元代商业繁荣及其原因

元王朝是由少数民族建立的第一个“大一统”的中央封建王朝，虽然有大量的奴隶制残留，但是元代的经济特别是商业却在中国古代商业史上占据着非常重要的地位。元代的商业呈现出繁荣的景象，商人的足迹遍布全国各个地区，大批的西域商人东来进行贸易，海外贸易也达到了前所未有的高度，从商业中所得的税收已在政府财政收入中占据着重要的地位。究其原因是因为“重商”的思想和元朝统一后所制定的有利于经济发展的政策和法令鼓励和刺激了商业的发展，具体表现在：元统一后大力恢复发展社会生产，建立四通八达的水陆交通网，改进手工业工艺，在全国推广纸币．色目人为元代经济发展作出了重要的贡献。

Commercial Prosperity of Yuan Dynasty and Its Reasons

Yuan Dynasty is the first united central feudal dynasty established by minorities. Though slavery still existed, Yuan＇s commerce played an important role in Chinese commercial history. Yuan＇s commerce was very active and there were traders all over the country. Lots of westerners to china were engaged in trade and overseas trade reached an unprecedented level. Revenues from commerce made up a large part of the government income. The reasons for the prosperity of commerce in Yuan Dynasty lied in the facts that the government attached great importance to commerce and laid down laws and regulations to boost commerce. The commerical prosperity of Yuan Dynasty was reflected in the development of productivity, traffic and cottage industries. Semu people made great contribution to the prosperity.