Peter B. DITMANSON
Daming tongxing baochao: early Ming dynasty bank note. Nanjing, 1375. BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY, YALE UNIVERSITY.
The Ming ? dynasty was established by a peasant rebel who overthrew the Mongol-ruled Yuan ? dynasty (1279–1368). Over the course of the Ming, the Chinese population grew dramatically—and although the Ming court and its bureaucracy grew increasingly ineffectual, trade, agriculture, and the arts flourished.
The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) was a period
