EVERYDAY LIFE · SHANG TO QING
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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.