The cost of living

Unlike in Europe at the same time, most price records under the Ming have disappeared. The best available sets of prices were preserved by two magistrates in the ^16th century, Hai Rui in Chun'an (Zhejiang) and Shen Bang in Peking. Our second presentation, "The Cost of Living", used their lists to try to determine how much it cost a modest family of five to survive for a year. The result is equivalent to 19 ounces of silver (about 700 grams), although the margin of error is such that this can only be a starting approximation. If we consider prices during the last century of the dynasty, we could get there, but not without difficulty. A brief comparison with prices quoted in the Duchy of Este, southwest of Padua, during the same period, led to four hypotheses: that the cost of labor was lower in Ming China than in Europe, that the cost of craftsmen working in high quality was even lower, but that, conversely, the price of foodstuffs was relatively lower in Europe than in China, and the price of fuel far lower.