Prosperity signifies success in economic performance. Economic performance always takes place in a spatial context. And institutions matter in economic performance. These three interwoven themes underlie this inquiry into the regional economy of southern Fukien province during the Sung and Yuan dynasties, when the area was one of the most prosperous regions in China. Through a meticulous reading of the sources, the author seeks to understand the meaning of prosperity in the premodern Chinese context and argues that we have to understand economic performance as a process occurring in space and influenced by institutions, which affect economic actors particularly through the means of transaction costs.

Challenging the stereotype of premodern China as an agricultural nation, this book examines the development of the maritime sector, maritime institutions, and sea power in the premodern era. Initially discussing topics related to China's exports, such as ship design and construction, goods produced solely for export, capital accumulation and investment in the maritime sector, and trade networking, the volume goes on to consider the impact of maritime institutions, governmental trade and non-trade policies, and Confucian attitudes toward maritime activities. Finally, the book shows how China obtained technological, economic, and naval supremacy in Asian waters until the 18th century and goes on to discuss the reasons for the decline of the maritime sector in the 19th century.

This volume critically evaluates the latest legal reform of China, covering major areas such as trade and securities law, online privacy law, criminal law, human rights and international law. It represents a bold departure from the most recent works on Chinese legal reform by engaging the ideas of experts in contemporary Chinese law with the archival scholarship of Chinese legal historians. This unique interdisciplinary feature affords readers a more nuanced view of the complexities and specificities of how China has problematised legal reforms in various historical contexts when building a progressive yet sustainable legal system. This volume appraises the most current reform in Chinese law by considering China's engagement with globalisation, increasingly complicated domestic situation and historical legal transplantation experiences. It will be of huge interest to students, researchers and practitioners interested in Chinese law and policy, China and Asian studies and Chinese legal history.

This book examines the economic and political rise of China from the perspective of Japan’s economic development. Beginning with Japan’s rise to statehood in the Kamakura Period (1185 to 1333) and detailing the evolution of its economy through to 2018, parallels are drawn with the economic development of China. Many of the challenges Japan faced in the first decades of the 20th century, including nationalism, militarism, income disparities, social deprivation, and economic crisis are applicable to modern day China. China’s Economic Rise: Lessons from Japan’s Political Economy aims to detail the possible economic and political upheavals that could accompany the slowing of the Chinese economy from the experience of Japan. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in Political Economy, Economic History, Economic Transition, and Development Economics. The book supplements the other publications of the author: China’s Lessons for India: Volume 1 – The Political Economy of Development, China’s Lessons for India: Volume 2 – The Political Economy of Change and The Rise of Empires: The Political Economy of Innovation.

Using a unique "old–new" treatment, this book presents new perspectives on several important topics in Southeast Asian history and historiography. Based on original, primary research, it reinterprets and revises several long-held conventional views in the field, covering the period from the "classical" age to the twentieth century. Chapters share the approach to Southeast Asian history and historiography: namely, giving "agency" to Southeast Asia in all research, analysis, writing, and interpretation. The book honours John K. Whitmore, a senior historian in the field of Southeast Asian history today, by demonstrating the scope and breadth of the scholar’s influence on two generations of historians trained in the West. In addition to providing new information and insights on the field of Southeast Asia, this book stimulates new debate on conventional ideas, evidence, and approaches to its teaching, research, and understanding. It addresses, and in many cases, revises specific, critically important topics in Southeast Asian history on which much conventional knowledge of Southeast Asia has long been based. It is of interest to scholars of Southeast Asian Studies, as well as Asian History.

This collection of essays by and about Wang Gungwu brings together some of Wang's most recent and representative writing about the ethnic Chinese outside China giving the reader a deeper understanding of his views on migration, identity, nationalism and culture, all key issues in modern Asia's transformation. The book collects interviews, speeches and essays that illustrate the development and direction of Wang's scholarship on ethnic and diasporic Chinese.

A General History of the Chinese in Singapore documents over 700 years of Chinese history in Singapore, from Chinese presence in the region through the millennium-old Hokkien trading world to the waves of mass migration that came after the establishment of a British settlement, and through to the development and birth of the nation. Across 38 chapters and parts, readers are taken through the complex historical mosaic of Overseas Chinese social, economic and political activity in Singapore and the region, such as the development of maritime junk trade, plantation industries, and coolie labour, the role of different bangs, clan associations and secret societies as well as Chinese leaders, the diverging political allegiances including Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities and the National Salvation Movement leading up to the Second World War, the transplanting of traditional Chinese religions, the changing identity of the Overseas Chinese, and the developments in language and education policies, publishing, arts, and more.With 'Pride in our Past, Legacy for our Future' as its key objective, this volume aims to preserve the Singapore Chinese story, history and heritage for future generations, as well as keep our cultures and traditions alive. Therefore, the book aims to serve as a comprehensive guide for Singaporeans, new immigrants and foreigners to have an epitome of the Singapore society. This publication is supported by the National Heritage Board's Heritage Project Grant.Related Link(s)