Ming Qing Dynasties Research Articles

Analysis of Pigments Unearthed from the Yungang Grottoes Archaeological Excavations

The Yungang Grottoes, excavated during the 5th to 6th centuries AD, stand as a pinnacle of Buddhist sculpture, representing a precious world cultural heritage. Since their excavation, the grottoes have undergone multiple phases of painting, with a significant amount of pigment still present on the surfaces of the stone carvings. Since the 1990s, two large-scale archaeological excavations have been conducted on both the front ground and the summit of Yungang Grottoes. During these excavations, various artifacts with accompanying pigments were unearthed, encompassing stone carvings, grinding tools, architectural components, fragments of murals, and remnants of clay sculptures, spanning the historical periods of the Northern Wei, Liao-Jin, and Ming-Qing dynasties. Using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, portable microscopy, polarizing microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and confocal Raman microscopy, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of these painted elements. The investigation revealed the presence of hematite, vermilion, goethite, malachite, calcium carbonate, lead white, and ivory black pigments in the Northern Wei samples. The Liao-Jin samples exhibited hematite, while the Ming-Qing samples contained vermilion, minium, atacamite, lead white, and Prussian blue.

Re-examining Vietnamese family values: an exploration of Vuong Duong Minh's (Wang Yangming) educational philosophy of children

Education is a vital component of a prosperous future for all individuals and is influenced by the three main environments of family, school, and society. Family education plays a crucial role in shaping and developing each individual's personality. In this regard, the educational philosophy of Vuong Duong Minh, a renowned Chinese thinker from the Ming-Qing dynasties, offers valuable insights into children's education, which remain relevant today. This paper employs a logical and historical approach to analyze and apply Vuong Duong Minh's ideas to contemporary Vietnamese family education. By exploring the meanings and philosophy of children in Vietnamese families, this article contributes to the ongoing efforts to enhance families' development and perfect individuals' personalities in the modern era.

木活字 사용과 족보 간행의 활성화: 조선시대 족보와 중국 明 · 淸代 족보의 비교

Two printing tools, woodblocks and movable types, were used to publish genealogy books called zupu/jokbo (族譜), zongpu/jongbo (宗譜), and jiapu/gabo (家譜) in Ming-Qing Dynasties in China and Joseon Dynasty in Korea. In both countries, the number of genealogy books printed with wooden movable type began to increase around the 18th century, and in the 19th century, wooden type printing was far more prevalent than woodblock printing. Wooden movable type was characterized by easy typesetting and low cost, so it was suitable for publishing genealogy books that had to be newly edited and published only a small number of copies for each generation.BR The genealogy books printed with wooden types spread thanks to the emergence of publishers carrying wooden types and the development of regional publishing culture. Among the places with such conditions were Jiangnan(江南) region in the Qing Dynasty, and the vicinity of Seoul in the Joseon Dynasty. In addition, although they were limited in demand, genealogy books printed with wooden movable type commonly spread in both Korean and Chinese traditional societies. This was the result of exchanges of publishing culture in East Asia.

The Formation of "Half the Sky" of Catholicism in the Ming-Qing Dynasties and Its Religious Space: Take Candida Xu as Center

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Catholicism spread from foreign countries to China. Missionaries conformed to women’s role of "Social Marginality" at that time and adopted adaptive women's group missionary strategy, which provided suitable soil and favorable conditions for the formation of "Half the Sky" phenomenon of female believers. With further investigation, it is found that female believers are the main basis for the prosperity and sustainable development of the "Half the Sky" phenomenon, which is closely related to the special religious space that ancient women had under the positioning of "Social Marginality". Among the female believers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the most exemplary character is "Female Pillar" Candida Xu, who is well-known in both China and the West. Her historical records are the most comprehensive and detailed, making up for the collective "Aphasia" of female believers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties to a certain extent. Candida Xu made full use of her different kind of free religious activity space, built a women's religious network with herself as the axis, and promoted the establishment of a sizable nursery for girls, which became a key part and an important support of "Half the Sky", and finally made outstanding contributions to the formation of "Half the Sky" of Catholicism in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the expansion of its religious space.

The Contest between Life-Oriented and Specialization : A Study on the Self-treatment Phenomenon in Ming and Qing Dynasties in China.

It is natural for people to think that the increasing popularity of seeking medical treatment and the continuous development of medicine are the important embodiment of the progress of human civilization. Generally speaking, the progress of medical technology and the abundance of medical resources mean that the phenomenon of self-treatment is reduced. However, this study of Chinese medical history found that it had always been a common choice to seek self-treatment for people in all social classes, from literati and bureaucrats to ordinary people in remote mountainous areas, especially during the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. Such records can be seen especially when looking through historical materials such as medical books, local chronicles, genealogies, notes, and anthologies. Although medical skills in Ming-Qing era were more developed than previous eras and the local medical resources were more abundant, from ordinary people in remote areas to elite groups such as literati and officials, people often regarded self-treatment as a basic choice when they or their family members fell ill, no matter whether they had the ability or the opportunity to delay medical treatment. This article aims to explore the logic and root behind this seemingly contradictory phenomenon. Therefore, this research first raises the question: what accounted for this seemingly contradictory phenomenon? In response to this question, this study confirms the following: Firstly, low barriers to entry and high rewards drove people of varying qualifications into the medical profession, and good doctors were hard to find; thus, self-treatment was no worse than the alternatives. Secondly, in the Ming-Qing dynasties, Confucian physicians tended to write more practical prescriptions, which gave many people the opportunity to improve their own medical knowledge and provided great convenience for self-treatment. Thirdly, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the high medical cost had caused serious difficulties for ordinary people to seek professional medical care, so they tried their best to save themselves when they fell ill. On this basis, this study further found that the deeper reason for this phenomenon lies in the incoordination between the high degree of daily life style of traditional medical treatment and the corresponding low degree of medical specialization and professionalism. Then, this leads to another question: is this incongruity a historical norm or a product of a certain historical stage? This article argues that during the Ming-Qing era, in the macro trend, the two showed a competitive relationship. However, in the context of a broader and more microscopic time and space, is this competitive relationship valid? Especially at present, chronic non-communicable diseases are becoming the biggest threat to human health. With the professional development of medical technology, the trend of medical life-style has also become a reasonable way to fill the gap from highly authoritative medical treatment and take on the responsibilities of their own health. This kind of medical specialization and life-style seems to be developing in parallel. Therefore, it can be concluded that the dissonance between the two is only the product of a certain historical period. Finally, this study raises another relevant question: what are the social and cultural implications behind the parallel development of medical life and specialization? This is a question to be answered in future research on the topic.

Wind-Induced Vibration of Traditional Chinese Citygate Buildings in the Ming-Qing Dynasties – A Case Study of the Nanjing Drum Tower

ABSTRACT Compared to normal traditional Chinese timber buildings, citygate buildings are relatively high, lightweight, and quite vulnerable to wind. The present work aims to carry out a wind-induced vibration study on a traditional Chinese citygate building, the Nanjing Drum Tower, with the method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to determine the wind loads and finite element (FE) analysis to assess its structural response. The architectural and structural characteristics of traditional Chinese timber buildings in the Ming-Qing dynasties are analysed. The Nanjing Drum Tower has typical characteristics and is taken as the representative building in this study. The wind pressure coefficients of the drum tower are obtained by CFD simulation with the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model. The structural response of the drum tower under wind loads is analysed based on FE analysis. The obtained results can provide a basis for assessing the wind-induced vibration of traditional Chinese citygate buildings.

Comparative study on the academic thought of bloodletting for expelling pathogens between Jin-Yuan Dynasties and Ming-Qing Dynasties

The relevant provisions of bloodletting for expelling pathogens are collected from the works of the medical representative scholars in Jin-Yuan Dynasties and Ming-Qing Dynasties respectively to construct the databases of bloodletting for expelling pathogens of Jin-Yuan Dynasties and Ming-Qing Dynasties. Using frequency analysis, the bloodletting device, bloodletting location, bloodletting volume, the related pathogens and indications are compared between these two times so that the evidences could be provided for the inheritance and development of the academic thought of bloodletting for expelling pathogens. It is found that the three-edge needle is the most commonly used device for bloodletting in Jin-Yuan Dynasties and Ming-Qing Dynasties and yang meridians and local affected area are generally selected for bloodletting. The range of meridian and acupoint selection in Ming-Qing Dynasties are more extensive than those in Jin-Yuan Dynasties, while bloodletting volume is less than that in Jin-Yuan Dynasties. In Jin-Yuan Dynasties, bloodletting therapy is mainly for expelling exogenous pathogens i.e. heat, fire and wind, while, in Ming-Qing Dynasties, this therapy is specially for clearing heat and removing stasis. The disorders of internal medicine are often treated with such therapy in these two dynasties. But, compared with Jin-Yuan Dynasties, the indication of bloodletting therapy is expanded gradually in Ming-Qing Dynasties. It is shown that the academic thought of bloodletting for expelling pathogens in Jin-Yuan Dynasties is inherited and developed from Ming-Qing Dynasties.

The Images of the Merits of Shi and Hu Families: Between Popular Prints and Genealogies. Narratives of Loyalty to the Song Empire and the Edifying Practices of Huizhou Lineages in the Ming–Qing Dynasties

The Images of the Merits (Baogong tu 報功圖) of the Shi 石 and Hu 胡 families, from southern Anhui and northeastern Jiangsu, are held in Anhui Provincial Museum (in Hefei) and Shanghai Museum respectively. Exceptional in size and printing techniques, these prints are equally special because of their content, which includes the history of the two families, with a focus on the period of the founding of the Song dynasty (960–1276), where family, local, and “national” narratives combine in a composite, yet unique and continuous visual representation. This study describes the documents, narrates the events depicted, and questions the dating, nature, and use of the Baogong tu prints. The aim of this article is to analyze what the prints tell us, not only about the events depicted, but also about the rural world in which they were created, a world where the prominence of the lineages was particularly pronounced in the late imperial period.

清代 兩湖 지역개발과 전염병

The COVID-19 began in December 2019 in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. In spite of the Chinese government’s mass quarantine of Hubei, COVID-19 spread all over the world and threatened the lives of many people. Until now, COVID-19 has claimed more than 506,369 lives, with more than 10 million confirmed cases globally. In this regard, it is meaningful to study the epidemics of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in Qing Dynasty.BR Despite the value and importance of their social effects, there has not been enough research to identify the exact realities of the diseases. In this context, this article investigates the spatial and temporal distributions of epidemics with special reference to their regional developments and resulting disasters in Hubei and Hunan Provinces during Qing Dynasty.BR The Hubei and Hunan Provinces are located in the middle of Yangzi River area. These regions experienced an increased development of polders(垸田) in plain areas during Ming-Qing Dynasties due to immigration and population growth. The Hubei and Hunan plains were geopolitically important for Ming-Qing Dynasties, since they were major sources of food supply. The unprecedented demographic rise and economic boom caused the environmental degradation. In addition, overcrowded people in the plains moved to the mountainous areas and developed forest. As a result, the immigrants concentrated on food production, which enabled them to resolve subsistence but at the same time caused the erosion of soil.BR In Qing Dynasty epidemics accrued from frequent floods caused by the development of polders(垸田) in plain areas and the soil erosion made by exploitation of mountainous areas. The plainfoothill areas especially suffered frequent epidemics during Qing Dynasty, which usually followed some natural disasters that intensively raged in the years of 1700s, 1720s, 1820s and 1830s. Historical documents indicate that geographical changes in the environment and immigration led to periodical flood disasters, which were followed by series of epidemics.BR Constant development of nature by humans increased natural disasters and subsequently epidemics occurred frequently. There are lessons to be learned by paying attention to these historical fact about epidemic.

A bioarchaeological and biocultural investigation of Chinese footbinding at the Xuecun archaeological site, Henan Province, China

From 2005–2006 the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Henan Province, excavated the Xuecun cemetery as part of a salvage archaeology project associated with the South to North Water Diversion Project. This gave a unique opportunity to examine burials from the Ming-Qing Dynasties (1360–1911). Burials from this period are seldom excavated as the Chinese, do not want to disturb their direct ancestors. This is one of the first studies to examine the paleopathological consequences for footbinding in China. A total of 202 individuals were analyzed for evidence of bound feet: including the loss of musculature in the legs, alterations to muscle attachments, changes in the morphology of the tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges, and signs of infection and trauma. Length and width measurements of tarsals, metatarsal, and phalanges were taken from all females with observable bones. T-test results confirmed a significant difference in tarsal and metatarsal length/width. The incidence of footbinding also increased through time from no evidence in the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, and Jin Dynasty, to a dramatic increase in the late Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty.

A brief investigation on Gu Dehua, a female healer from Wuzhong in the Qing Dynasty

The female healer is a special community in traditional Chinese medical professionals. Since the Song-Yuan Dynasties, although the literati class holding the social voices and the male healers acting as medical orthodoxy were always suspicious of the female healers' behaviors and their medical morality, and tarnished their images through all kinds of media. Meanwhile, the female healers were still badly needed on the account of recognition of distinction between sexes between both sexes due to the rising of neo-Confucianism. An excellent female healer could still earn wide respect from the society. Gu Dehua was a famous female healer from Wuzhong in the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang-Xianfeng period. By investigating Gu Delua's family conditions, deeds and works, and her career, the community of the female healers in the Ming-Qing Dynasties can be thus understood.

The role of textual research discipline in the formation and development of the learning of warm disease

The theory of warm disease is basically founded in Su wen (Plain Questions) , with its basis laid down, and developed to mature in the Qing Dynasty. In addition to the developmental rules of medical science itself and the epidemics of warm disease at the turn of the Ming-Qing Dynasties, this theory rapidly developed and became an independent theory, the adoption of methodology of textual research also played an indispensable role. Specialists of warm disease sorted out, checked, and revised previous works, with discerning, annotating all terms and nomenclatures to raise questions, solvingdifficulties, strengthening the integrity, reliability, and precision of works on warm disease, thus deepened the knowledge of the nature of warm disease, promoted the formation of the specific system of diagnosis and treatment for the learning of warm disease.

A Study on The Zheng Zhi-long family as a merchant on the coastal waters of East-South in Ming-Qing Dynasties

A Study on The Zheng Zhi-long family as a merchant on the coastal waters of East-South in Ming-Qing Dynasties

A Diachronic Study on the Concepts of Jeokchwi(積聚)-related Disease

Purpose:To examine the process of change on the concepts of the ‘Jeokchwi’ and to investigate the process of change on categorization and classification system of these diseases. Methods: Eighteen comprehensive medical books published between the third century and the eighteenth century were included. Lesion location, pathophysiology, and symptoms of the ‘Jeokchwi’ and its subordinate diseases were extracted from each book. Results: The ‘Jeokchwi’ has been recognized since the third century. There has been little change on the concept of the ‘Jeokchwi’ until the Jin-Yuan Dynasties( • ). After Zhuzhenheng( ) reestablished the theory for etiology of the ‘Jeokchwi’, two pathophysiologic concept of this disease have coexisted since the Ming Dynasty( ). Four criteria(lesion location, lesion mobility, mobility of painful areas, and existence of an obvious lesion border) which classified the ‘Jeokchwi’ into the ‘Jeok’( ) and the ‘Chwi’( ) in the Nanjing ( ) have been used until the Ming-Qing Dynasties( • ). As Zhuzhenheng’s theory for etiology of the ‘Jeokchwi’ also applied to the theory for etiology of the ‘Jeok’ and the ‘Chwi’, pathophysiologic concepts of these diseases reestablished. The ‘Jeok of five viscera’( ), which is a principal subordinated disease of the ‘Jeok’, is the collective disease for five diseases(‘Bigi’( ), ‘Bokryang’( ), ‘Bigi’( ), ‘Sikbun’( ), and ‘Bundon’( )). Three criteria(lesion location, size or pattern of local lesion, mutated symptoms) in the Nanjing , and two criteria in the Maijing ( ) for classifying the five diseases have been passed down until the Ming-Qing Dynasties. The concept of the ‘Chwi’ and the ‘Six Chwi’( ) has been developed in detail than that of the ‘Jeok’ and the ‘Jeok of five viscera’. Conclusion: The pathophysiology and symptom of the ‘Jeokchwi’ were mostly recognized before the third century, and most of them have been passed down until the MingQingDynasty. Some concepts about this disease term changed through theprocess of creation, extinction, integration, or separation. Contact: Ui Min Jerng, breeze@kiom.re.kr

Development of cost-effectiveness management tool for Korean Medicine hospitals in Korea

Purpose:To examine the process of change on the concepts of the ‘Jeokchwi’ and to investigate the process of change on categorization and classification system of these diseases. Methods: Eighteen comprehensive medical books published between the third century and the eighteenth century were included. Lesion location, pathophysiology, and symptoms of the ‘Jeokchwi’ and its subordinate diseases were extracted from each book. Results: The ‘Jeokchwi’ has been recognized since the third century. There has been little change on the concept of the ‘Jeokchwi’ until the Jin-Yuan Dynasties( • ). After Zhuzhenheng( ) reestablished the theory for etiology of the ‘Jeokchwi’, two pathophysiologic concept of this disease have coexisted since the Ming Dynasty( ). Four criteria(lesion location, lesion mobility, mobility of painful areas, and existence of an obvious lesion border) which classified the ‘Jeokchwi’ into the ‘Jeok’( ) and the ‘Chwi’( ) in the Nanjing ( ) have been used until the Ming-Qing Dynasties( • ). As Zhuzhenheng’s theory for etiology of the ‘Jeokchwi’ also applied to the theory for etiology of the ‘Jeok’ and the ‘Chwi’, pathophysiologic concepts of these diseases reestablished. The ‘Jeok of five viscera’( ), which is a principal subordinated disease of the ‘Jeok’, is the collective disease for five diseases(‘Bigi’( ), ‘Bokryang’( ), ‘Bigi’( ), ‘Sikbun’( ), and ‘Bundon’( )). Three criteria(lesion location, size or pattern of local lesion, mutated symptoms) in the Nanjing , and two criteria in the Maijing ( ) for classifying the five diseases have been passed down until the Ming-Qing Dynasties. The concept of the ‘Chwi’ and the ‘Six Chwi’( ) has been developed in detail than that of the ‘Jeok’ and the ‘Jeok of five viscera’. Conclusion: The pathophysiology and symptom of the ‘Jeokchwi’ were mostly recognized before the third century, and most of them have been passed down until the MingQingDynasty. Some concepts about this disease term changed through theprocess of creation, extinction, integration, or separation. Contact: Ui Min Jerng, breeze@kiom.re.kr

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Market Towns in the Jiangnan Area During the Ming-Qing Dynasties of China

In this article, the authors present a spatiotemporal model for elucidating the evolution of market towns spanning from before 1550 to 1980. The study area, Jiangnan (i.e., current Shanghai and Suzhou cities area), with its flat elevation and compact river network, is the best place to evaluate the dynamic hierarchical change of the market towns in China. The population and the geographical location of each market town are manually extracted from a large quantity of historical literature. A geographical information system, spatial statistics, and the Shannon entropy are utilized for capturing the growth or decline of market towns and examining the spatial and hierarchical relationships of the market towns. The proposed methods can be easily extended to other historical research.

Contention on the theory of processing techniques of Chinese materia medica in the Ming-Qing period

On the basis of the golden stage of development of processing techniques of medicinals in the Song dynasty, the theory and techniques of processing in the Ming-Qing dynasties developed and accomplished further. The knowledge of some physicians on the processing of common medicinal, such as Radix rehmannia and Radixophiopogonis, was questioned, with new idea of processing methods put forward and argued against those insisting traditional ones, marking the progress of the art of processing. By reviewing the contention of technical theory of medicinal processing in the Ming-Qing period, useful references can be provided for the inheritance and development of the traditional art of processing medicinals.

明代爲中國近代史上限説———以郭廷以（1904—1975）及黄仁宇（1918—2000）爲例

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 20世紀以來，在中外學者的倡導下，中國近代史的研究受到重視。而中國近代史研究中一項重要課題，即爲如何斷限。其中上限最爲史家所關注，先後産生鴉片戰爭説、自强運動説、明末清初説、明代説、宋代説等。其中以鴉片戰爭説最爲史學界所接受，宋代説、自强運動説附議者不多，本文則以明末清初及明代説作爲探討對象。其中明末清初説尤多學者支持，以郭廷以最具影響，而明代説則獨見之於黄仁宇。故本文遂以郭、黄二人之主張爲個案，藉以説明明代與近代中國歷史發展的密切關係。
 The research of modern Chinese history was given special attention in the twentieth century by scholars within and outside China, and gradually became a prominent field in the study of Chinese history. One important topic for the research of modern Chinese history concerns periodization. Historians are especially interested in determining the starting point of this period. They have respectively suggested several demarcative points: the Opium War, the Self-Strengthening Movement, the transition period between the Ming-Qing dynasties, the Ming dynasty, and the Song dynasty. The Opium War is the most widely accepted, while the Self-Strengthening Movement and the Song dynasty have the lowest number of proponents. The present study focuses on advocacy for the transition period between the Ming-Qing dynasties and support for the Ming dynasty theory. The former enjoys considerable support, with Kuo Ting-yee as its most influential proponent; while the latter is only advocated by Ray Huang. These two theories form the content of the present case study on the close relationship between the Ming dynasty and modern Chinese history.

Managing Regional Hegemony in Historical Asia: The Case of Early Ming China

Much has been written about China’s rise, yet from a historical perspective, China’s rise is nothing new. Historian Wang Gungwu points out three past instances: the Qin–Han unification, the Sui–Tang reunification, and the Ming–Qing dynasties. The present, fourth rise of China ‘needs to be seen in a longer perspective’. What can we learn from China’s rich historical experience? The polity that we now know as China was the most powerful state and a regional hegemon during certain periods of East Asian history. How did China behave in the region when it had preponderant power? Did China expand when strong? And how did China manage its hegemony to stay on top? As the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) is the only period from the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912 when a native or non-alien Chinese dynasty dominated East Asia, this feature alone makes the Ming dynasty a good vehicle for examining Chinese strategic behaviour. By examining a past regional hegemon, this article offers a first-cut at the longer historical perspective on the rise of China. International relations (IR) theory in the past two decades tends to focus on states’ resistance to a concentration of power. Scholars debate over whether or not balances of power recurrently form or whether or not a balancing coalition against the United States, the current unipolar leader, will emerge. This focus on power balancing, albeit important, overlooks a

Zhao Kaimei, a outstanding bibliographer

Zhao Kaimei is a famous bibliographer in Ming Dynasty, who preserved and sorted Gu Jin Za Ju, carved a new plate for Song Ban Shang Han Lun. Scholars in Ming-Qing Dynasties set a value on his contributions to preserve and inherit traditional culture of China. Qian Qianyi in Ming Dynasty drafted Zhao Kaimei's memorial tablet of gravestone, which open a window to know about Zhao Kaimei thoroughly. At the end of Qing Dynasty, Sun Yuxiu wrote Mai Wang Guan Shu Mu Ba that provided important information about the procedure of writing Zhao Kaimei's bibliography, the figures of the content, as well as the copiers. Mori Tachiyuki found that Qimei is Zhao Kaimei's first name in his old age.