The Premodern Chinese Economy

Covering the time span from the Shang to the Qing Periods (1520BC - 1911AD), this book examines important factors in the decline of the Chinese economy from medieval sophistication to modern underdevelopment.
Until 500 years ago China's technology was the most advanced in Eurasia and as recently as 200 years ago its standards of living surpassed those of most other civilizations. However, the economies of the West and smaller developing countries then overtook the Chinese economy. China had reached its developmental limits and deadlock set in. Covering the time span from the Shang to the Qing Periods (1520BC - 1911AD), Gang Deng examines important factors in the decline of the Chinese economy from medieval sophistication to modern underdevelopment. These factors include: resource endowments; socio-economic structure; property rights; state and bureaucracy; ideology and values; geo-political environment; internal rebellions; external invasions and conquests. This is a comprehensive analysis of China's economic history and provides background to the study of this country's modern struggle for growth and development. Deng's emphasis on comparative analysis offers insights into the concept of underdevelopment and theories of transitional economics. This should become a major reference work in the fields of Chinese studies, economic history and development studies.