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The economic history of China stretches over thousands of years and has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. For most the last two millennia China was the world's largest, wealthiest and most advanced economy, and as recent as the 18th century its per capita income equalled and may have exceeded Western Europe. China's history is usually divided into three periods: The pre-imperial era, consisting of the era of before the unification of Qin, the early imperial era from Qin to Song, and the late imperial era, marked by the economic revolution that occurred during the Song Dynasty.

By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic Era, agriculture was practiced in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (ca. 1600–1045 BCE) and Zhou (1045–771 BCE), a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 771 BCE, preceding the Spring and Autumn and Warring states eras.

As the feudal system collapsed, much legislative power was transferred from the nobility to local kings. A merchant class emerged during the Warring States Period, resulting in increased trade. The new kings established an elaborate bureaucracy, using it to wage wars, build large temples, and perform public works projects. This new system rewarded talent over birthright; important positions were no longer occupied solely by nobility. The adoption of new iron tools revolutionized agriculture and led to a large population increase during this period. By 221 BCE, the state of Qin, which embraced reform more than other states, unified China, built the Great Wall, and set consistent standards of government. Although its draconian laws led to its overthrow in 206 BCE, the Qin institutions survived. During the Han Dynasty, China became a strong, unified, and centralized empire of self-sufficient farmers and artisans, though limited local autonomy remained.

The Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) brought additional economic reforms. Paper money, movable type, the compass, and other technological advances facilitated communication on a large scale and the widespread circulation of books. The state control of the economy diminished, allowing private merchants to prosper and a large increase in investment and profit. Despite disruptions during the Mongol conquest of 1279, the Ming Dynasty continued the Song's economic development. However, when the isolationist Qing Dynasty came into power, China's economic development began to slow. Europe's rapid development during the Industrial Revolution enabled it to surpass China—an event known as the great divergence.

Pre-Imperial Era (ca. 10,000 – 221 BCE)

By Neolithic times, the tribes living in what is now the Yellow River valley were practicing agriculture. By the third millennium BCE, stratified bronze-age societies had emerged, most notably the Erlitou culture. The Erlitou dominated northern China and is identified with the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in traditional Chinese histiography. Erlitou was followed by the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties, which developed a manorial economy similar to that of medieval Western Europe. By the end of the Spring and Autumn period, this system began to collapse and was replaced by a prosperous economy of self-sufficient farmers and artisans by the Warring States Era. This transformation was completed when the State of Qin unified China in 221 BCE, initiating the imperial era of Chinese history.

The Neolithic and the early Bronze Age

Agriculture began almost 10,000 years ago in several regions of modern-day China. The earliest domesticated crops were millet in the north and rice in the south. Some Neolithic cultures produced textiles with hand-operated spindle-whorls as early as 5000 BCE. The earliest silk remains date to the early third millennium BCE. By the Longshan period (north China, ca. 3000-2000 BCE), a large number of communities with stratified social structures had emerged.

The Erlitou culture (ca. 1900-1350 BCE, named after a representative site in modern Henan) dominated northern China in the early second millennium BCE, when urban societies and bronze casting first appeared in the area. The cowries, tin, jade, and turquoise that were buried in Erlitou suggest that the Erlitou polity traded with many neighbors. A considerable labor force would be required to build the rammed-earth foundations of Erlitou buildings. Although the "highly stratified" Erlitou society has left no writing, some historians have identified Erlitou as a site from the possibly mythical Xia dynasty mentioned in traditional Chinese sources as preceding the Shang.

Only a strong centralized state led by rich elites could have produced the bronzes of the Erligang culture (ca. 1600–1400 BCE or 1500–1300 BCE). The Erligang state, which archaeologist Robert Bagley has called "... the first great civilization of East Asia," interacted with neighboring states, which imported bronzes or the artisans who could cast them. These exchanges allowed the technique of bronze metallurgy to spread to surrounding polities. Some historians have identified Erligang as a Shang site because it corresponds with the area where traditional sources say the Shang were active, but no written source from the time exists to confirm this identification.

The Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 – ca. 1045 BCE)

The first site unequivocally identified with the Shang dynasty by contemporaneous inscriptions is Anyang, a Shang capital that became a major settlement around 1200 BCE. The staple crop of the Shang, a predominantly agricultural society, was millet, but rice and wheat were also cultivated in fields owned by the royal aristocracy. Agricultural surpluses produced by royal fields supported the Shang royal family and ruling elite, advanced handicraft industries (bronze, silk, etc.) and large armies. Large royal pastures provided animals for sacrifices and meat consumption. Other agricultural produce supported the population of Shang, estimated to be about 5.5 to 8 million people.

Since land was only cultivated for a few years before being left fallow, new lands constantly needed to be opened by drainage of low-lying fields or by clearing scrubland or forests. These tasks were performed by corvée labor under state supervision, often in the context of hunting expeditions.

Like their Neolithic predecessors, the Shang used spindle-wheels to make textiles, but the Shang labor force was more formally organized. By Shang times, controlled workers produced silk in workshops for the aristocracy. Fields and workshops were manned by labor of varying degrees of servitude. Some historians have called these dependent workers "slaves" and labelled the Shang a "slave society," but others reject such labels as too vague because we know too little about the nature of this labor force.

The Western Zhou (ca. 1045 – 771 BCE)

By traditional dating, the Zhou Dynasty defeated the Shang around 1045 BCE and took control of the Wei and Yellow River valleys that the Shang had dominated. Land continued to belong to the royal family, which re-distributed it among its dependents in a system that many historians have likened to the feudal organization of medieval Europe. Epigraphic evidence shows that, as early as the late 10th century BCE, land was being traded, though it was not yet considered private property. Edward Shaughnessy hypothesizes that this increase in the land exchanges resulted from the division of elite lineages into branches, increasing demand for land while its supply was diminishing.

The fourth-century book Mencius claims that the early Zhou developed the well-field system, a pattern of land occupation in which eight peasant families cultivated fields around a central plot that they farmed for the landlord. The system was named after the Chinese character for "well" (jing 井), which resembles the grid-like pattern in which these nine fields were supposedly arranged. Historians have generally doubted the existence of this idealized system, but some maintain that it may have existed informally in the early Zhou, when dependent tenants working on manorial estates paid corvée to their landlords instead of taxes, as they would later.

Handicraft industries developed during the Shang, such as textiles, bronze and the production of weapons, were continued during the Zhou, but they were completely state-controlled. The Zhou government also controlled most commerce and exchange through appointing officials whose titles were "Jia", which later came to mean "merchant".

Spring and Autumn period (771–475 BCE)

The collapse of the Zhou initiated the Spring and Autumn Period, named after Confucius' Spring and Autumn Annals. It was a time of war between states, when the Chinese feudal system fell into decline and trade began to flourish. Competition between states led to rapid technological advancement. Iron tools became available, producing agricultural surpluses that led to the collapse of the well-field system. Towards the end of this era, the introduction of iron technology caused the complete collapse of the feudal system and ushered in a new era of development.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, many cities grew in size and population. The prosperous capital of Qi, Linzi had a population estimated at over 200,000 in 650 BCE, becoming one of the largest cities in the world. Alongside other large cities, Qi served as a center of administration, trade, and economic activity. Most of the cities' populations engaged in husbandry and were thus self-sufficient. The growth of these cities was an important development for the ancient Chinese economy.

Large-scale trade began in the Spring and Autumn Period as merchants transported goods between states. Currency was issued en masse to accommodate the new trade. Although some states restricted trade, others encouraged it. Zheng in Central China, promised not to regulate merchants. Zheng merchants became powerful throughout China as they carried goods from Yan in the north to Chu in the south.

As lords expanded their quantity of plots, the well-field system began to collapse, and this was hastened when the State of Lu changed its taxation system in 594 BCE. Under the new laws, grain producers were taxed upon each mou (A Chinese unit of land measurement about 666 meters squared) cultivated, rather than an equal amount being collected from each noble. As other states followed this example, large estates began to disintegrate, ending the well-field system. Free peasants became the majority of the population and provided a tax base for the emerging centralized state.

Warring States (475–221 BCE)

The Warring States Period saw rapid technological and philosophical advances. As rulers competed with each other to take control of China's states, they implemented various reforms, greatly changing China's economic system. Iron tools were produced on a massive scale, leading to the disintegration of the feudal system. Agricultural and military advancements made China a technological world leader. Common-born landowners and merchants prospered with help from the state, which was wary of the old nobility. Some merchants, such as Lü Buwei, may have become as wealthy as some states.

Cast iron was invented in China during the 4th century BCE, but was not adopted by the West for 1,700 years. Although iron tools were manufactured during the Spring and Autumn Period, they became ubiquitous during the Warring States Era after large states began producing iron under government control. Governments, which controlled the large iron smelting works, had a monopoly on military equipment, which strengthened the state at the expense of the feudal lords. Iron agricultural tools allowed a massive increase in surplus farm goods, making the well-field system redundant.

The newly powerful states undertook large-scale irrigation projects, such as the Zhengguo Canal and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Thousands of mou of previously desolate land were cultivated and integrated into the Qin economy. The agricultural boom allowed larger armies. New agricultural techniques were introduced that formed the basis of Chinese agriculture for centuries to come. In the sixth century BCE, among other innovations, the iron plow, row cultivation, and intensive hoeing were introduced. The introduction of oxen in cultivation also began during this period. These techniques spread rapidly, but with the exception of the use of animals, they were limited to China until the European Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century.

In this era, the growing power of the state strengthened the monarchy, allowing it to undertake reforms to strengthen the monarch's authority. The most extensive of these reforms was carried out in Qin by Shang Yang, including the abolition of the feudal nobility, redistribution of nobles' land based on military merit, and allowing private ownership of land by discontinuing the Jintian system. Shang Yang encouraged the cultivation of unsettled lands, gave noble ranks to soldiers who performed well in battle, and established an efficient and strict legal code. Absolute monarchy persisted in China until its gradual weakening under the Song and Ming dynasties.

Early Imperial Era (221 BCE – 960 CE)

The Early imperial era was marked by a strong, unified and centralized monarchy, though local officials still maintained limited autonomy. During the early imperial era, self-sufficient peasant farmers and artisans dominated the economy and largely operated independently of the overall market. Commerce was relatively frequent, increasing after the Han Dynasty with the development of the silk road. The Wu Hu uprising crippled the economy, which did not recover until the Tang, under which it transformed into the mercantile economy of the Song and Ming Dynasties.

Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE)

In 221 BCE, the State of Qin conquered the remaining states in China, becoming what scholars consider the first unified Chinese state. It quickly expanded, extending the Southern frontier from the Yangtze to modern Vietnam, and the northern frontier to modern Mongolia. While the early Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties had nominal authority over all of China, the feudal system gave most regions a large degree of autonomy. Under the Qin, however, a centralized state was established, and the entire empire had uniform standards and currency to facilitate trade. In addition, the Qin government undertook many public works projects, like the Great Wall of China. The Qin initiated what is considered the "first Chinese empire", which lasted until the Wu Hu uprising.

The Qin emperor unified standards of writing, weight measurement, and wheel length, while abolishing the old currencies, which varied between states. He also issued a uniform code of laws throughout the empire, which made trade easier. Defensive walls between states were demolished because of their disruptive influence upon trade. The Qin Empire did not return to the old feudal system, but set up a system of 36 commandries, each governing a number of counties.

The Qin government undertook many public works projects, the workers often being conscripted by the state in order to repay a tax debt. The most famous of these projects is the Great Wall of China, built to defend the state against Xiongnu incursions. Other Qin projects include the Lingqu Canal, which linked subsidiaries of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers and made possible the Qin's southern conquests, as well as an extensive road system estimated at 4,250 mi (6,840 km).

However, Qin's legalist laws were not easily accepted by much of the empire. Rebellion occurred soon after the death of the first Qin emperor, and by 206 BCE, the Qin had collapsed.

Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE)

The Han Dynasty is remembered as the first of China's Golden Ages. Emerging from the devastation of the Chu-Han contention, the Han Dynasty rapidly recovered to become one of the most powerful and populous nations on Earth. The Han reached its peak under Emperor Wu, who subdued the Xiongnu and took control of the Hexi Corridor, opening up the Silk Road. The economy boomed during the Han, who had a population of 58 million. Large-scale enterprises emerged, some which were later temporarily nationalized during the Western Han. Technological innovations, such as the wheelbarrow, paper and a seismograph, were invented during this period.

Government policy under Western Han

The reigns of the Emperors Wen and Jing were a period of peace and prosperity. During their reigns, state control of the economy was minimal, following the Taoist principle of Wu wei (無為), literally meaning "do nothing". As part of their laissez-faire policy, agricultural taxes were reduced from 1/15 of agricultural output to 1/30 and for a brief period, abolished entirely. In addition, the labor corvée required of peasants was reduced from 1 month every year to one month every three years. The minting of coins was privatized.

Both the private and public sectors flourished during this period. Under Emperor Jing,

... the ropes used to hang the bags of coins were breaking apart due to the weight, and bags of grain which had been stored for several years were rotting because they had been neglected and not eaten.

Severe criminal punishments, such as cutting off the nose of an offender, were abolished.

The Han taxation system was based on two taxes; a land property tax and a poll tax. The average individual's tax burden consisted of one-thirtieth of the output on land, and a poll tax of 20 coins paid for every person between 7 and 14, with another poll tax for those above 14. Late in the Han Dynasty, the taxation rate for agriculture was reduced to one-hundredth, the lost revenue being made up with increased poll taxes. Merchants were charged at double the individual's rate. Another important component of the taxation system was Corvee labor. Every able-bodied man, defined as a man in good health above 20, was eligible for two years of military service or one month of military service and one year of corvee labor (later those above 56 were exempt from any military or corvee labor service).

Emperor Wu, on the other hand, sparked debate when he intervened into the economy to pay for his wars. His interventions were hotly debated between the Reformists, who were composed mainly of Confucian scholars favoring laissez-faire policies, and the Modernists, a group of government officials who supported the state monopolies on salt and iron and high taxation policies that Emperor Wu had pioneered. These debates were recorded in the book Discourses on Salt and iron, an important document showing ancient Chinese economic thought. Although the Modernist policies were followed through most of the Western Han after Emperor Wu, the Reformists repealed these policies in Eastern Han, save for the government monopoly on minting coins.

Developments in industry

In the early Western Han, the wealthiest men in the empire were merchants who produced and distributed salt and iron and gained wealth that rivalled the annual tax revenues collected by the imperial court. These merchants invested in land, becoming great landowners and employing large numbers of peasants. A salt or iron industrialist could employ over one thousand peasants to extract either liquid brine, sea salt, rock salt, or iron ore. In the 2nd century BCE, the Han began to produce steel from cast iron. Its strength allowed the Chinese to develop weapons superior in quality to the iron weapons used by other nations.

Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) viewed such large-scale private industries as a threat to the state, as they drew the peasants' loyalties away from farming and towards the industrialists. Nationalizing the salt and iron trades eliminated this threat and produced large profits for the state. This policy was in line with Emperor Wu's expansionary goals of challenging the nomadic Xiongnu Confederation while colonizing the Hexi Corridor and what is now Xinjiang of Central Asia, Northern Vietnam, Yunnan, and North Korea. The salt and iron industries were nationalized by 117 BCE.

Although many industrialists were bankrupted by this action, the government drafted former merchants like Sang Hongyang (d. 80 BCE) to administer the national monopolies. Although a political faction in the court succeeded in having the central government monopolies abolished from 44 to 41 BCE, the monopolies resumed until the end of Wang Mang's (r. 9–23 CE) regime. After his overthrow, the central government relinquished control of these industries to private businessmen.

Liquor, another profitable commodity, was also nationalized by the government for a brief period between 98 and 81 BCE. After its return to private ownership, the government imposed heavy taxes on alcohol merchants.

In addition to the state's short-lived monopolies, the government operated a separate sector of handicraft industries intended to supply the needs of the court and army, a practice that was continued throughout Chinese history, though the importance of this sector decreased after the Tang Dynasty.

Light industries such as textiles and pottery also developed substantially during this period. In particular, hand-made pottery was made in large quantities; its price dropped substantially, allowing it to replace the bronze vessels that had been used during the Zhou. Porcelain also emerged during this period.

Developments in Agriculture

After Shang Yang's reforms in the 3rd Century BCE, land could be bought and sold, stimulating economic progress in agriculture and an increase in productivity. Inventions during this period include the "two-teeth" plow and an early sickle. The use of cattle-pulled plows improved with the introduction of three-cattle plow which required two operators and the two-cattle plow requiring one. The horse chest harness facilitated easy transportation of grain.

The seed drill was also developed during this period, allowing farmers to drill seeds in precise rows, instead of casting them out randomly. These innovations in China's agriculture increased efficiency at least ten times, and possibly thirty times in comparison to its western counterparts. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, The 'Dai Tian Fa', an early form of crop rotation was introduced. Farmers divided their land into two portions, one of which would be planted, the other being left fallow.

Trade and currency

Sources of revenue used to fund Emperor Wu's military campaigns and colonization efforts included seizures of lands from nobles, the sale of offices and titles, increased commercial taxes, and the issuing of government minting of coins. The central government had previously attempted—and failed—to monopolize coin minting, taking power from the private commandery-level and kingdom-level mints. In 119 BCE the central government introduced the wushu (五銖) coin weighing 3.2 g (0.11 oz), and by 113 BCE this became the only legally accepted coin in the empire, the government having outlawed private mints. Wang Mang's regime introduced a variety of new, lightweight currencies, including archaic knife money, which devalued coinage. The wushu coin was reinstated in 40 CE by the founder of Eastern Han, Emperor Guangwu, and remained the standard coin of China until the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE).

Trade with foreign nations on a large scale began during the reign of Emperor Wu, when he sent the explorer Zhang Yi to contact nations west of China in search of allies to fight the Xiongnu. After the defeat of the Xiongnu, however, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, starting the famed Silk Road, which became a major avenue of international trade.

Wang Mang and the Later Han

In 8 CE, the Han chancellor Wang Mang usurped the throne of the Han emperors and established his own dynasty, the Xin. Wang Mang wanted to restore the Han to what he believed to be the "idyllic" condition of the early Zhou. He outlawed the trading of land and slaves, and instituted numerous state monopolies. These ultra-modernist policies proved highly unpopular with the population, who overthrew and executed him in 25 CE and restored the Han dynasty.

Under the Later-or Eastern-Han Dynasty, which followed Wang Mang's overthrow, earlier laissez-faire policies were reinstated, and the government abolished conscription and withdrew from managing the economy. A new period of prosperity and intellectual thought, called the Rule of Ming and Zhang, began. This period saw the birth of the great scientist, Zhang Heng, and the invention of paper. However, by the end of the 2nd Century CE, Han society began to disintegrate. In 184 CE, a peasant preacher started a rebellion called the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which ended the Han Dynasty in all but name.

Wei & Jin (220–304 CE)

Also known as the Three kingdoms period, the Wei and Jin eras, which followed the collapse of the Han Dynasty, saw large-scale warfare envelope China for the first time in more than 150 years. The death toll and subsequent economic damage were significant. Powerful aristocratic landowners offered shelter to displaced peasants, using their increased authority to reclaim privileges abolished during the Qin and Han. These refugees were no longer taxable by the state. During the Jin, the taxable population was 20 million; during the Han it had been 57 million. Most of North China was unified by Cao Cao, who founded the Wei Dynasty (220–265 CE), and the Jin reunified the remainder of China in 280 CE. The centralized state weakened after losing the tax revenue of those under the protection of large landowners. Nevertheless, the economy recovered slightly under the policies of Cao Cao, who nationalized abandoned land and ordered peasants to encourage peasants to work on them, as well as re-instituting the hated salt monopoly, which would continue under Jin and the Southern Dynasties. Later, the War of the Eight Princes, which, coupled with the a Jin policy of moving the barbarian Wu Hu into China to alleviate labor shortages caused the eventual fall of China.

Wu Hu (304–420 CE)

In 304 CE, there was a massive uprising of barbarian clans that were under Chinese control. Following several years of civil war between the various princes of the Jin dynasty, the Xiongnu, led by Liu Yuan, revolted and declared their independence from China. Several other groups under Chinese control subsequently revolted, including the Jie, Qiang, Di, and Xianbei. These groups became collectively known as the Wu Hu, committing genocide against Han Chinese in the Yellow River valley. The collapse of the Jin Empire quickly followed these revolts. The Wu Hu invasion caused large-scale depopulation. Scant statistics indicate that approximately 70 percent of the population may have been killed. The era ended with Liu Yu's reconquest of Central China and Tuoba Wei's conquest of the areas north of the Yellow River, which lead into the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

The disruptions of the Wu Hu invasions caused the market economy and the monetary economies developed during the Qin, Han, Wei and Jin to declined rapidly, and the manorial economy returned to prominence. Large manorial estates were self-sufficient and isolated from the wider market. These estates were self-contained economies that practiced agriculture, herding, forestry, fishing, and the production of handicraft goods. Exchange was no longer carried out through money, but barter. Following the economic revival after the unification of the Sui, the manorial economy again declined.

A brief economic recovery occurred in the North under Fú Jiān, the Di ruler of Former Qin, who reunified North China. Fu Jian repaired irrigation projects constructed under Han and Jin, and set up hotels and stations for traders every 20 kilometers. Under Fu Jian's rule, trade and agriculture were significantly revived, and many nations again sent tribute to Fu Jian's court. This recovery ended when Fu Jian was defeated at the battle of Fei by Jin forces, again disrupting the economy. This battle is considered one of the most important in Chinese history because it preserved Chinese civilization from the danger of destruction. A number of small states arose in the north, while Jin attempted to recover its territories in the north, culminating in Liu Yu's expeditions which recovered all Chinese territory south of the Yellow River.

Meanwhile, the legitimate Jin dynasty had fled to the south, then an undeveloped periphery of the Chinese Empire. Jin rulers attempted to develop this region as a center of rule and as a base for the reconquest of their homeland. Jin rulers granted large tracts of land in the south to Chinese immigrants and landowners fleeing barbarian rule, who preserved the system of government that was in place before the uprising. The migration of northern people stimulated the southern economy, allowing it to rival the northern economy. Improved agricultural techniques introduced to the south increased production and a market economy survived as Jin rulers enforced laws. The improvement of the southern economy can be seen later when it financed Liu Yu's expeditions to recover Sichuan and most of the Chinese heartland from the barbarian states of the north.

Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–581 CE)

The Southern and Northern Dynasties, despite constant war, largely recovered from the Wu Hu uprising. The early part of the era saw the greater part of China reunified by the native Liu Song Dynasty, whose northern border extended to the Yellow River. The Liu Song founder and general, Liu Yu, reclaimed much of China's heartland, conquering most of the states that the Wu Hu had established in the fourth century CE, excluding the Xianbei state of Northern Wei. However, a later Xianbei invasion once more confined the Chinese dynasties to the territories south of the Huai River. Henceforth, China was divided into the Northern and Southern dynasties, which developed separately; the north prospering under a new equal-field system, while the southern economy continued to develop in the fashion of Wei and Jin. In 589 CE, the Sui Dynasty restored native rule to northern China and reunified the country.

The Yuanjia era and development in the South

The Yuanjia era, inaugurated by Liu Yu's son, Wen Ti, was a period of prosperous rule and economic growth, despite ongoing war. Emperor Wen Ti was known for his frugal administration and his concern with the welfare of the people. Although he lacked the martial power of his father, he was an excellent economic manager. He reduced taxes and levies on peasants and encouraged them to settle in areas that had been reconquered by his father. He reduced the power of wealthy landowners and increased the taxable population. He also enacted a system of reviewing the performance of civil servants. As a result of his policies, China experienced an era of prosperity and economic recovery.

During the Yuanjia era, the Chinese developed the co-fusion process of steel manufacturing, which involved melting cast iron and wrought iron together to create steel, increasing the quality and production volume of Chinese iron.

Towards the end of Wen Ti's reign, the Xianbei state of Northern Wei began to strengthen, and decisively defeated an attempt by Wen Ti to destroy it. Following this victory, Wei launched repeated incursions into the northern provinces, finally capturing them in 468 CE.

The economic prosperity of southern China continued after Liu Song's fall and was greatest during the succeeding Liang Dynasty, which briefly reconquered the North with 7,000 troops under the command of general Chen Qingzhi. The Liang emperor, Wu Ti, made a grant of 400 million coins to Buddhist monasteries. The Southern Dynasties' economy eventually declined after the disastrous sacking of Nanjing by the barbarian general Hou Jin.

Sinification and division in the North

After the Xianbei conquest of Northern China, it experienced an economic recovery under the Northern Wei that was even greater than the prosperous era of Yuanjia. This came mostly under the rule of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, who introduced several reforms designed to further sinify Northern Wei, which included banning the Xianbei language and customs and promoting Chinese law, language and surnames. A new agricultural system was introduced; in the equal-field system, the state rented land to the peasant laborers for life, reclaiming it after the tenant's death. Peasants also received smaller, private plots that could be inherited. Cattle and farm tools were also rented or sold to peasants.

The state also introduced the Fubing system, where soldiers would farm as well as undergoing military training. This military system was used until the Tang Dynasty, and empowered Han Chinese, who comprised the majority of the army. In addition, Xiaowen strengthened the state's control over the provinces by appointing local officials rather than relying on local landowners, and paying officials with regular salaries. The capital was moved to Luoyang, in the center of the North China Plain, which revitalized the city and the surrounding provinces. Xiaowen's reforms were very successful and lead to prosperity for north China. Under Emperor Xiaowen, the taxable population was an estimated 30 million, which surpassed that under the Jin.

After Xiaowen's rule, Northern Wei's economy began to deteriorate, and famines and droughts undermined Wei rule. In 523 CE, the nobleman Erzhu Yong rebelled, took control of Northern Wei and reversed many of Xiaowen's reforms. Highly unpopular, Erzhu Yong was overthrown, and Northern China briefly came under the rule of Liang. However, in 530 CE, Liang's troops were repulsed by two generals, Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, who divided Northern Wei among themselves. Their new regimes, Northern Zhou and Qi, were controlled by Xianbei nobility who reversed more of Xiaowen's reforms. These regimes waged wars which lasted fifty years until Northern Zhou eliminated Qi. Soon after, Zhou was replaced by the new Sui Dynasty under Han Chinese Yang Jian, who restored native rule over North China.

Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE)

The Sui Dynasty was established over the Northern Zhou, whose throne was usurped by Yang Jian in 581 CE. Yang Jian quickly enacted a series of policies to restore China's economy. His reunification of China marked the creation of what some historians call the 'Second Chinese Empire', spanning the Sui, T'ang and Northern Song dynasties. Despite its brevity, the Sui reunified China, and its laws and administration formed the basis of the later Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. The Sui Dynasty had a population of about 45 million at its peak.

One of Yang Jian (or Sui Wen Ti)'s first priorities was the reunification of China. Chen, which ruled the south, was weak compared to Sui and its ruler was incompetent and pleasure-loving. South China also had a smaller population than the north. After eight years of preparation, Sui armies marched on and defeated Chen in 589 CE, reunifying China and prompting a recovery in the Chinese economy. The registered population increased by fifty percent from 30 to 46 million in twenty years. To encourage economic growth, the Sui government issued a new currency to replace those issued by its predecessors, Northern Zhou and Chen. They also encouraged foreign merchants to travel to China and import goods, and built numerous hotels to house them.

The Sui continued to use the equal-field system introduced by Northern Wei. Every able-bodied male received 40 mou of freehold land and a lifetime lease of 80 mou of land, which was returned to the state when the recipient died. Even women could received a lifetime lease of 40 mou of land which was returned to the state upon her death. The Sui government charged three "Shi" of grain each year. Peasants were required to perform 20 days of labor for the state per year, but those over 50 could instead pay a small fee.

In 604 CE, Wen Ti was assassinated by his son Yang Guang, who became Yang Ti of Sui. Yang Ti was an ambitious ruler who immediately undertook many projects, including the building of the Grand Canal and the reconstruction of the Great Wall. Thousands of forced laborers died while building the projects, and eventually women were required to labor in the absence of men. Sui Yang Ti also launched a series of unsuccessful campaigns against Goguryeo. These campaigns negatively impacted the image of the dynasty, while his policies drove the people to revolt. Agrarian uprisings and raids by the Gokturks became common. In 618 CE, Yang Ti was assassinated and the Sui Dynasty ended.

Tang dynasty (618–907 CE)

The Tang Dynasty was another golden age, beginning in the ruins of the Sui. By 630, the Tang had conquered the powerful Gokturk Khagnate, preventing threats to China's borders for more than a century. A series of strong and efficient rulers, beginning with the founder and including a woman, expanded the Tang Empire to the point that it rivaled the later Yuan, Ming and Qing. The Tang was a period of rapid economic growth and prosperity, bringing technological advances like gunpowder. Tang rulers issued large amounts of currency to facilitate trade and distributed land under the equal-field system. Although the state weakened after the disastrous An Shi Rebellion, and withdrew from managing the economy in the 9th century, this withdrawal encouraged economic growth and helped China's economy to develop into the mercantilism of the Song and Ming Dynasties.

Economic development before the An Shi Rebellion

Emperor Taizong of Tang, the second ruler of the Tang Dynasty, is regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Chinese history. Under his rule, China progressed rapidly from the ruins of a civil war to the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth. His reign is called the Zhenkuan era. Taizong reduced conscript labor requirements and lowered taxes; in addition, he was careful to avoid undertaking projects that might deplete the treasury and exhaust the strength of the population. Under his reign, a legal code called the Code of Tang was introduced, moderating the laws of the Sui.

During Taizong's reign and until the An Shi Rebellion, the Chinese Empire went through a relatively peaceful period of economic development. Taizong and his son's conquest of the Gokturk, Xueyantue, Gorguryeo and other enemy empires ensured relative peace for China. Control over the western provinces of China reopened the Silk Road, allowing trade between China and the regions to its west to flourish. Tang armies repeatedly intervened in the western regions to preserve this state of peace and prosperity.

The equal-field system did not allow large land transactions and thus during the early Tang estates remained small. The Tang government managed the economy through the bureaucratic regulation of markets, limiting the times where they could exchange goods, setting standards for product quality, and regulating prices of produce.

During the Tang, the taxation system was based on the equal-field system, which equalized wealth among the farmers. The tax burden of peasants was based on population per household, rather than the value of property. The standard tax amounted to 2 Shi (about 100 litres) of grain, as well as 2 Zhang (around 3 1/3 meters) and 5 Chi (about 1/3 of a meter) of cloth. The peasant was eligible for 20 days' conscripted labor; if he defaulted he was obliged to pay 3 Chi of cloth per day missed

The Tang government operated a huge handicraft industry, separate from the private handicraft industry that served the majority of the population. The public handicraft industry provided the Tang government, army and nobility with various products. The government's handicraft industries retarded the growth of the private sector which did not develop rapidly until after the Anshi Rebellion, when the Tang government's interference in the economy (and the size of its government handicraft industries) drastically decreased.

The height of Tang prosperity came during the Kaiyuan Era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who expanded the Tang territory westward to the Aral Sea. Emperor Xuan was a capable administrator, and his Kaiyuan Era is often compared with the earlier Zhenkuan era in efficiency of administration. After this era, the Tang Dynasty started to decline.

Economic development after the An Shi Rebellion

Emperor Xuanzong's reign ended with the An Shi Rebellion, the first war inside China in over 120 years, lead by a barbarian general named An Lushan who used a large number of barbarian troops. The Tang economy was devastated as the northern regions, the mainstay of economic activity, were destroyed. The cities of Luoyang and Chang'an were reduced to ruins. After the war, the Tang central government never recovered its former power, and local generals became independent of Tang rule. These generals wielded enormous power, passed on their titles by heredity, collected taxes, and raised their own armies. Although most of these jiedushi were quelled by the early 9th century, the jiedushi of Hebei, many of them former officers of An Lushan, retained their independence.

The weakened Tang government was forced to abolish many of its regulations and interventions after the rebellion; this unintentionally stimulated trade and commerce in Tang China, which reached an apogee in the early 9th century. The economic center of China shifted southwards because the north had been devastated.

The equal-field system, which had formed the basis of agriculture for the past two and a half centuries, began to collapse after the An Shi Rebellion. The equal-field system had relied on the state having large amounts of land, but state landholdings had decreased as they were privatized or granted to peasants. Landowners perpetually enlarging their estates exacerbated the collapse. The Fubing system, in which soldiers served the army and farmed on equal-field land was abolished and replaced with the Mubing system, which relied on a volunteer and standing army. In 780 CE, the Tang government discontinued the equal field system and reorganized the tax system, collecting taxes based on property value twice a year, in spring and autumn.

A new industry, woodblock printing, began to develop during the 8th and 9th centuries. This grew out of the huge paper industry that had emerged since the Han. Woodblock printing allowed the rapid production of many books, and increased the speed at which knowledge spread. The first book to be printed in this manner, with a production date, was the Jin Gang Jin, a Buddhist text printed in 868 CE.

Although the economy recovered during the 9th century, the central government was weakened. The most pressing issue was government's salt monopoly, which raised revenue. After the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang government monopolized salt to raise revenue. During the reign of emperors Shi and Yi, private salt traders were executed, and the price of salt was so high that many people could not afford it. Eventually, private salt traders allied and rebelled against the Tang army. This rebellion, known as the Huang Chao Rebellion, lasted ten years and destroyed the countryside from Guangzhou to Chang'an. Following the rebellion, two generals, the Shatuo Li Keqiang and the former rebel Zhu Wen, dominated the Tang court. Civil war broke out again in the early 10th century, ending with Zhu Wen's victory. Following his victory, Zhu Wen forced the Tang emperor to abdicate, and the Tang empire disintegrated into a group of states known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Five Dynasties & Ten kingdoms (907–960 CE)

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was a period of warfare and disruption. After 907 CE, the Tang government effectively disintegrated into several small states in the south, while the north saw a series of short-lived dynasties and barbarian invasions. A key event of the era was the conquest of North China by the Shatuo Turks. During their rule, the Shatuo gave the vital Sixteen Prefectures area, containing the natural geographical defenses of North China and the eastern section of the Great Wall, to the Khitan, another barbarian people. This effectively left Northern China defenseless against incursions from the north, a major factor in the later fall of the Song Dynasty. The Shatuo and Khitan invasions severely disrupted economic activity in the north and displaced economic activity southwards, and native Chinese rule was not restored until the Later Zhou dynasty, the Song's precursor.

The southern provinces remained relatively unaffected by the collapse. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was largely one of continued prosperity in these regions.

Late Imperial Era (960–1911 CE)

In 960 CE, Zhao Kuangyi led a coup which established the fifth dynasty in fifty years. The Song Dynasty brought an economic revolution to China. The Late Imperial Era, encouraged by technological advancement, saw the beginnings of large-scale enterprise, waged labor and the issuing of paper money. Overseas trade flourished under the Ming Dynasty. Investment, capital, and commerce were liberalized as technology advanced and the central state weakened. Government manufacturing industries were privatized. The emergence of rural and urban markets, where production was geared towards consumption, was a key development in this era. Some scholars argue that had China's development not been retarded by the alien dynasties of Yuan and Qing, China might have developed into a capitalistic economy. Chinese per capita income soared and exceeded Europe as recently as 1800, according to late economic historian Paul Bairoch.China's growing wealth in this era lead to the loss of martial vigor; the era involved two periods of native rule, each followed by periods of alien rule. By the end of the isolationist Manchu Qing Dynasty (1662–1911 CE), China's development slowed, falling behind that of the west.

Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE)

In 960 CE, the Later Zhou general Zhao Kuanyi overthrew his imperial master and established a the Song Dynasty, the sixth in fifty-three years. Nineteen years later, he had reunified most of China. This was one of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history. Unlike its predecessors, the monarchy and aristocracy weakened under the Song, allowing a class of non-aristocratic gentry to gain power. The central government withdrew from managing the economy, provoking drastic economic changes. Technological advances encouraged growth; three of China's four greatest inventions; gunpowder, movable type, and the compass, were invented or perfected during this era. However, unlike earlier Chinese dynasties, who had vanquished their barbarian opponents, the Song was the first unified Chinese dynasty to be conquered by invaders.

Developments in manufacturing

Under the Song, manufacturing underwent a small industrial revolution. During the eleventh century, China developed sophisticated technologies to extract and use coal for energy, leading to soaring iron production.Iron production rose to about 125,000 tons, a quantity that would not be attained in Europe until the 18th century. Initially, the government restricted the iron industry, but the restrictions on private smelting was lifted after the prominent official Bao Qingtian's petitioned the Song government

The government regulated several other industries. Sulfur, an ingredient in gunpowder - a crucial new weapon introduced during the Tang - became a growth industry, and in 1076 was placed under government control. In Sichuan province, revenue from the Song government's monopoly on tea was used to purchase horses for the Song's cavalry forces. Chancellor Wang Anshi instated monopolies in several industries, sparking controversy.

In order to supply the boom in the iron and other industries, the output of mines increased massively. Near Bianjing, the Song capital, over one million households were using coal for heating, an indication of the magnitude of coal use. Light industries also began to prosper during the Song, including porcelain– which replaced pottery– shipbuilding and textiles.

Developments in agriculture

Agriculture advanced under the Song. The Song government started a series of irrigation projects that increased cultivatable land, and encouraged peasants to cultivate more land. The total area of cultivated land increased to 720 million mou, a figure unsurpassed by later dynasties. A variety of crops were cultivated, unlike the monocultures of previous dynasties. Specialized crops like oranges and sugar cane were regularly planted alongside rice. Unlike the earlier self-sufficient peasantry of the Han and Tang eras, rural families produced a surplus which could be sold. The income allowed families to afford not only food, but charcoal, tea, oil, and wine. Many Song peasants supplemented their incomes with handicraft work.

New tools, like the Water Wheel, greatly enhanced productivity. Although most peasants in China were still primarily rice farmers, some farmers specialized in certain crops. For example, Luoyang was known for its flower cultivation; flower prices reached such exorbitant prices that one bulb reached the price of 10,000 coins. An important new crop introduced during the Song was Champa rice, a new breed which had superior yields to earlier forms of rice and greatly increased rice production. The practice of multiple cropping, which increased yields by allowed farmers to harvest rice twice a year, was a key innovation of the Song era.

Agricultural organization also changed. Unlike the Han and Tang, in which agriculture was dominated by self-sufficient farmers, or the pre-Warring states era and era of division (period between Han and Tang), which was dominated by aristocratic landowners, during the Song agriculture was dominated by non-aristocratic landowners. The majority of farmers no longer owned their land; they became tenants of these landowners, who developed the rural economy through investment. This system of agriculture was to continue until the establishment of the People's Republic of China under Mao.

Investment, Commerce, and Currency

During the Song Dynasty, the merchant class became more sophisticated, well-respected, and organized. The accumulated wealth of the merchant class often rivaled that of the scholar-officials who administered the affairs of government. For their organizational skills, Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais state that Song Dynasty merchants:

... set up partnerships and joint stock companies, with a separation of owners (shareholders) and managers. In large cities, merchants were organized into guilds according to the type of product sold; they periodically set prices and arranged sales from wholesalers to shop owners. When the government requisitioned goods or assessed taxes, it dealt with the guild heads.

Unfortunately, like their counterparts in Europe, these guilds restricted economic growth through collaboration with government to restrict competition.

Large privately-owned enterprises dominated the market system of urban Song China. There was a large black market, which grew after the Jur'chen conquest of North China in 1127 CE. Around 1160 CE, black marketeers smuggled some 70 to 80 thousand cattle.

There were many successful small kilns and pottery shops owned by local families, along with oil presses, wine-making shops, and paper-making businesses. The "... inn keeper, the petty diviner, the drug seller, the cloth trader," also experienced increased economic success.

Song abolition of trade restrictions greatly aided the economy. Commerce increased in frequency and could be conducted anywhere, in contrast to earlier periods where trade was restricted to the 'Fang' and 'Shi' areas. In all the major cities of the Song Dynasty, many shops opened. Often, shops selling the same product were concentrated into one urban area. For example, all the rice shops would occupy one street, and all the fish shops another. Unlike the later Ming Dynasty, most businesses during the Song Dynasty were producers and retailers, selling the products they produced, thus creating a mixture of handicraft and commerce. Although the Song Dynasty saw some large enterprises, the majority of enterprises were small.

Overseas commerce also prospered with the invention of the compass and the encouragement of Song rulers. Developments in shipping and navigation technologies allowed trade and investment on a large scale. The Song-era Chinese could conduct large amounts of overseas trade, bringing some merchants great fortune. Song-era commercial enterprises became very complex. The accumulated wealth of merchants often rivalled that of the scholar-officials who administered the affairs of government.

The prosperous Song economy resulted in an increase in the minting of currency. By 1085 CE, the output of copper currency reached 6 billion coins a year, compared to 5.86 billion in 1080 CE. 327 million coins were minted annually in the Tang Dynasty's prosperous Tianbao period of 742–755 CE, and only 220 million coins minted annually from 118 BCE to 5 CE during the Han Dynasty.

Paper receipts of deposit first appeared in the 10th century, but the first officially sponsored bills were introduced in Sichuan Province, where the currency was metallic and extremely heavy. Although businesses began to issue private bills of exchange, by the mid-11th century the central government introduced its paper money, produced using woodblock printing and backed by bronze coins. The Song government had also been amassing large amounts of paper tribute. Each year before 1101 CE, the prefecture of Xinan (modern Xi-xian, Anhui) alone sent 1,500,000 sheets of paper in seven different varieties to the capital at Kaifeng. In the Southern Song, standard currency bearing a marked face value, was used. However, a lack of standards caused face values to wildly fluctuate. A nationwide standard paper currency was not produced until 1274 CE, two years before the Southern Song's fall.

Song fiscal administration

The Song government inherited and expanded the Tang's taxation system, in which a property value tax was collected twice every year. However, the Song increased taxation by adding numerous surcharges, which increased the tax burden of the people. In an important change from Tang practices, however, the Song did not attempt to regulate prices and markets, with the exception of the time of Wang Anshi. Taxes on commerce and inflation were also used as methods of state finance.

In 1069 CE, Wang Anshi, whose ideas were similar to the modern welfare state, became chancellor. Believing that the state must provide for the people, and pressed by the need for revenues to wage an irrentist war against the Xi Xia and Liao, he initiated a series of reforms. These reforms included nationalizing industries such as tea, salt and liquor, and adopting a policy of directly transporting goods in abundance in one region to another, which Wang believed would eliminate the need for merchants. Other policies included a rural credit program for peasants, the replacement of corvee labor with a tax, lending peasants military horses for use in peacetime, compulsory military training for civilians, and a "market exchange bureau" to set prices. These policies were extremely controversial, especially to Orthodox Confucians who favored laissez faire, and were largely repealed after Wang Anshi's death, except during the reign of Emperor Huizong.

A second, more serious attempt to intervene in the economy occurred in the late 1200s CE, when the Song Dynasty suffered from fiscal problems while trying to defend themselves against Mongol invasions. The Song chanllcenor Jia Sidao attempted to solve the problem through land nationalization, a policy that was heavily opposed and later withdrawn.

Fall of the Song

The prosperity of the Song was interrupted by the invasion of Jur'chen Jin in 1127 CE. After a successful alliance with the Jin in which the Song destroyed its old enemy the Khitan, the Jin attacked the Song and sacked its capital in Kaifeng. The invasion preceded 15 years of constant warfare which ended when the Song court surrendered territory north of the Huai River in exchange for peace, despite victories by the Song general Yue Fei, who had almost defeated the Jur'chens. The southern Chinese provinces became the center of commerce. Millions of Chinese fled Jur'chen rule to the South, which the Song Dynasty still held.

Due to the new military pressure of the Jur'chens, the Southern Song massively increased the tax burden to several times of that of the Northern Song. The Southern Song maintained an uneasy truce with the Jin until the rise of the Mongols, with whom Song allied to destroy the Jin in 1234 CE. Taking advantage of this, the Song army briefly recaptured their lost territory south of the Yellow River as the Mongols withdrew. However, a flood of the Yellow River, coupled with Mongol attacks, eventually forced the Song to withdraw.

Seeking to conquer China, the Mongol Empire launched a series of attacks on the Song. By the 1270s, the Song economy had collapsed from the burden of taxes and inflation which the Song government used to finance its war against the Mongols. In 1275 CE, helped by a surrendered Song general who provided them with cannons, the Mongols defeated the Song army near Xiangyang and captured Hangzhou, the Song capital, the following year. Song resistance, however, did not end until the Battle of Yamen, in which the last Song emperor drowned with the remnants of his navy. Some scholars believe the destruction caused by the barbarian invasions in the later half of the Song aborted a "modern age" which was emerging in China and represented a major setback in it's development.

Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty (1279–1368 CE)

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty was the first foreign dynasty to rule the whole of China. As the largest khanate in the Mongol Empire, the emperors of Yuan had nominal authority over the other three Mongol Empires. This period of Pax Mongolica stimulated trade. However, millions of Chinese died because of the Mongol conquest. Under Mongol rule, approximately 65 million people were registered in 1290 CE; in 1215 CE, the dynasties of Jur'chen Jin and Song had registered populations of between 110 and 120 million. In addition, the Mongol government imposed high taxes and extensively nationalized major sectors of the economy, greatly damaging what was left of China's economic development.

In their conquest of China, particularly the north under Jur'chen Jin, the Mongols resorted to scorched earth policies, destroying entire provinces. Mongol forces carried out massacres in cities they captured, and one Khan proposed that all Chinese under Mongol rule be killed and their lands turned to pasture, but was persuaded against this by his minister Yelu Chucai, who proposed that taxing the region's inhabitants was more advantageous than killing them.

Kublai Khan, after becoming ruler of China, extended the Grand Canal, connecting the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, to the capital, Beijing. This eased transportation between the south, now the hub of economic activity, and Beijing. This enhanced Beijing's status, it having formerly been a peripheral city, and was important to later regimes' decisions to have it remain the capital.

Kublai and his fellow rulers encouraged trade between China and other Khanates of the Mongol Empire. During this era, trade between China and the Middle East increased, and many Arabs, Persians, and other foreigners entered China, some permanently immigrating. It was during this period that Marco Polo visited China. Although Kublai Khan wished to identify with his Chinese subjects, Mongol rule was strict and foreign to the Chinese. Civil service examinations, the traditional way that Chinese elites entered the government, was ended, and most government positions were held by non-Chinese, especially the financial administration of the state. Over-spending by Kublai and his successor caused them to resorted to high taxes and extensive state monopolization of major sectors of the economy to fund their extravagant spending and military campaigns, which became a major burden on the Chinese economy. State monopolies were instituted in salt, iron, sugar, porcelain, tea, vinegar, alcohol and other industries. The most controversial of Kublai's policies, however, was opening the tombs of the Song emperors to gain treasure for the treasury, and issuing large amounts of money which caused hyperinflation. These policies greatly conflicted with Confucian ideals of frugal government and light taxation. As a result of Kublai's policies, and the discrimination of the Mongols towards the Chinese, South China was beset by violent insurrections against Mongol rule. Many Chinese refused to serve or associate themselves with the Yuan administration, who they viewed as barbarian despots.

During the 1340s CE, frequent famines, droughts, and plagues encouraged unrest among the Chinese. In 1341 CE, a peasant rebel leader, who claimed he was the descendant of the Song Emperor Huizong, sought to restore the Song by driving out the Mongols. By 1351 CE, much of South China was free of Mongol rule and had been divided into regional states, such as Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming, Zhang Shichen's Wu and Chen Yolian's Han. In the north, the Mongol Empire became divided between regional warlords who were only nominally loyal to the Yuan. In 1368 CE, after reunifying South China, the Ming Dynasty advanced northward and captured Beijing, ending the Yuan.

Ming Dynasty (1368–1662 CE)

Following the ruin of the Mongol Empire, the peasant Zhu Yuanzhang led a rebellion against Mongol rule. He founded the Ming Dynasty, whose reign is considered the last of China's three Golden Ages. Private industries replaced those managed by the state. Vibrant foreign trade allowed contact to become established between East and West. Cash crops were more frequently grown, specialized industries were founded, and the economic growth caused by privatization of state industries resulted in one of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history, exceeding that of the earlier Song Dynasty.

The Ming was also a period of technological progress, though less so than the earlier Song. The Ming and Song Dynasties are sometimes regarded as being the 'roots of Capitalism', having the potential to develop into a capitalist society. Ming China had a population of almost 200 million.

Recovery under Hongwu and Yongle

Zhu Yuanzhang, also called the Hongwu Emperor, was born of a peasant family and was sympathetic towards peasants. Zhu enacted a series of policies designed to favor agriculture at the expense of other industries. The state gave aid to farmers, providing land and agricultural equipment and revising the taxation system. The state also repaired many long-neglected canals and dikes that had aided agriculture. In addition, the Ming Dynasty reinstated the examination system.

Hongwu's successor and grandson, the Jianwen Emperor, was overthrown by his uncle, Zhu Di, called the Yongle Emperor, in a bloody civil war that lasted three years. Zhu Di was more liberally-minded than his father and he repealed many of the controls on gentry and merchants. Thus, his reign is sometimes regarded as a 'second founding' of the Ming Dynasty. The expeditions of his eunuch Zheng He created new trade routes. Under Yongle's rule, Ming armies enjoyed continued victories against the Mongols, who were forced to acknowledge him as their ruler. He also moved the capital to Beijing. By Yongle's reign, China had recovered the territories of Eastern Xinjiang, Manchuria, Tibet, and those lost during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Era.

The Ming fiscal administration

The Ming government has been described as "... one of the greatest achievements of Chinese civilization". Although it began as a despotic regime, the Ming government evolved into a system of power-sharing between the emperor and the civil service.

The Ming government collected far fewer revenues than the Song Dynasty. Regional tax quotas set up by the Ming emperor Tai-Tzu would be collected, though in practice Ming revenues were markedly lower than the quotas declared. The gentry class won concessions from the government and resisted tax increases. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the state was constantly underfunded. Unlike earlier dynasties such as the Tang and Song, and later dynasties such as the Qing, the Ming did not regulate the economy, but had a laissez-faire policy similar to that of the Han Dynasty. The Cambridge history of China volume on the Ming Dynasty stated that:

Ming government allowed those Chinese people who could attain more than mere subsistence to employ their resources mostly for the uses freely chosen by them, for it was a government that, by comparison with others throughout the world then and later, taxed the people at very low levels and left most of the wealth generated by its productive people in the regions where that wealth was produced.

Key Ming taxes included the land tax (21 million taels), the service levy (direct requisitioning of labor services and goods from civilians, valued at about 10 million taels), and the revenue from the Ming salt monopoly (2 million taels). However, by the end of the dynasty, this situation had changed dramatically. Zhang Juzheng instituted the one whip reform, in which the arbitrary service levy was merged into the land tax. The Ming government's salt monopoly was undermined by private sellers, and had collapsed completely by the 15th century; government officials estimated that three-quarters of salt produced was being sold privately. Other miscellaneous sources of revenue included the inland customs duty (343,729 taels), sale of rank (500,000 taels), licensing fees for monks (200,000  taels), and fines (300,000 taels) and others, which all added up to about 4 million taels.

Developments in Commerce and currency

The Ming's overseas trade began when Zhu Di launched extensive expeditions to southern India and Africa, increasing China's contacts in those areas and establishing state-regulated trade there.

The Ming government often intervened in foreign trade. Under the reigns of Emperors Hongwu, Yongle and Jiajing, foreign trade by private merchants was prohibited completely. Merchants became discontent and engaged in an illegal trade network, which the Ming state could not curtail. Merchants pressured the government repeatedly to lift the prohibition, or to at least ignore it. In 1567 CE, the Hai Jin, or prohibition on overseas trade, was lifted completely, and an extensive expansion of trade followed, with only trade to nations at war with China prohibited. This trade was estimated by Joseph Needham at about 300 million taels from 1567 CE to 1644 CE. At that time, China was the largest and wealthiest nation on Earth, and a lucrative market for Europeans. One of the most important parts of this trade was the importation of silver.

Initially, Hongwu issued paper fiat currency as the standard currency, while private providers issued currency based on metals. Eventually, the state stopped issuing currency because the population lost faith in the fiat paper, which was frequently inflated by Hongwu. By 1425 CE, paper currency was worth approximately 0.014% of its original value. Although the Ming government attempted to stop the inflow of silver, it proved too profitable to halt. Overseas trade brought great prosperity to China, as European importers paid for Chinese products with American silver. The demand for silver was so great that it overwhelmed the earlier paper currency used by the Ming, and silver soon became the common medium of exchange.

In the mid-fifteenth century, a severe decline in the production of silver caused a severe monetary contraction and forced the Ming economy to operate under a monetary constraint, where even counterfeiters' supply of metal decreased.

Developments in industry

After 1400, Ming China's economic recovery led to high economic growth and the revival of heavy industries such as coal and iron. Industrial output reached new heights surpassing that of the Song. Unlike the Song, however, the new industrial centres were located in the south, rather than in North China, and did not have ready access to coal, a factor that may have contributed to the Great Divergence.Innovations such as a new steam turbine helped improve industrial capability to above Song levels.

Developments in agriculture

Under the Ming, some rural areas were reserved exclusively for the production of cash crops. Agricultural tools and carts, some water-powered, allowed the production of a sizable agricultural surplus, which formed the basis of the rural economy. Alongside other crops, rice was grown on a large scale. The population growth and the decrease in fertile land made it necessary that farmers produce cash crops to earn a living. Increasing commercialization caused huge advances in productivity during the Ming Dynasty, allowing a greater population.

Many markets, with three main types, were established in the countryside. In the simplest markets, goods were exchanged or bartered. In 'urban-rural' markets, rural goods were sold to urban dwellers; landlords residing in cities used income from rural landholdings to facilitate exchange in the cities. Merchants bought rural goods in large quantities and sold them in these markets. The 'national market' developed during the Song Dynasty became more important during the Ming. In addition to the merchants and barter, this type of market involved products produced directly for the market. Many Ming peasants no longer relied upon subsistence farming; they produced products for the market, which they sold for a profit.

Collapse of the Ming economy

Following Wanli's demise, Little Ice Age severely curtailed Chinese agriculture in the northern provinces. From 1626 CE, famine, drought, and other disasters befell northern China, bringing peasant revolts. The Ming government's inability to collect taxes resulted in troops frequently not being paid. Many troops joined the rebels, worsening the situation. In 1644 CE, the rebels under Li Zicheng took Beijing, ending Ming rule in the north. The Ming state continued to reign in southern China until 1662 CE.

Qing (Manchu) Dynasty (1644–1911 CE)

China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, was not founded by Han Chinese but the Jur'chens, later called the Manchus, which had been subjects of the Ming and had earlier founded the Jurchen Jin Dynasty. In 1616 CE, under Nurhaci the Manchu rebelled against the Ming. In 1644 Beijing was sacked by a coalition of Li Zicheng's rebel forces and the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and seized control of Beijing and quickly overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty. After a long, bloody war lasting until 1683 CE, the Qing took control of the whole of China and suppressed dissent by killing scholars, banning Chinese clothes, and forcing Chinese men to tie pigtails in the Manchu fashion. During the course of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court imposed some restrictions on industry, commerce, and agriculture, such as prohibiting new mines except in exceptional cases. The Qing reversed the style of government where the emperors relied on consultation with ministers to make decisions. Instead, an absolute monarchy was established, with the emperor at its helm. Although the Qing economy recovered and significantly developed during the 18th century, it failed to keep pace with the economies of European countries, which developed rapidly after the Industrial Revolution.

Economic effects of the Manchu invasion

After they captured Beijing in 1644, the Qing forces requisitioned large amounts of land from Chinese landowners around the capital, and enslaved thousands of Han Chinese as Booi Aha to work on the captured estates. In Hebei Province alone, some 16.6 million mou of agricultural land was seized. In addition, attacks by overseas Ming loyalist forces prompted the Manchu to adopt a policy of clearing the shore line, in which all cities and towns along China's coast were destroyed and their inhabitants moved inland. This policy ended almost all of China's maritime activity and overseas trade. These policies, and Manchu laws that banned Han dress and mandated the queue, encouraged the Han Chinese to bring heavy resistance against the Manchu, who responded by massacring those who opposed them. The Yangzhou massacre, for example, was estimated to have killed between 800,000 people, including women and children.

The destructive effects of the Manchu invasion were felt economically for decades. In the 1690s, Tang Chen, a retired Chinese scholar and failed merchant wrote:

More than fifty years have passed since the founding of the Ch’ing dynasty, and the empire grows poorer each day. Farmers are destitute, artisans are destitute, merchants are destitute, and officials too are destitute. Grain is cheap, yet it is hard to eat one’s fill. Cloth is cheap, yet it is hard to cover one’s skin. Boatloads of goods travel from one marketplace to another, but the cargoes must be sold at a loss. Officials upon leaving their posts discover they have no wherewithal to support their households. Indeed the four occupations are all impoverished!

Recovery of the "Kang–Qian Age"

Following the completion of the Manchu conquest in 1683 CE, the Kangxi Emperor revoked destructive measures, such as princely estates and the clearing of the shoreline. Under his successors' reigns, the Qing Dynasty reached its peak in the Kang–Qian Age between the reigns of the Kangxi Emperor and the Qianlong Emperor. Kangxi and his successors subjugated the areas of Xinjiang and Tibet, conquered the Dzungar Khanate and exercised tighter control over these regions than the Ming Dynasty had. This removed a major threat to China and incorporated the regions of Xinjiang and Mongolia into the Chinese economy.

During the Qing Dynasty, foreign food crops, like the potato, were introduced during the 18th century on a large scale. These crops encouraged a dramatic increase in population, from approximately 150–200 million during the Ming to over 400 million during the Qing. During the eighteenth century, the Qing economy recoved to levels the Ming had achieved in the sixteenth century; by 1750, the amount of registered land under cultivation equalled the level the Ming had reached in 1600. Scholars agree that the most prosperous provinces of the Qing Empire, such as the Jiangnan region, had living standards that approximated pre-industrial revolution England.

Living standards in 18th century China and pre-industrial revolution Europe are comparable. Per capita income in China was probably the same and may have exceeded Western Europe. Life expectancy in China and Japan for adult males were 39.6 and 41.1 respectively, compared with 34 for England, between 27.5 and 30 for France, and 24.7 for Prussia. Chinese laborers in the Yangtze delta, the richest region of China, consumed 4,600 calories per day on average (laborers in China overall consumed 2,637 calories on average) compared with 2,000-2,500 calories per day for England. There was modest per capita growth in both regions. Chinese industry was not stagnant and continued to make improvements, and in many areas (especially agriculture) were ahead of Western Europe. Chinese manufacturing output in 1750 is estimated at 16 times that of Britain, and was not surpassed by British levels until 1860. Chinese cities were also ahead in public health.

However, reversing one of the Ming's trends, the Qing government interfered greatly in the economy. The monopoly on Salt was restored and became one of the greatest sources of revenue for the state. Qing officials tried to discourage cultivation of cash crops in favor of grain. The Manchu regime restricted the number of merchants that could operate and prohibited new mines except in exceptional cases. In addition, the Manchus purged thousands of scholars through "literary inquisitions" which wished to destroy all anti-Manchu thought. These policies greatly hampered the Qing economy, and was a key reason why it fell behind the West in the 18th century.

Isolationist trade policy

The Qing Dynasty viewed foreign trade with suspicion. Emperor Qianlong proclaimed that:

Our land is so wealthy and prosperous, that we possess all things. Therefore there is no need to exchange the produce of foreign barbarians for our own.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, however, foreign trade increased massively after the economy recovered from the disruptions of the Manchu invasions, and after the prohibition on foreign trade was lifted in 1684. Despite the Qing government's regulations discouraging trade (during emperor Qianlong's reign, the number of ports allowed to trade was reduced from 4 to 1), trade between China and Europe grew at the rate of 4 percent a year between 1719 CE and 1806 CE, doubling the volume of trade every 18 years. This helped China’s interior markets and its coastal city ports, providing additional demand for domestic products.

The Opium wars and the Taiping Rebellion

Considering China to be a large, untapped market, the British tried several times to persuade the Chinese to trade with them, sending an ambassador to the court of the Qianlong Emperor. When they were rejected, the British started smuggling opium into China. The result was disastrous for the Chinese. It is estimated that between 1821 CE and 1840 CE, as much as one-fifth of the silver circulating in China was used to purchase opium, the abuse of which incapacitated able men throughout the country.

When the Qing government tried to stop the opium trade, the result was the Opium Wars, in which the Qing government was defeated through superior firearms. The resulting treaty saw concessions given to European nations in China, undermining Chinese authority. The Opium Wars began a pattern of war, defeat, concessions, and silver payments to foreign powers, which further weakened the Chinese government and economy through outflow of silver. Nevertheless, the Qing government was eager to appease the foreigners.

Anger at the Qing rulers grew after the Opium Wars. In 1851 CE, Hong Xiuquan revolted against the Qing Dynasty, proclaimed Qing's rulers to be "filthy barbarians and beasts" who had " led China into despair". His rebels, called the Taipings, quickly took control of much of southern China. With aid from the British and French, the Qing defeated the rebels, but not before the rebellion claimed over 20 million lives. Lasting until 1871 CE, the Taiping Rebellion was one of the bloodiest wars in history, and it devastated the Qing economy.

Self-Strengthening Movement and Qing's collapse

Following the Taiping Rebellion, some Manchu nobles acknowledged that reforms were necessary. They instituted the Self-Strengthening Movement, in which limited modernization occurred, such as re-equipping the army, creating a standing navy, and industrialization. Although some of these reforms were successful, most of the Manchu nobility opposed them. The Chinese economy underwent a somewhat limited industrialization during this period. After defeat by the Japanese in 1894 CE, the movement became discredited. In 1911 CE, the Xinhai Revolution overthrew Manchu rule and established the Republic of China. The collapse of the Qing accelerated the decline of the Chinese economy, which was rapidly declining in comparison to the world gross domestic product.

See also

• Economy of the Han Dynasty
• Economy of the Song Dynasty
• Economy of the Ming Dynasty
• Economy of the People's Republic of China
• Economy of Taiwan
• Economy of Tibet
• Economy of Mongolia

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107. Ebrey 2006, p. 92 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFEbrey2006 (help)
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109. Ji & et al 2005b, p. 17
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192. Huang 1988, p. 141 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHuang1988 (help)
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195. Ebrey 2001, p. 140
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197. Brook 1998, pp. 68–69, 81–83
198. Fairbank 2006, pp. 134–135 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFFairbank2006 (help)
199. Atwell 1988, p. 387 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAtwell1988 (help)
200. Pomeranz 2000, pp. 62–66
201. Li & Zheng 2001, pp. 994–995
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205. Spence 1999, p. 33
206. Wakeman 1985, pp. 646–650
207. Myers & Wang 2002, pp. 606–609
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217. Pomeranz 2000, p. 37
218. Pomeranz 2000, p. 39
219. Pomeranz 2000, p. 107
220. Hobson 2004, p. 76
221. Pomeranz 2000, pp. 45–48
222. Pomeranz 2000, p. 46
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224. Myers & Wang 2003, p. 609 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFMyersWang2003 (help)
225. Mickelthwait (2003), 7
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227. Compilation Group for the "History of Modern China" Series (2000), 17.
228. Fairbank 1978, p. 195 harvnb error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFFairbank1978 (help)
229. Fairbank 1978, pp. 213–216 harvnb error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFFairbank1978 (help)
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232. Sun 2000, p. 712
233. Sun 2000, p. 610
234. Sun 2000, p. 611

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• Rossabi, Morris (1988), Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-05913-1
• Rossabi, Morris (1995), "The reign of Khubilai Khan", Alien regimes and Border States, The Cambridge History of China, vol. 6, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 414–490, ISBN 9780521243315 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
• Schafer, Edward H (1985) , The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T’ang Exotics (1st paperback edition ed.), Berkeley and Los Angeles.: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-05462-8 {{citation}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999), "Western Zhou History", From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C., The Cambridge History of Ancient China, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521470308 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
• Smith, Paul J. (1993), "State Power and Economic Activism during the New Policies, 1068–1085' The Tea and Horse Trade and the 'Green Sprouts' Loan Policy", in Hymes, Robert P. (ed.) (ed.), Ordering the World : Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China, Berkeley: Berkeley University of California Press, pp. 76–128, ISBN 9780520076914 {{citation}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
• Spence, Jonathan D. (1999), The Search For Modern China (2nd ed.), New York: W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-97351-4
• Sun, Jian (2000), Economic history of China, (1840–1949) (in Chinese), vol. 2, China People's University Press, ISBN 7300029531
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• Wagner, Donald B. (2001a), "The Administration of the Iron Industry in Eleventh-Century China", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 44: 175–197
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External links

• Economic History of Premodern China (from 221 BC to c. 1800 AD) Kent Deng, London School of Economics (LSE)

• Economic history of China