The Rise And Fall Of Imperial China : The Social Origins Of state Development Cover Image

Book

The Rise And Fall Of Imperial China : The Social Origins Of state Development / Yuhua Wang.

Wang, Yuhua, 1981- (author.).

Summary:

"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."

Record details

ISBN: 0691215162
ISBN: 9780691215167
ISBN: 0691215170
ISBN: 9780691215174
ISBN: 9780691237510
Physical Description: xviii, 329 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2022]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-320) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Elite social terrain and state development -- China's state development over the last two millennia -- State strengthening in the Tang dynasty -- The turning point : Tang-Song transition -- The rise of the bowtie in the Song dynasty -- State maintaining in the Ming dynasty -- The development of private-order institutions -- State failure in the Qing dynasty? -- The long shadow of the empire -- Appendices.