Development Versus Stagnation: Technological Continuity and Agricultural Progress in Pre-modern China

China’s loss of economic, technical, and cultural supremacy after the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) has produced one of the greatest enigmas of world history. Why did China fail to undergo an industrial revolution? Explanations relate to deficiencies of Chinese cultural values, social structure, class system, bureaucracy and technology. This volume examines the subject of technological development, particularly agricultural development, in order to evaluate whether China suffered all-round technological stagnation. Using the example of the nongshu , or agricultural book, the author also examines the role of Chinese values, social structure, class structure and bureaucracy in the accumulation, preservation, diffusion, promotion and recovery of knowledge. Nongshu formed an organic part of Chinese agriculture and thus Chinese economic history. This examination of the nongshu phenomenon leads to new insights into the socio-political structure and long-term economic development of pre-modern China. This examination also shows that Chinese technology in argriculture, the leading sector of the economy, did not completely stagnate.