Historians of Chinese technology have tended to pay little attention to the Ming dynasty, characterizing it as a stagnantperiod unmarked by significant inventio

The Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the center of the world: the Eu

Despite the importance of books and the written word in Chinese society, the history of the book in China is a topic that has been little explored. This pioneer

What can the history of technology contribute to our understanding of late imperial China? Most stories about technology in pre-modern China follow a well-worn