Ship-building and Foreign Trade in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Abstract

Since ancient China began shipbuilding in the Xia Dynasty and opened overseas trade in the Han Dynasty, official and private foreign trade developed in the form of a dual-track system with the development of shipbuilding and navigation technology. It reached its peak in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and was changed by the maritime ban policies of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. , thus leading to the overall decline of China's shipbuilding and foreign trade, causing China to reduce a large amount of re-export profits and lose opportunities to go global, while prolonging the existence of feudal society.