History of Chinese Prices: Pre-Qin to Qing Dynasty

Author: Yu Yaohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: Price history is a science that studies the development of the history of social and economic relations. A country's price history is closely linked to its social and economic development history. As a branch of the social economy, prices serve as a barometer for social and economic development. The prosperity and decline of the social economy, as well as the stability and chaos of its order, are all reflected in prices in a timely manner. From this perspective, the study of Chinese price history is the key to understanding the history of China's social and economic development. This book on Chinese price history explores the evolution of Chinese prices. Within the scope of research, the price thoughts of the Shang Dynasty's slave society are rarely documented in classical texts, making it difficult to conduct extensive discussions. In fact, the scope of discussion begins with the Western Zhou Dynasty. Over this long historical period, as history progressed and socio-economic conditions changed, the price thoughts, price policies, price movement trajectories, and various factors influencing price fluctuations of different dynasties shared similarities while also having differences. By comprehensively studying the two thousand years of price evolution in China, it becomes evident that many patterns can be identified. Based on current understanding, these patterns offer valuable insights for the formulation of modern price policies and price management. Here, we briefly describe the evolution of price thoughts in China over the past two thousand years, the factors influencing price fluctuations, the trajectory of price movements, and price management and policies, in order to provide a preliminary understanding of the context of Chinese price history.