也许中国白银货币化的转变乃明朝最重要的事件。作为事实之一,白银由明初的不合法状态,到了晚明成为合法的货币。尽管白银的货币化并没有出现在明初的皇帝的诏令中,然而它却通过一个“过程”从无到有,即官方接受了白银并使之货币化。作为此进程的结果,一系列的管理制度也随着更易。成化、弘治以后,财政和税收的结算单位由粮食变为白银,正是明初粮食经济到晚明白银经济转变的展示。本文以白银经济在晚明社会变革中的作用为研究重点,要在解释由货币经济产生的显著社会变迁。 Perhaps the shift in Chinese silver monetization is the most important event in the Ming Dynasty. As a matter of fact, silver was illegitimate from the early Ming Dynasty and became a legal currency by late Ming. Although the monetization of silver did not appear in the emperors’ edict of the early Ming, it did so from a “process”, which officially accepted and monetized the silver. As a result of this process, a series of regulatory regimes have also become easier. Chenghua, Hongzhi later, the financial and tax settlement unit from food to silver, it is the early Ming Ming food economy to understand the economic transformation of the silver show. This paper focuses on the role of the silver economy in the social changes in the late Ming Dynasty and explains the significant social changes brought about by the monetary economy.