Modernization of China: Market and Society

Author: Wu Chengming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: The author believes that the most important aspect of economic history research is the emergence and development of new economic factors and their operational mechanisms. If such new economic factors appear in large quantities and concentrate, and their development trends are irreversible, then they are modernizing factors. These new economic factors will inevitably trigger institutional changes suitable for them, so that they can continue to develop; otherwise, they will be suppressed by the rigid old institutions. The new economic factors and the resulting institutional changes will inevitably reflect in society, leading to changes in social structure, family systems, hierarchical and group rights, people's behavior, and customs. This transformation can have both positive and negative effects on the modernization process. Economic development—institutional change—social transformation, this series of changes, at the ultimate or highest level, are still constrained by national ideology and culture. Following this line of thought, the author examines the changes in China's market, prices, population and arable land, taxation, currency, society, and thought over several hundred years since the 16th century (the Jiajing, Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty), aiming to discover the trajectory of Chinese modernization from these transformations.