Dr Melanie Meng Xue SAR 6.12

This course is available on the BA in History, BSc in Economic History, BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in Economic History with Economics, BSc in Economics, BSc in Economics and Economic History and BSc in Economics with Economic History. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

A background in econometric methods is preferred but not required.

The first half of the course focuses on facts and follows a chronological order, covering major phases of historical China, including pre-1800 China, the Great Divergence, late Qing and Republican China, Communism, and post-1979 economic and political reform. The second half of the course is more analytical and examines a number of topics, including (1) Geography, (2) Institutions, (3) States, (4) Culture, (5) Gender, (6) Human capital, (7) Social Mobility, (8) Trade & Markets, (9) Disasters.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 40 hours across Autumn and Winter Term. 

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

Students are expected to produce 2 essays during the two teaching terms.

• Deng, Kent, Mapping China’s Growth and Development in the Long Run, 221 BC to 2020 (London: World Scientific Press and Imperial College Press);

• Richard von Glahn, The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century Cambridge University Press, 2016;

• Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence, China, Europe and the making of the modern world economy Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton UP, 2000;

• Wong, Roy Bin. China transformed: historical change and the limits of European experience. Cornell University Press, 1997

• Loren Brandt, Debin Ma, and Thomas G Rawski (2014). “From Divergence to Convergence: Re-evaluating the History Behind China’s Economic Boom”. Journal of Economic Literature.

• Stephen Broadberry, Hanhui Guan, and David Daokui Li (2018). “China, Europe, and the Great Divergence: a study in historical national accounting, 980–1850”. The Journal of Economic History 78.4, 955–1000

• Robert C Allen, Jean-Pascal Bassino, Debin Ma, Christine Moll-Murata, and Jan Luiten Van Zanden (2011). “Wages, prices, and living standards in China, 1738–1925: in comparison with Europe, Japan, and India”. The Economic History Review.

• Avner Greif and Guido Tabellini (2010). “Cultural and institutional bifurcation: China and Europe compared”. American Economic Review 100.2, 135–40

• Robert C Allen, Jean-Pascal Bassino, Debin Ma, Christine Moll-Murata, and Jan Luiten Van Zanden (2011). “Wages, prices, and living standards in China, 1738–1925: in comparison with Europe, Japan, and India”. The Economic History Review

• Benjamin A Elman (1991). “Political, social, and cultural reproduction via civil service examinations in late imperial China”. The Journal of Asian Studies 50.1, 7–28

Exam (70%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Essay (15%, 1500 words) in the AT.
Essay (15%, 1500 words) in the WT.

Coursework of two take home essays of 1,500 words (inclusive of bibliography and footnotes) to be completed independently by each individual student. The essays should develop arguments, analysis and evidences on a specific research question (or a set of research questions) chosen by the student in consultation with teachers and should be related to the course materials covered. While it is essential to demonstrate one’s grasp of the course material, students are encouraged to develop their own insights and arguments going beyond the course material.