Everyone knows that ancient China paid special attention to the development of agriculture. Since the Shang Yang Reform in the Qin Dynasty, successive dynasties have formed a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. The occupation is divided into four levels, namely the so-called taxi, agriculture, industry, and business. Scholars are the most expensive, agriculture is second, and industry and commerce is second. This idea has been used in all dynasties. Therefore, in the ancient feudal society, most capable people were officials, and those who were incapable or out of current affairs were mostly farmers (after all, only children from wealthy families can go to school, and ordinary children even if they are talented. It is impossible to chant poems every day, "He was the first to live").
Feudal hierarchy
The reason for this situation is firstly because of the guidance of ancient Chinese feudal thinking: that businessmen do not engage in social labor, but are already in the wealth of society. Squeezing profits is "unscrupulous". The deeper reason lies in the economic structure of feudal society.
Ancient Chinese businessman
After the Agricultural Revolution, an economic structure centered on the agricultural civilization of the Great River Basin has gradually formed around the world. In the social economy before the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 1760s, the agricultural economy was dominant. This can be seen from the huge trade deficit formed by European merchant ships after arriving in China. Whether it is the Portuguese who first came to China or the British merchant ships in China, they mainly obtained silk and tea, but they were shipped from Europe. Commodities did not interest the economically developed China at that time.
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In the Qianlong period of 1793, Qianlong said in reply to King George III's request for the establishment of diplomatic and trade relations: Rare treasures are not precious...in fact...the heavens...all kinds of precious things...everything. You Zhizheng is waiting for you to see. However, it is never expensive and there is no need for the country to buy things." These words of Emperor Qianlong are not completely unreasonable. The German philosopher Leibniz (1646-1716) praised Emperor Kangxi in this way: "He is such a great and almost impossible monarch in the world, because he is a mortal like a god. Nodding his head, he can do everything; however, he gains virtue and wisdom through education, so as to win the right to rule.”
The Emperor Kangxi
In Turkey, the emperor also showed the same contempt for these barbaric messengers. "Don't I know you? You are a heretic (people who don't believe in Allah), a pig, a dog, and a man who eats dung. "Also in India, the influence of Jesus on them is "Christianity is the religion of the devil; Christians often drink, do bad things, beat people, and often swear." Economically, fur and linen brought from Europe also made Indians uninterested. The reason why Asian countries are in a passive position in modern times is not because of economic backwardness. It is because the already formed feudal self-sufficient economic system is too stubborn to allow these countries to look at the world.
In fact, the world at that time has undergone major changes. The world has begun to be connected as a whole. The mutual influence between various countries and regions has exceeded the imagination of these rulers, and they are no longer allowed to deaf ears as before. . First the Portuguese and the Spanish, then the Dutch, and then the British, they forcibly opened the doors of these ancient agricultural empires in Asia through warships equipped with powerful artillery. The feudal empire that woke up suddenly realized that it had long since become a part of the globalized world, and regrettably did not act when it was strong before.
Britain Merchant Marine
Regarding the ancient Chinese economy, there are any new revelations, please leave a message in the comment area to discuss even!
The last sentence: The reason why we study history is not to know the future, but to expand our horizons, to understand that the present is not "natural"
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