區的白銀生產 ， 結果發現這一區域的產量至少為 20,000 噸 ⸺ 甚至可達 50,000 噸 ， 超過同期海外白銀輸入的數量 ， 從而修正了中國傳統市場體系 的發展依賴於海外白銀輸入的認識 。