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Medieval Manuscripts and Printed Books from China and Europe ca. 581–1840
NEW RESEARCH: Knowledge Formation and the Great Divergence between China and Europe: Manuscripts and Printed Books, ca. 581–1840
ABSTRACT:
Literature dealing with the history of Chinese printed books and printing is voluminous. Yet studies of how knowledge in general and utilitarian forms of knowledge in particular were generated, accumulated and circulated by printed books and their relationship with the long-term socio-economic transformation of China are rare. This paper aims to open up the subject by examining the long-term trends in the production of manuscripts and books and focusing on the connections between the generation and dissemination of useful knowledge in China and the production and circulation of printed books over the centuries and dynasties from circa 581 to 1840 compared to Europe. It connects trends in this indicator for knowledge formation and diffusion to economic growth, urbanization, changes in higher forms of education, the rise of literacy, the development of printing technologies, and changes in perceptions of the natural world. It concludes that human capital formation in China probably proceeded at a slower rate because of centralised censorship. This is relevant for narratives of the “divergence” between China and Europe. Also as it unfolds today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ting Xu, School of Law , Queen’s University , Belfast , Northern Ireland
Ting Xu joined Queen’s Law School as a lecturer in December 2012. Before joining Queen’s, she had been a research fellow at the London School of Economics, working on an interdisciplinary and collaborative European Research Council funded project. She was also a postdoctoral research fellow at the Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics. Her main research interests are in the fields of law, governance and development, property law, socio-legal studies, Chinese law, comparative law, and global economic history. Her work has an interdisciplinary flavour. She is also a research affiliate of Queen’s University Centre for Economic History
SOURCE:
Knowledge Formation and the Great Divergence between China and Europe: Manuscripts and Printed Books, ca. 581–1840
By Ting Xu
In: Journal of Comparative Asian Development: Published online: 30 May 2013
DOI:10.1080/15339114.2013.792455