The Transition from Ming to Qing from the Perspective of Global History - Reflections on The Great Enterprise

摘要

This article discusses Frederic Wakeman’s masterpiece The Great Enterprise from the perspective of global history and poses a world question: the administrative mode built at the early Qing dynasty, with its firm social control and flexible fiscal policy, had succeeded in helping the Qing conquerors to get out of the worldwide economic crisis, but unlike Europe, it did not bring about a complete transition in political and economic areas. This pseudo-solution finally led to the fall of the Qing empire. The crisis in the 17th century had a far-reaching influence in the development of modern Europe and remains one of the heated issues in the study of modern Europe history. Wakeman has connected the historical development from Ming to Qing with the global crisis at the time, analyzing it with a holistic and connectional view, thus unfolding the regime change in a worldwide connection.