Dynasties
Explore life in Ming
Daily Life
Food, homes & daily routines
Money & Society
Work, trade & social life
Cities & Technology
Markets, travel & inventions
AI illustration · interpretive reconstruction
Stories
Browse all stories →
Ming · Money & Society
Seven Fen Five Li for Fifteen Brooms: A County Ledger from Wanli Beijing
A Wanping magistrate recorded what one county bought for its altars, tombs and processions, down to the fen and li — and the levies that paid for it. Procurement prices, not retail; a register, not a population.
Ming · Cities & Technology
Washed with Yellow Mud: Making White Sugar in Ming China
Packed into a clay cone and washed with yellow mud water, Ming dark sugar came out as white frost, in five grades. Rock sugar was a separate process, not a finer grade of the same thing.
Ming · Cities & Technology
How a Ming City Ran: The Ward Headman's Night Round
A Ming city ran on curfews, ward headmen, state-built shopfronts and a scale checked every three days, not on a city government with a budget.