Between Continuity and Expansion: The Direction and Departure of the Ming-Qing Historical Studies

It would be safe to summarize the research of Korea’s the Ming-Qing Historical Studies building from 2022-2023 with the keyword of continuing and expanding existing topics rather than pioneering new areas or the emergence of new theories. In the realm of political history, researchers are continuously interested in the early Ming dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty political history. The same applies to the field of foreign relations. Turning to the realm of economic history, traditionally important topics such as taxation and money, including maritime networks, have been continuously studied, but expansion studies are certainly mainstream. In addition, case studies focusing on goods stand out in the method of expansion. Social cultural history are continuing and expanding as a lot of various topics are dealt with. In the case of history of ethnic minorities, the analysis of the Qingshui River documents was conducted, and the results came out as specific examples of terms, disputes and lawsuits, administration and security. Research related to Tibet is also continuously expanding. Now, it is believed that it is time for Korea’s the Ming-Qing researchers to seriously think about what “unique” academic directions and routes to Korea’s the Ming-Qing research beyond just the “simple” continuation and expansion of research.