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Quantitative History Webinar Series
The Rise and Fall of Imperial China
Professor Yuhua Wang
(Harvard University)
Date/Time: October 27, 2022, 9:00 am (HK time)
Language: English
Venue: Conducted via Zoom
Enquiry: (Email) cqhmail@hku.hk
Quantitative History Webinar Series
The Rise and Fall of Imperial China
Professor Yuhua Wang
(Harvard University)
Date/Time: October 27, 2022, 9:00 am (HK time)
Language: English
Venue: Conducted via Zoom
Enquiry: (Email) cqhmail@hku.hk
Title:
The Rise and Fall of Imperial China
Speaker:
Professor Yuhua Wang (Harvard University)
Date/Time:
October 27, 2022, 9:00 am (HK time)
Language:
English
Enquiry:
Title:
The Rise and Fall of Imperial China
Speaker:
Professor Yuhua Wang (Harvard University)
Date/Time:
October 27, 2022, 9:00 am (HK time)
Language:
English
Enquiry:
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? In this Quantitative History Webinar, Yuhua Wang of Harvard University will talk about his latest book The Rise and Fall of Imperial China, which 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 will show why lessons from China’s history can help us better understand state building.
In the book, Yuhua 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.
Join us online as we explore how these social networks shaped the Chinese state and vice versa, and Yuhua Wang will explain how the ruler’s pursuit of power by fragmenting the elites became the final culprit for China’s fall.
With discussant: Richard Hu, UM Development Foundation Distinguished Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Macau (former head of HKU Department of Politics and Public Administration)
This event is co-organized by the International Society for Quantitative History, HKU Business School, and Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
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