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Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society
The Laws and Economics of Confucianism
Tying together cultural history, legal history, and institutional economics, The Laws and Economics of Kinship and Property in Preindustrial China and England offers a novel argument as to why Chinese and English preindustrial economic development went down different paths. The dominance of Neo-Confucian social hierarchies in Late Imperial and Republican China, under which advanced age and generational seniority were the primary determinants of sociopolitical status, allowed many poor but senior individuals to possess status and political authority highly disproportionate to their wealth. In comparison, landed wealth was a fairly strict prerequisite for high status and authority in the far more 'individualist' society of early modern England, essentially excluding low-income individuals from secular positions of prestige and leadership. Zhang argues that this social difference had major consequences for property institutions and agricultural production.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2018
Many arguments have been made about the putative effects of Confucianism on economic and social development. This book takes one feature of Chinese lifeways (status based on age, rather than wealth) as opposed to early modern English lifeways, and explores some of the specific outcomes of this one feature on the trade in land in both countries.
This specific analysis is not vague or woolly with appeals to anything that isn't going to be discussed explicitly. A highly satisfactory piece of work, and a fine demonstration of the "cultural turn" done in a way that the most exacting critic can appreciate and learn from.
This specific analysis is not vague or woolly with appeals to anything that isn't going to be discussed explicitly. A highly satisfactory piece of work, and a fine demonstration of the "cultural turn" done in a way that the most exacting critic can appreciate and learn from.
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June 19, 2018From the outset, I decided to read this book simply as a curious reader about legal and economic norms and how they are engrained within cultural structures and therefore effect economic results. The main interest of this book is understanding the role of the dian system, which was a legal procedure that allowed a land holder in agrarian Qing and Republican China (and earlier) to mortgage their property (to put it in Western terms).
The book, as it attempts the difficult objective to effectively comparing developing economies of Qing/Republican China and Early Modern England, focuses on the legal differences between the Chinese dian laws and English mortgages. Taisu Zhang reveals the comparative trade offs between the systems, with long term redeemability of the dian system that led to great social stability, but contrasts this with the perceived long-term advantages of the managerial farming in the English system that led to capital consolidation.
A large component of the book, is the engrained moral dimensions of Confucianism, with it's greater emphasis on age over wealth, that established socio-political authorities who put a premium on age over wealth, in the Chinese past that tipped the scales of land acquisition laws toward the small farm holder, as compared to the enclosure movements of Early Modern England that were established through legal norms of the copyhold that favored the land consolidating wealthy.
The book sets out to establish a piece of a puzzle with many other contingent pieces surrounding it. As my knowledge of Chinese history is limited, it was a challenging step toward a border understanding of institutional and cultural differences engrained in East/West mentalities. I felt like I learned a great deal.
The book, as it attempts the difficult objective to effectively comparing developing economies of Qing/Republican China and Early Modern England, focuses on the legal differences between the Chinese dian laws and English mortgages. Taisu Zhang reveals the comparative trade offs between the systems, with long term redeemability of the dian system that led to great social stability, but contrasts this with the perceived long-term advantages of the managerial farming in the English system that led to capital consolidation.
A large component of the book, is the engrained moral dimensions of Confucianism, with it's greater emphasis on age over wealth, that established socio-political authorities who put a premium on age over wealth, in the Chinese past that tipped the scales of land acquisition laws toward the small farm holder, as compared to the enclosure movements of Early Modern England that were established through legal norms of the copyhold that favored the land consolidating wealthy.
The book sets out to establish a piece of a puzzle with many other contingent pieces surrounding it. As my knowledge of Chinese history is limited, it was a challenging step toward a border understanding of institutional and cultural differences engrained in East/West mentalities. I felt like I learned a great deal.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews