Transformation of the Chinese Feudal Society and Political Development of Ming Dynasty Between the Fourteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

This paper analyzes the characteristics of the political development of the Ming Dynasty. The paper maintains that an investigation of the course of the political development of the Ming Dynasty should be conducted against the general historical background of changes and developments of the Chinese feudal society between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was during this period that China had been declining from a leading advanced country to a backward country in the world. Therefore, the political influence of the Ming Dynasty is not to be underestimated.