Overview
- Provides a long run perspective on the history of traditional property rights in China
- Focuses on the experience of family farms and smallholdings as a key component of traditional property systems
- Illuminates regional, national and global influences on the development of Chinese land economy over time
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History (PEHS)
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About this book
This book provides a comprehensive study of land property rights and transaction systems in late imperial China, specifically during the period of 1560 – 1950. The book introduces the work of two key scholars working in Chinese economic history and land property history, synthesizing existing research with important new findings.
The book traces the evolving nature of Chinese land property rights over time, discussing changing influences and contexts. It discusses the traditional role of small individual family farms and how these differed from the manor economy of early modern Europe, leading to a substantial middle class of peasant farmers with relative economic and social stability, as well as how this has uniquely shaped Chinese economic development in the long run. Chapters explore the different ways that private, corporate and state/publicly owned land co-existed in China during this period, with an in-depth examination of the impact of dian (conditional sale)and huomai (revocable sale) customs on the protection of smallholders in the face of advancing agricultural, technological and political reforms. The book also discusses the diversity of types of land transactions including sales, rent deposits, tenancies, and mortgages and how these changed in different dynasties, as well as the economic and political implications of the globalizing 20th-century and growth of the free market for Chinese property. Combining a long run perspective with highly detailed analysis of Chinese property customs, this book will be a valuable resource for economic historians, researchers of agricultural history, and those interested in the history of China.
Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Denggao Long is Professor of Economic History at Tsinghua University, China. He has been a visiting scholar at Yale University and Harvard University and his research focuses on the economic history and development of China, as well as the political economy of Chinese business.
Xiang Chi is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, China.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Institutions of Land Property Rights in China
Book Subtitle: Transformation and Development, 1560–1950
Authors: Denggao Long, Xiang Chi
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Economic History
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5112-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore
eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-97-5111-2Published: 30 October 2024
Softcover ISBN: 978-981-97-5114-3Due: 13 November 2025
eBook ISBN: 978-981-97-5112-9Published: 29 October 2024
Series ISSN: 2662-6497
Series E-ISSN: 2662-6500
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 335
Number of Illustrations: 28 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour
Topics: Economic History, Political Economy/Economic Systems, History of China