This article is a summary of an excerpt from Demystifying the Chinese Economy written by Yifu Lin.
Joseph Needham, a modern British biochemist, is also well known for his expert in history of science and technology, especially in the history of Chinese science. He put forward a famous thesis, called “The Needham Question”, which contains two aspects:
1. Why had China advanced in science and technology in pre-modern society?
2. Why had China been overtaken by the West in science and technology, despite its earlier success?
Several Current Theories to explain the question:
1. Cultural Determinism
This theory was came up with by Max Webber, holds that Confucian culture which dominated traditional Chinese society emphasizes social harmony and harmonious relation between man and nature. This kind of culture leads to a lack of science and dynamic state. As a result, Chinese became moderate and conservative, without pursuing scientific and technical invention and revolution. When industrial revolution happened in western countries, China gradually fell behind finally.
Defects of this theory: It couldn’t explain China’s earlier success in science and technology.
2. Hypothesis of National Competition
Some western scholars regard that the reason Europe got powerful and prosperous in modern time is the fierce competition between dozens of countries. Countries in Europe strived to develop science and technology in order to stand out among its competitors. Meanwhile, due to a system of grand unification, China didn’t have the pressure of survive and lacked impetus to advance.
Defects of this theory: It couldn’t explain China’s earlier success in science and technology.
3. Hypothesis of High Level Equilibrium Trap
In the book The Pattern of the Chinese Past, Mark Elvin mentions an idea of high level equilibrium trap.
He thinks that China processed advanced system and technology in pre-modern time. But influenced by the concept of carrying on the family line and other traditional views, population in China grew rapidly and reached a high level. Accordingly, Chinese had less appropriation of per capita quantity of the land resources, and this adversely affected the need for technology. On the one hand, with the reduction of per capita cultivated land, the economic surplus was getting less. Individual doesn’t have enough surplus wealth to purchase facilities and improve productive ability when new technology emerges. Under this circumstance, innovation and creation are not encouraged enthusiastically. On the other hand, price of labor power would get cheap with a vast and rapid-growth population. Consequently, even if an advanced technique occurs, producers would be not willing to choose the expensive new tech to improve the older but cheaper way of production. Above all, China gradually had the insufficient demand for innovation.
Defects of this theory: The relationship between per capita land resource and surplus wealth is too abusively. The growth of population in China is spiral, not linear.
4. Yifu Lin’s explain to the Needham Question
1) The reason why China succeed in S&T in pre-modern time
In pre-modern time, the innovation mainly came from labors’ empirical trial and error. So the more people attend to work, the higher probability the technical improvement happen.
During 8th century to 12th century, minorities invaded northern China constantly. A large number of population migrated from north to south, and China’s economic center gradually moving to south too. The new living environment promoted the occurrence of technological change.
2) The reason why China fall behind the West in science and technology
Innovation began to take a leap since industrial revolution. Experimental technology was more advanced and overtook empirical trial and error. Industrial revolution didn’t happen in China, thus the reverse between China and the Western Countries came up.
So what we need to figure out further is why industrial revolution has not happened in China. Yifu Lin points out that the fundamental cause of this is imperial examination system in China.
Human behavior is highly affected by incentive mechanism. Under the influence of imperial examination system, for these who are intelligent and have wisdom, studying the classics, participating in imperial competitive examination and being officials are best choices to fulfill their value of life. These talents are guided to official career, to adapt the temporal social system, not to change and make a difference of the society. Hence, less interests were leading to new invention and advances in science and technology.
In a word, we could attribute this process as institutional barrier.
(Summarized and translated by Maestro.W)
