Agricultural Development In China 1368 1968

Agricultural Development in China explains how China's farm economy historically responded to the demands of a rising population. Dwight H. Perkins begins in the year A.D. 1368, the founding date of the Ming dynasty. More importantly, it marked the end of nearly two centuries of violent destruction and loss of life primarily connected with the rise and fall of the Mongols. The period beginning with the fourteenth century was also one in which there were no obvious or dramatic changes in farming techniques or in rural institutions. The rise in population and hence in the number of farmers made possible the rise in farm output through increased double cropping, extending irrigation systems, and much else. Issues explored in this book include the role of urbanization and long distance trade in allowing farmers in a few regions to specialize in crops most suitable to their particular region. Backing up this analysis of agricultural development is a careful examination of the quality of Chinese historical data. This classic volume, now available in a paperback edition, includes a new introduction assessing the continuing importance of this work to understanding the Chinese economy. It will be invaluable for a new generation of economists, historians, and Asian studies specialists and is part of Transaction's Asian Studies series.

This book identifies the main challenges Chinese agriculture is confronting and considers how these challenges might be met. The performance of China's agricultural production is comprehensively assessed while the factors that affect agricultural productivity are examined through detailed econometric analysis and up to date nationally representative data.

Kenneth Walker, the doyen of modern Chinese economic studies from the 1960s until his death in 1989, was the world's most authoritative commentator on China's agricultural development in the first four decades of the People's Republic. With an unparalleled authority derived from the use of primary Chinese sources, his collected papers provide a unique account of this era. In addition to their historical importance, the papers offer valuable insight into contemporary China's agricultural sector, which arguably poses the most serious economic and social problems for the Bejing government today. Including the posthumously-published study of `Food and Mortality During the Great Leap Forward,' Walker's comprehensive analysis of forty years of China's agricultural development will be a valuable resource for scholars and researchers of China, as well as undergraduates and postgraduates.

For centuries the Yangzi delta has acted as the locomotive of China's economic growth. This book examines the surprising phenomenon of a long period of economic growth from 1620 to 1850 in the traditional agriculture of this extremely densely populated area, when no new land was available and no major technological breakthroughs occurred. Intensification of farming and rationalizations of resources saw an optimum model of peasant family economy become the norm. The contrast with western patterns of development improves our understanding of China's economic performance, past and present.

Drawing on material previously available only in Chinese, this book provides an assessment of China's recent reform of the foreign trade system and discusses the benefits of such reform in terms of higher growth for its economy.