Draft of the History of Ancient Chinese Economy: Volume 1

Author: Li Jianong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book is divided into three volumes: Pre-Qin and Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming. The entire work focuses on elaborating on the development of productive forces and the changes in productive relations in China's feudal society. In explaining the changes in feudal productive relations, the author places great emphasis on the interaction between politics and the economy. In particular, he highlights how successive dynasties favored the landlord class, especially the aristocratic landlord class, in terms of power distribution and burdens of taxes and corvée, which led to the complexification of class contradictions and economic decline in each period. The book primarily discusses the development of productive forces and changes in productive relations in ancient Chinese society. Among these, it pays special attention to the interaction between politics and the economy. The lightness or heaviness of taxes and corvée directly reflects the people's burdens and income, thereby revealing their living conditions. The book also conducts an in-depth examination of the dynamics of industry and commerce in each period to provide a comprehensive view of social and economic development.