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book: The Rise and Fall of Imperial China
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The Rise and Fall of Imperial China

The Social Origins of State Development
  • and
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2022

About this book

How social networks shaped the imperial Chinese state

China was the world’s leading superpower for almost two millennia, falling behind only in the last two centuries and now rising to dominance again. What factors led to imperial China’s decline? The Rise and Fall of Imperial China offers a systematic look at the Chinese state from the seventh century through to the twentieth. Focusing on how short-lived emperors often ruled a strong state while long-lasting emperors governed a weak one, Yuhua Wang shows why lessons from China’s history can help us better understand state building.

Wang argues that Chinese rulers faced a fundamental trade-off that he calls the sovereign’s dilemma: a coherent elite that could collectively strengthen the state could also overthrow the ruler. This dilemma emerged because strengthening state capacity and keeping rulers in power for longer required different social networks in which central elites were embedded. Wang examines how these social networks shaped the Chinese state, and vice versa, and he looks at how the ruler’s pursuit of power by fragmenting the elites became the final culprit for China’s fall.

Drawing on more than a thousand years of Chinese history, The Rise and Fall of Imperial China highlights the role of elite social relations in influencing the trajectories of state development.

Author / Editor information

Yuhua Wang is the Frederick S. Danziger Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China.

Reviews

"Engaging and illuminating."---Nicolas Tackett, Journal of Chinese History --- "A very innovative study that injects a plethora of fresh data and new insights into the evolution of the imperial Chinese state."---Justin M. Jacobs, H-Diplo --- "Yuhua Wang’s The Rise and Fall of Imperial China is a rare example of longue durée history that manages to maintain theoretical clarity and logical rigor throughout its analysis. Paired with a serious quantitative dive into primary sources and the intellectual vision to tease out common sociopolitical patterns across enormously diverse historical terrain, the book is a magnificent accomplishment that produces an intellectually powerful macronarrative about mid- and late imperial Chinese history"---Taisu Zhang, American Historical Review --- "Compelling. . . . [The Rise and Fall of Imperial China] is essential reading for scholars of the Chinese state."---Guillaume Beaud, The International Spectator --- "A profound examination. . . . [and] a remarkable piece of scholarship."---Peng Peng, The Developing Economies --- "Winner of the Luebbert Best Book Award, Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association"

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    List of Figures

    ix
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    List of Tables

    xi
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    Preface

    xiii
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  • Part I Introduction
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    1 Elite Social Terrain and State Development

    1
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    2 China’s State Development over the Last Two Millennia

    30
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  • Part II State Strengthening under Oligarchy
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    3 State Strengthening in the Tang Dynasty

    59
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    4 The Turning Point: Tang-Song Transition

    81
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  • Part III State Maintaining under Partnership
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    5 The Rise of the Bowtie in the Song Dynasty

    103
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    6 State Maintaining in the Ming Dynasty

    130
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    7 The Development of Private-Order Institutions

    152
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  • Part IV State Weakening under Warlordism
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    8 State Failure in the Qing Dynasty

    175
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  • Part V Conclusion
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    9 The Long Shadow of the Empire

    199
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  • Appendices
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    Appendix A Appendix for Chapter 2

    221
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    Appendix B Appendix for Chapter 4

    228
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    Appendix C Appendix for Chapter 5

    230
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    Appendix D Appendix for Chapter 6

    236
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    Appendix E Appendix for Chapter 7

    245
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    Appendix F Appendix for Chapter 8

    253
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    Notes

    259
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    Bibliography

    297
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    Index

    321
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 29, 2022
eBook ISBN:
9780691237510
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691237510
eBook ISBN: 9780691237510
Keywords for this book
Ruler; China; Ming dynasty; Tax; Taiping Rebellion; Wang Anshi; Aristocracy; Qing dynasty; Household; Institution; Imperial State; Social group; Central government; Agriculture (Chinese mythology); Wuchang Uprising; An Lushan Rebellion; Emperor of China; Zhang Juzheng; Song dynasty; Government of China; Neo-Confucianism; Sinophobia; Mao Zedong; Confucianism; Qin (state); Imperial Government; Qianlong Emperor; Yongzheng Emperor; Shaanxi; Deportation; Liao dynasty; Imperial examination; Communist revolution; Western United States; Bureaucrat; Liu Zhi (historian); Han dynasty; Tang dynasty; Dynasty; Semarang; Ottoman Empire; St. Louis; Income; Warfare; Shandong; Li Zicheng; Wanli Emperor; French Revolution; World government; Opium Wars; Population decline; Keynesian economics; Tax rate; Tax cut; Hong Xiuquan; Beijing; Provinces of China; Infrastructure; Expense; Salary; Tax revenue; Capital accumulation; Service Tax; Karl Marx; Retirement; Cambodia; Southwestern United States; Decolonization; Tigris–Euphrates river system; Total war
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
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