This is a companion volume to the articles "Arable land in the Qing Dynasty" and "Chinese Population during the Ming and Qing Dynasties" (March, 1993 and March, 1994) It is well know that the economy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties had increased greatly. It is generally agreed that that increase represents the highest record of the traditional Chinese economy. How ever, the increase also represents the modern Chinese economy and it has its "modern" value. The economic increase in that period is closely related to the present day development. This arti cle summarizes related issues and disucusses the research work conducted in China and Abroad un der this topic.
