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The economic history of China covers thousands of years and the region has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. China had, for most of the last two millennia, the world's largest and most advanced economies.〔(Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. ''China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century'' ). WBI Development Studies. World Bank Publications. Accessed January 30, 2008.〕〔Angus Maddison. (''Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run'' ). Development Centre Studies. Accessed 2007. p.29 See the "Table 1.3. Levels of Chinese and European GDP Per Capita, 1–1700 AD" in page 29, Chinese GDP Per Capita was 450 and European GDP Per Capital was 422 in 960AD. Chinese GDP Per Capita was 600 while European was 576. During this time, Chinese per capita income rose by about a third.〕 Economic historians usually divide China's history into three periods: the pre-imperial era, consisting of the era of before the unification of Qin in 221 BCE; the early imperial era from Qin to Song (221 BCE to 960 CE); and the late imperial era, marked by the economic revolution that occurred during the Song dynasty (ruled 960-1279). By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic Era, agriculture had developed in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (c. 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 élite. 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 in 771 BCE, preceding the Spring and Autumn and Warring states eras (771 to 221 BCE). As the feudal system collapsed, much legislative power transferred from the nobility to local kings. A merchant class emerged during the Warring States period (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), 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; the nobility no longer monopolised important positions. The adoption of new iron tools revolutionized agriculture and led to a large population increase during this period. From 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 (206 BCE to 220 CE), China became a strong, unified, and centralized empire of self-sufficient farmers and artisans, though limited local autonomy remained. The Song dynasty period (960–1279 CE) brought additional economic reforms. Paper money, the compass, and other technological advances facilitated communication on a large scale and the widespread circulation of books. The state's 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 population much increased under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). In the later Qing period, China's economic development began to slow, especially relative to Europe's rapid development from the time of the Renaissance.〔Landes, David S.: ''The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor'', W W Norton & Company, New York 1998, ISBN 0-393-04017-8, pp. 29–44〕 Adam Smith thought China had been long stationary before 18th century. While some historians like Carol H. Shiue and Wolfgang Keller conclude that, in 1750, productivity in the most developed regions of China was still on a par with that of Europe's Atlantic economy,〔(Wolfgang Keller and Carol Shiue ), nber.org.〕 other historians like Angus Maddison hold that the per-capita productivity of western Europe had surpassed that of all other regions during this period.〔 Maddison, Angus: ''The World Economy. A Millennial Perspective (Vol. 1). Historical Statistics (Vol. 2)'', OECD 2006, ISBN 92-64-02261-9, p. 629, table 8.3 〕 ==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.〔See for example . Bodde interpreted "feudalism" as a method of government, not an economic system ().〕 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Economic history of China before 1912」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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