Sea transportation in this study refers to a specific form of maritime activity---grain transportation by sea. Sea transportation in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was conducted in the years before the Grand Canal became the major route of grain transportation. Although retrospectively it was only a transitional means of grain transportation in the dynasty, it was often proposed to be an alternative to canal transportation when the Grand Canal was malfunctioning. Because of what was involved in the grain supply of the imperial capital, sea transportation never ceased to be an issue in the political history of the Ming.; In this study, we explore the reason why Ming people did not use sea transportation to solve the problem of supplying Beijing from the perspectives of political history and intellectual history. Chapter 2 and chapter 3 reconstruct the decision-making processes in sea transportation. Chapter 4 analyses state and local political factors which influenced the result of decision-making. Chapter 6 discusses the spread and evolution of sea transportation knowledge in the intellectual sphere. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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