ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates depth of a competent historian. The history of the Ming Dynasty alone does not empower us to clarify the situation. The pattern established in the Ming Dynasty, with emphasis on political centralization and the reliance on the social effect of traditional ethics to attain balance over its wide realm at the expense of regional particularities, can be seen from the evolution of the civil service examination. The penetrating power derived from the comparison can in turn enable them to understand better why, during the Ming and early Qing, Western Europe managed to overtake China in practically every sphere of activity. While government functionaries of the Tang and Song engaged in manufacturing and transit of goods, the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming remained nothing more than a large accounting office. In Wu Han's biography of the Ming Dynasty founder, the opening paragraph starts with the drought, locusts, and epidemic that hit the Huai River region in 1344.
