Home >
Date(s)： 2023/11/03
Time： 15:00~17:00
Venue： Archives 2nd Conference Hall
Speaker：Prof. François Gipouloux (法國國家科學研究院榮休名譽研究員)
Organizer： IMH
Abstract： A commercial revolution occurred twice in China's long history, under the Song in the 12th century and at the end of the Ming period in the mid-16th century. Why was it unable to bear fruit? What were the factors that inhibited its transformation into an industrial revolution, like the one in Europe, or even an industrial revolution, like the one in Tokugawa Japan? We see rich merchants appearing in China during this period. But rich merchants and capitalist entrepreneurs are two different things. Why did capital accumulation appear so problematic in China? What mechanisms prevented the transmutation of savings into capital during the Ming and Qing periods? This presentation proposes another interpretation of the Europe/China divergence, based on a redefinition of capitalism in much broader terms than its mere reduction to the industrial revolution. To better understand the issue of divergence between China and Europe, this presentation will also draw on a comparison with key features of thirteen century Europe’s commercial revolution.