China Transformed Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience

| 4.26 | 55 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Kent Deng, and 1 others. See all reviews
"This bold, intellectually ambitious, and wholly original book challenges the way in which Western social science understands China. . . . It will set the standard for all future comparative and theoretical research on China."--Timothy Brook, Stanford University"This is a most extraordinary book. Wong's approach is to explore carefully similarities and differences between Chinese and European development over the long term, highlighting themes related to state-making and popular action. This is by far the most sophisticated, extended discussion of imperial and modern China in comparative... more
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We've comprehensively compiled reviews of China Transformed Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience from the world's leading experts.

Kent Deng Professor Roy Bin Wong’s book went a step further from Growth Recurring by using China as a benchmark to measure Europe. The difference between Jones and Wong is that the former gave both China and Europe an equal emphasis while the latter leans heavily towards China. According to Professor Wong, Qing China (1644-1911) perfected all the key sectors in the economy, including flexible and efficient administration, effective proto-social welfare, high-yield agriculture, visible market freedom and so forth. He argued that the Qing system could have continued had revolution not been introduced... (Source)

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