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Timothy Brook

Timothy Brook

Canadian historian and sinologist

Jun 12, 2026

4:36
And what was it when you were looking at prices that suddenly made you think, "Okay, well, it needs to be more about the impacts of climate change"?
4:45
There were certain moments in the course of the Ming dynasty when prices just went through the roof.
4:52
Prices were very unstable at the beginning of the dynasty in the late 14th century.
4:58
Then in the mid-15th century, they spiked.
5:01
They spiked again at the end of the 15th century, in the first third of the 16th century, the end of the 16th century, and then when the dynasty collapses, prices just became impossible.
5:17
Nobody could buy anything, the prices went so high.
5:22
And traditionally, this was understood as a failure of the government to provide for the people.

6 MINS LATER

11:12
And when there is famine and these kind of climate disasters, can you say something about the Confucian thinking?

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