Economic thought in modern China : market and consumption, c. 1500-1937

In this major new study, Margherita Zanasi argues that basic notions of a free market economy emerged in China a century and half earlier than in Europe. In response to the commercial revolutions of the late 1500s, Chinese intellectuals and officials called for the end of state intervention in the market, recognizing its power to self-regulate. They also noted the elasticity of domestic demand and production, arguing in favour of ending long-standing rules against luxury consumption, an idea that emerged in Europe in the late seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries. Zanasi challenges Eurocentric theories of economic modernization as well as the assumption that European Enlightenment thought was unique in its ability to produce innovative economic ideas. She instead establishes a direct connection between observations of local economic conditions and the formulation of new theories, revealing the unexpected flexibility of the Confucian tradition and its accommodation of seemingly unorthodox ideas. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Dedication Contents List of Maps Acknowledgments Chronology Maps Introduction The Debate on China's Economic Modernization: Eurocentrism and Problems with Comparison and Terminology Industrious Economies, New Luxury, and the Long Consumption Revolution Organization of the Book 1 The Political and Intellectual Framework: The Minsheng Mandate and China's Economy of Scarcity Minsheng: Morality, Ideology, and Pragmatism The Debate on Salt and Iron: An Early Debate on the Role of the State in the Economy Revisiting Circulation, Equalization, and Profits in Song China The Debate on Wang Anshi's New Policies Master of Destiny: The Grain Market and Personal Profits Regulating Consumption: ''Revering Frugality and Eliminating Luxury'' (Chong jian chu she) Conclusion 2 Efficient Markets, Jiangnan's Luxury, and Productive Consumption (1500–1800) The Market The Market as a Political Arena and China's ''Natural'' Economy The Qing State and the Market Consumption Changing Views of Consumption: Lu Ji and Late-Ming Pro-Luxury Arguments Views of Luxury Consumption in the High Qing Period Chinese Pro-Market and Pro-Luxury Theories in Global Perspective Alternative Voices: Pro-Frugality Arguments, the Rural Village, and the Problem of Corruption Conclusion 3 Scarcity Revisited: Population Growth, Frugality, and Self-Strengthening (1800–1911) The End of the Prosperous Age (1800–1850s) Population Growth, a New Economy of Scarcity, and the Imperative of Frugality Beyond Sumptuary Laws: Restructuring Production and State Intervention Reconfiguring State Finances: Empty Coffers, Corruption, and Administrative Reforms Facing Imperialism Frugality and Self-Strengthening Deploying Frugality: Production-Driving Demand and Capital Accumulation Scarcity and State Planning Conclusion 4 Nation Building, Strategic Markets, and Frugal Modernity in the Early Decades of the Republic of China (1912–1930s) Evolutionary Modernity: Consumption and China's Stage of Development Rationalizing the Market: The Economic Cooperation Movement Constructing a Modern Mode of Consumption for China: Nationalist Morality and Utilitarianism Frugal Modernity: The New Life Movement Marxism, Evolutionary Development, and Nation Building: Blurring Political Divides Conclusion Conclusion Glossary Bibliography Index ""This book argues that basic notions of free market economy emerged in China a century and half earlier than in Europe in response to the commercial revolution initiated in the late 1500s. At this time Chinese intellectuals and officials called for the end of state intervention in the market, recognizing its power to self-regulate. They also recognized the elasticity of both domestic demand and production and argued in favor of ending long-standing rules against luxury consumption, an idea that emerged in Europe in the early-nineteenth century. This book thus challenges Eurocentric theories of economic modernization and the idea of the unique ability of Enlightenment thought to produce innovative economic ideas. It instead establishes a direct connection between intellectuals' observations of local economic conditions and the formulation of new theories. Refuting common assumption, this book also reveals the flexibility of the Confucian tradition and its ability to accommodate seemingly unorthodox ideas. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Chinese intellectuals and officials began to move away from free-market policies and call for increased state intervention. This reversal was not a "failure to modernize," but a response to an economic crisis that afflicted China through the twentieth century engendering support for a developmental state.""-- Provided by publisher Margherita Zanasi argues that ideas of market and consumption linked to economic liberalism emerged in China in the late 1500s, roughly a century and half earlier than in Europe. This book is for those interested in modern Chinese history and in economic thought, theories of economic modernization and economic globalization.