大明王朝崩溃的真正原因｜荐书

Group 1 - The core argument of the article is that the crises faced by the Ming Dynasty in its later years were closely linked to climate change and the resulting rise in prices [2][5] - The author, Canadian sinologist Zhu Zhengmin, examines the historical context of the Ming and early Qing dynasties through the lens of natural history and global history, focusing on the impact of climate on agricultural stability [2][5] - The period known as the "Little Ice Age," which began around the 14th century and peaked in the 17th century, led to intermittent droughts that devastated agriculture, particularly in North China, causing food prices to soar [2][3] Group 2 - Zhu Zhengmin challenges the traditional view that the fall of the Ming Dynasty was primarily due to political strife, government incompetence, and peasant uprisings, suggesting instead that specific climatic factors should be considered [5] - He utilized data from over 3,000 local gazetteers, extracting 777 records related to famine prices, to substantiate his narrative of the Ming Dynasty's collapse [5] - The author argues that the influx of silver, often cited as a cause for inflation, was insufficient to impact prices significantly, with climate being the primary driver of rising grain prices [3]