Inventing the Chinese Economy: Economic Change in the Formative Period of Chinese Empires, Fourth to Second Century BCE

• Applicant: Maxim Korolkov, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Asian Studies ; Ancient History
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 532522686

The principal objective of the project is understanding the economic transition in China within the context of imperial state formation from the fourth to second century BCE. The study tests the hypothesis that centralization of power in Chinese polities from the fourth century BCE on created a new type of economic actor, the bureaucratic state, that influenced the economic landscape beyond the capabilities of previously existing actors, such as aristocratic lineages and city-states. The economic transformation unfolded in two phases. During the first phase, the emergence of militarised command economy enhanced interregional communication, created new population centres, disseminated crucial technology, and introduced new concepts of value and exchangeability, while state demand stimulated private production and market expansion. During the second phase, mounting transaction costs and local resistance to the excesses of centralised regulation caused the crisis of command economy, which was accompanied by the development of market networks and new political economy, where the interests of imperial rulers were better aligned with those of power holders in provinces. The project will integrate multiple lines of evidence on the economic change during the formative period of Chinese empires. Recently excavated official and private documents reveal the dynamics of local economy, including monetization, credit networks, and spread of new crops and agricultural systems, while archaeological finds reflect the changes in consumption habits, settlement pattern, and human-environment relations. This data allows a more nuanced understanding of empire’s economic impact at the local level, a comparison between regional scenarios of economic transformation, and contextualization of general trends in economic development, such as urbanization and standardization of consumption behavior. Based on the analysis of ancient Chinese material, the project seeks to contribute to the comparative research on the economic aspects of state expansion and empire-building in premodern world.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants