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Themes in the Socioeconomic History of China, 1840–1949—A Review Article

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

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Abstract

This article discusses two collections (seventy-seven titles) of reprints edited by Ramon H. Myers. He does not provide an interpretative essay for either collection; his choices for inclusion are reviewed in terms of the opinions that he has expressed in a textbook and in other works. The choices reveal that Myers, along with other specialists, views 1895 to 1937 as a key period in which the old socioeconomic order disintegrated and a new order took shape. Scholarly interest concerning those years has focused on the nature of the agrarian crisis, the impact of foreign trade and investment, the contribution of the Chinese bourgeoisie, and the role of the new Nationalist government. The author discusses the views of Myers and others on these topics, and, in addition, the author points out that these collections suggest that another topic—the expanded control of foreign governments over the economic affairs of the Chinese state—is worthy of investigation.

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Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1984

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