Title: The diffusion of Western Economics in China
Abstract: Introduction
Although China has had a long and distinguished intellectual tradition in the
past, the country’s scholars were long isolated from the West during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at the very time Economics ( jingji xue) was
evolving in the West (see Trescott, 2007). Whilst China’s economy had been
prosperous by world standards down to roughly 1500, isolation, dysfunctional
government and a powerful Malthusian process brought China’s per-capita
income levels to a very low level by 1900.
As early as 200 bc, some Chinese intellectuals envisioned the self-adjusting
processes of market economy (notably the historian, Sima Qian, c.145 or
135-86 bc). But by the nineteenth century, China’s government appeared to lack
both vigour and an awareness of policy. The country’s intellectual tradition had
neglected the new science and technology, its written language lacked an
‘alphabet’, and there were no modern universities (see Spence, 1990).
China’s isolation began to crumble, however, in the 1840s, when ‘unequal
treaties’ generated by the ‘Opium Wars’ forced China to admit Western traders
and missionaries. Japan, which experienced similar Western pressures, reacted
by aggressive modernization (see the chapter by Yagi on Japan later in this
volume). China, however, suffered major setbacks in this period. The first of
these was the ‘Taiping Rebellion’ (1851-1864), which inflicted as many as 30
million deaths and devastated a substantial area of central China. The second
was the ‘obstructionist’ position of Li Hongzhang (1803-1901), an influential
adviser to the dowager Empress.
The Empress (Cixi Taihu, 1835-1908) herself was initially receptive to modernizing efforts. In 1861, another adviser Zeng Geofan (1811-1872) established
China’s first modern arsenal in Anqing. Soon after, the creation of the huge
Jiangnan Arsenal became a centre for translations of Western works. The same
impulse underlay the decision in 1870 to send 120 young men to America for
study. This scheme was abruptly terminated in 1881, a decision no doubt symbolizing antagonism toward Westernization. The reluctance of the Chinese government to study Japan’s modernization set the stage for China’s military defeat
in 1894-1895 – one which brought a turn toward reform.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-12-19
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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