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History of the world economy - Polyak GB

17. The Economy of Medieval China

17.1. Economy in an era of fragmentation

In the history of China the boundary of Antiquity and the Middle Ages falls on the I-III centuries. Early feudalism went down in history as the time of the Three Kingdoms (220-280). At this time, there were three states: in the north - Wei, in the central part - Shu and in the south - U. These were states of military dictatorship. But in the IV century. China was overwhelmed by the raids of nomads, who for some time put their native population on the brink of extinction, the very existence of the great Chinese civilization was called into question by the destruction of traditional forms of economy and social life. However, according to Sinologists, all waves of barbarization were "extinguished by the power of the Chinese Confucian civilization."

Obviously, the raids of nomads in the IV. The northern regions of China were subjected to, and therefore the next two centuries of Chinese history (V and VI) were marked by two processes: the relocation of ethnic northern Chinese to the south and Sineticization of the nomadic floods of North China. Documents and Sinologists say that by the end of the VI. These nomads became ordinary Chinese. This process is well noted in the Chinese proverb: "You can conquer an empire sitting on a horse, but you can not control it sitting on a horse." One of the reasons for the rapid assimilation was that the aliens, as a rule, were backward peoples compared with the Chinese.

At the end of the IV century. In the north of China, the Northern Wei Empire was founded, headed by You, who is known in China's history as an energetic reformer in foreign and domestic politics. Toba Gong, the leader of one of the Xianbi tribes, conquering one southern province after another, after the establishment of his authority in the North, carried out the administration of the administration. To provide the capital with grain, he formed around her settlements resettled farmers who were allocated land at the expense of the state.

Migration of the Chinese to the south. Features of socio-economic development

To the south of the country, over a million of the richest and most educated Confucians were resettled. The places of resettlement were almost undeveloped fertile valleys, where new masters began to grow rice, which has since become one of the country's main crops, and the rice belt eventually became the main breadbasket of the empire. Already from the V century. In these areas, two rice harvests a year began to be harvested. Along with the development of agriculture on southern lands, cities are being built, crafts, trade and commodity-money relations are developing. This was the period of the flowering of culture, especially in the south, and the strengthening of a new religion in China - Buddhism. The rapid growth of Buddhist temples and monasteries led to the growth of a special group of farmers- monastic peasants.

The all-pervading system was opposed by the growth of private farming, the so-called strong houses, which was accompanied by the ruin and enslavement of the peasantry. There was decomposition and degeneration of the community. With a view to tax benefit, the peasant farms were united in five houses and twenty-five years.

Differentiation of the population led to an increase in the number of unqualified layers, which they called "sneaky people." Social shifts were expressed in the growth of the aristocracy. Lists of notable surnames were fixed. At this stage, personal relations have intensified in China's public life. Among the moral values ​​an important place was given to the principle of personal duty of the younger before the elder.