Although Chinese Foreign Trade Under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th Century GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Although Chinese foreign trade under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century reflected a policy of openness that exceeded any previous dynasty, the relationship between the Chinese and the visiting Portuguese was a fractious one for nearly fifty years after Rafael Perestrello completed the first successful European trading voyage to China. It is a testament to how highly the Portuguese valued the commercial potential of China that they persisted for so long: The members of one early expedition were never permitted to reach the court of the emperor and died in a Chinese jail; the antics of the Portuguese ambassador’s brother fed rumors that the Portuguese were kidnapping and eating Chinese children. Given the contemporary Chinese experience of Japanese piracy in coastal areas, it is no surprise that authorities were skeptical of foreigners, even those who made elaborate formal efforts to open trade through official channels.

The Portuguese established a foothold by providing silver after trade with Japan was halted, but relatively soon afterwards, most imported silver came from Spain’s colonies in the Americas. Ultimately, this reliance on foreign silver contributed to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, as one source after another was a¤ected by skirmishes between Protestant European nations such as England and the Catholic empires of Spain and Portugal. Protestant raids even shut down tra¢ c in the Japanese silver that was brokered to China through European powers as Japan drastically cut its own foreign trade. The resulting inflation in silver values, combined with the environmental e¤ects of what is now known as the “Little Ice Age,” led to economic disaster for rural Chinese, and opened the door for the Manchus to topple the Ming Dynasty in the early 17th century.

“Although Chinese Foreign Trade Under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th Century” is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates must have a solid grip in English GMAT reading comprehension. There are 5 multiple choice questions in the above GMAT Reading Comprehension passages. GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions are delineated to evaluate candidates’ abilities to analyze and be conceptual for the answers. Candidates can brace up and take preparation by answering GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. With which of the following generalization regarding the Ming Dynasty would the author most probably agree?

(A) It was the dynasty most open to foreign trade in Chinese history.
(B) The trade with European powers that it ultimately accepted had an unexpected e¤ect on its fate.
(C) It could not survive without some form of interaction with Japan.
(D) Protestant nations did more good for the long-term security of the Ming than did Catholic powers.
(E) Its treatment of foreign visitors was frequently harsh and often excessive in severity.

2. The passage suggests that Ming-Japanese interaction different from Ming-Portuguese interaction in that

(A) The initial welcome the Ming granted the Japanese was warmer than the welcome extended to the Portuguese.
(B) The Portuguese traded goods harvested and manufactured in its colonies while the Japanese brokered goods from other sources.
(C) Japanese traders were often jailed, while Portuguese visitors were accepted as visitors of the court.
(D) The Portuguese traded in child slaves, while the Japanese mainly limited themselves to luxury goods.
(E) Japanese traders were considered illegal and unwelcome, while the Portuguese were eventually accepted as part of China’s economy.

3. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) arguing that the Ming created the state of a¤airs that led to its own demise by opening up trade with the Portuguese
(B) explaining that religious conflicts in Europe had a major impact in China
(C) suggesting that only European traders are important to the economic history of the Ming Dynasty
(D) explaining that the Ming was reluctant to open trade with Europeans, and that the decision to do so contributed to their downfall
(E) emphasizing that the traditional Chinese isolationism has not always been the case, and that China was better off in the eras defined by more openness.

4. According to the passage, the Chinese were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese because

(A) their attempts to make official contact with the Ming court were thought to be insincere
(B) the climate e¤ects of the Little Ice Age limited the goods they could o¤er in trade
(C) the visitors were rumored to be abducting Chinese children
(D) bad experiences from coastal raids conducted by the Japanese a¤ected their views of all non-Chinese
(E) the Chinese traditionally avoided contact with outsiders, and the strong economy in the early Ming years provided no incentive to do otherwise

5. Which of the following, if true, would seriously undermine the conclusion that in‡ation in silver values contributed to economic disaster for rural Chinese?

(A) The rural economy rebounded relatively soon after the Manchus conquered China.
(B) The environmental e¤ects of the Little Ice Age meant that the supply of necessities, such as food, was extremely scarce at any price.
(C) Most rural Chinese in the Ming era did not use hard currency, instead operating a highly advanced barter economy.
(D) The famine brought about by the Little Ice Age caused many rural Chinese to relocate to urban areas.
(E) Economic problems in Europe at this time were completely unrelated to the price or availability of silver.

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