The Rise and Fall of Imperial China - (Princeton Studies in Contemporary China) by Yuhua Wang (Paperback)

About the Book

"China was the world's leading superpower for almost two millennia, falling behind only in the last two centuries and now rising to dominance again. What factors led to imperial China's decline? The Rise and Fall of Imperial China offers a systematic look at the Chinese state from the seventh century through to the twentieth. Focusing on how short-lived emperors often ruled a strong state while long-lasting emperors governed a weak one, Yuhua Wang shows why lessons from China's history can help us better understand state building. Wang argues that Chinese rulers faced a fundamental trade-off that he calls the sovereign's dilemma: a coherent elite that could collectively strengthen the state could also overthrow the ruler. This dilemma emerged because strengthening state capacity and keeping rulers in power for longer required different social networks in which central elites were embedded. Wang examines how these social networks shaped the Chinese state, and vice versa, and he looks at how the ruler's pursuit of power by fragmenting the elites became the final culprit for China's fall."

Book Synopsis

How social networks shaped the imperial Chinese state

China was the world's leading superpower for almost two millennia, falling behind only in the last two centuries and now rising to dominance again. What factors led to imperial China's decline? The Rise and Fall of Imperial China offers a systematic look at the Chinese state from the seventh century through to the twentieth. Focusing on how short-lived emperors often ruled a strong state while long-lasting emperors governed a weak one, Yuhua Wang shows why lessons from China's history can help us better understand state building.

Wang argues that Chinese rulers faced a fundamental trade-off that he calls the sovereign's dilemma: a coherent elite that could collectively strengthen the state could also overthrow the ruler. This dilemma emerged because strengthening state capacity and keeping rulers in power for longer required different social networks in which central elites were embedded. Wang examines how these social networks shaped the Chinese state, and vice versa, and he looks at how the ruler's pursuit of power by fragmenting the elites became the final culprit for China's fall.

Drawing on more than a thousand years of Chinese history, The Rise and Fall of Imperial China highlights the role of elite social relations in influencing the trajectories of state development.

Review Quotes

"Engaging and illuminating."---Nicolas Tackett, Journal of Chinese History

"A very innovative study that injects a plethora of fresh data and new insights into the evolution of the imperial Chinese state."---Justin M. Jacobs, H-Diplo

"Yuhua Wang's The Rise and Fall of Imperial China is a rare example of longue durée history that manages to maintain theoretical clarity and logical rigor throughout its analysis. Paired with a serious quantitative dive into primary sources and the intellectual vision to tease out common sociopolitical patterns across enormously diverse historical terrain, the book is a magnificent accomplishment that produces an intellectually powerful macronarrative about mid- and late imperial Chinese history"---Taisu Zhang, American Historical Review

"Compelling. . . . [The Rise and Fall of Imperial China] is essential reading for scholars of the Chinese state."---Guillaume Beaud, The International Spectator

"A profound examination. . . . [and] a remarkable piece of scholarship."---Peng Peng, The Developing Economies

"Winner of the Luebbert Best Book Award, Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association"

About the Author

Yuhua Wang is the Frederick S. Danziger Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of Tying the Autocrat's Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China.