Research on the Modern Economic History of China - Customs Finance in the Late Qing Dynasty and Market Circles of Trade Ports

Author: Wm. Theodore de Bary
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: This book is a masterpiece completed by the renowned Japanese historian of East Asia, Professor Wm. Theodore de Bary, after 10 years of dedication. Unlike previous Western scholars who viewed "European modernity" as the representative form of modern society, the author argues that the historical development of each region should be studied based on its own historical process. At the same time, the author also disagrees with the notion of the "decline of the Qing Dynasty," believing that China's economic conditions during this era not only organically integrated foreign elements into its own logical system and fully utilized them but also maintained close ties with the internal dynamics of the Asian region, making it a period full of "vitality." In this book, the author begins with a study of the late Qing customs finance and commercial port market circles, delving into issues such as late Qing finance and customs, Hart and the Chinese customs, customs and trade statistics, and commercial ports and regional markets. Through these, the author conducts an in-depth investigation into the actual state of the integration and separation between local economies and central finance, the interrelationship of regional economic autonomy, and foreign economic relations. The author attempts to grasp this historical process as a whole era, revealing its overall picture through the observations, arguments, and records of contemporaries both at home and abroad. The author's research perspective on the development of modern Chinese economic history, the richness of the materials used, and the approach of grasping the era as a whole hold great inspiration and reference value for the study of modern Chinese history.