| 主讲人 |
Tuan-Hwee Sng |
简介 |
<p>In comparative studies of long-run development, China is often treated as a counterfactual for explaining why modern economic growth first emerged in early modern Europe. Far less attention has been paid to temporal variation within China. This paper analyzes profound differences in political economy between China during the Song dynasty and China under the Qing dynasty. The Song period witnessed a medieval economic revolution marked by rapid commercialization, urbanization, technological innovation, and market expansion. Accompanying these changes was an unusually strong fiscal and administrative state that taxed at higher levels, relied heavily on commercial taxation, and maintained a more substantial formal local presence than in late imperial China. We develop an analytical framework to explain the Song model and why it ultimately gave way. We argue that the central government's desire to keep regional administrations weak limited its ability to closely direct governance across more than three hundred prefectures, constraining imperial discretion and encouraging more rule-based governance. This strategy also granted local, prefectural governments substantial administrative authority, albeit at the cost of reduced effectiveness in external warfare. By contrast, under the Qing, greater emphasis on military effectiveness led emperors to rely on trusted provincial officials who exercised hierarchical authority over local administrations, weakening the formal authority of local officials and constraining the reach of the state. These findings suggest that the relationship between war and state building is more nuanced than accounts derived from the European experience, and that state-building dynamics may differ between small states and large empires.</p> |
| 时间 |
2026-04-27 (Monday) 16:40-18:00 |
地点 |
Room N302, Economics Building |
| 讲座语言 |
English |
主办单位 |
厦门大学经济学院、王亚南经济研究院、邹至庄经济研究院 |
| 承办单位 |
厦门大学经济学院、王亚南经济研究院、邹至庄经济研究院 |
类型 |
系列讲座 |
| 联系人信息 |
林老师，电话2180723，邮箱yurenlin@xmu.edu.cn |
主持人 |
Youhong Lin |
| 专题网站 |
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专题 |
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| 主讲人简介 |
<p>Tuan-Hwee Sng (孙传炜) is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore. He obtained his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His research areas are economic history, political economy, and comparative institutional analysis. He applies economic theories and empirical methods to understand long-term development issues in East Asia, especially China. </p> |
期数 |
新时代政治经济学论坛2026年春季学期第二讲（总121讲） |
