Question

How did skilled artisans contribute to the successes of the Ming dynasty?

The artisans fulfilled the ideals of Confucianism, which encouraged employment.
The artisans produced beautiful items, which decorated the emperor’s palace and the Forbidden City.
The artisans produced silk and porcelain goods that demanded high prices, thus increasing China’s trade and wealth.
The artisans provided jobs to the Chinese peasants who could no longer work in agriculture because of the famine.

Answer 1

Correct answers: 2 and 3.

- 2 (true): Artisans produced the luxury decorative objects, lacquerware, textiles and glazed ceramics used to furnish and ornament the imperial palaces (including the Forbidden City) and other elite contexts.
- 3 (true): Skilled craftsmen made high‑quality silk and especially porcelain (e.g., Jingdezhen wares) that fetched high prices at home and abroad, boosting trade, state revenues and wealth.

Why the others are wrong:
- 1 (false/misleading): Confucian ideology did not especially “encourage employment” of artisans; it ranked scholars and farmers above artisans and merchants, so it didn’t promote artisanal work as a primary ideal.
- 4 (false/overstated): While urban workshops did absorb some rural labor, saying artisans mainly provided jobs for peasants displaced by famine overstates the case. Artisans’ main contribution was production of luxury and export goods rather than crisis relief employment.