How to Understand the Early Modern in Chinese History

This paper summarizes the existing research on ‘the early modern’ and presents my own views based on it. It can be said that the discussions of Wallerstein, Frank, and Pomerantz show some consistent flow, although their issues are different. Their discussions are common in that they view the global economy after the 16th century as a center of a trade network between multiple countries rather than a one-country history, and that the difference in development between Europe and China does not result in the nature of each society, but rather in its position in the trade network, that is, an external factor. It was found that Europe’s dominance was gradually very accidental as the times went back.<br/> Konan Naito and Ichisada Miyazaki defined the period from the Song Dynasty to before the Opium War as ‘the early modern’. Accordingly, new suggestions were made on the definition of ‘the early modern’ from the 1990s. Mio Kishimoto defined Chinese society with high liquidity as the ‘the early modern’ after it was incorporated into the silver economy in the 16th century until the Opium War. Hiroshi Miyajima argues that the Neo-Confucianism established in a small-farm society has ‘confucian modernity.’<br/> This paper classifies the period from the early Song dynasty to the mid-Ming dynasty as “the earlier early modern,” and from the mid-Ming dynasty to the Opium War as “the later early modern, ” with an aim to clarify the characteristics of each. The earlier early modern was centered on trade with East and Southeast Asia, and the later early modern era was a period when trade with the West began in earnest.The stronger the liquidity, the greater the unity of civil society for survival, and the state power had no choice but to neglect it. However, when the Qing emperor had strong authority, integration was possible, but the Revolution of 1911 made this impossible.<br/> This self-reform was impossible in the modern era, and eventually became the object of overthrow by Mao Zedong, and disappeared after 1949. Again, after 1949, it can be said that modern Chinese history began with the question of how to control excessive liquidity in the later early modern period.