The Cambridge Economic History of China: Volume 1, To 1800

"China's rise as the world's second-largest economy surely is the most dramatic development in the global economy since the year 2000. But China's prominence in the global economy is hardly new. Since 500 BCE, a dynamic market economy and the establishment of an enduring imperial state fostered precocious economic growth. Yet Chinese society and government featured distinctive institutions that generated unique patterns of economic development. The six chapters of Part I of this volume trace the forms of livelihood, organization of production and exchange, the role of the state in economic development, the evolution of market institutions, and the emergence of trans-Eurasian trade from antiquity to 1000 CE. Part II, in twelve thematic chapters, spans the late imperial period from 1000 to 1800 and surveys diverse fields of economic history, including environment, demography, rural and urban development, factor markets, law, money, finance, philosophy, political economy, foreign trade, human capital, and living standards."--Provided by publisher "Continental East Asia during the first millennium BCE transitioned from a redistributive "gift-giving economy" (or "prestige-good economy") to a thriving market economy that was at least partly monetized. This transformation-gradual but all-encompassing and irreversible-led to a veritable "economic miracle" during the Warring States period (c. 450-221 BCE), which brought unprecedented prosperity to large portions of the population. It will here be discussed through its reflections in the material record, spanning the eight centuries from c. 1000 BCE down to approximately the time of the Qin unification in 221 BCE.1 During this period, the Zhou kingdom and its constituent polities formed a relatively homogeneous culture area encompassing the Middle and Lower Yellow River basin and the Middle Yangzi basin. Archaeological discoveries attest that, over time, many of the surrounding smaller and sociopolitically less complex regional cultures-defined by archaeologists on the basis of their material remains-were increasingly drawn into the Zhou orbit"-- Provided by publisher Contents List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables List of Contributors to Volume I Acknowledgments Note on Citations Introduction to Volume I PART I: Before 1000 1 . The Economy of Late Pre-imperial China: Archaeological Perspectives 2 . Agriculture and Its Environmental Impact 3 . State and Economy: Production, Extraction, and Distribution 4 . Money, Markets, and Merchants 5 . Economic Philosophy and Political Economy 6 . Silk Road Trade and Foreign Economic Influences Interlude The Tang–Song Transition in Chinese Economic History PART II: 1000 to 1800 7 . Ecological Change and Resource Constraints 8 . Population Change 9 . Public Finance 10 . Political Economy 11 . Law and the Market Economy 12 . Property Rights and Factor Markets 13 . The Rural Economy 14 . Cities and the Urban Economy 15 . The Monetary System 16 . Merchants and Commercial Networks 17 . Foreign Trade 18 . Production, Consumption, and Living Standards Bibliography of Primary Works Cited Index "When visited by the British trade mission led by Lord George Macartney, who aimed to show off the best of Western trade and technology, the Qianlong emperor of Qing China was known to have famously replied in 1792 that "Our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its borders. There is therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce."2 Qianlong's statement came at the height of Qing's glory, overseeing a remarkable tripling of population and a doubling of territory between the 15th and 18th centuries. No single political entity at the time achieved such size in both geography and population under such stability and durability"-- Provided by publisher