Institutional Change Of Land Tenure In Chinese Economic History

To study the institutional change in economic history of traditional agricultural society, the most essential and central issue is to research the jurisdiction of the land tenure, including the land property rights and the landling of their mutual relations. Owing to property rights consisting of right of ownership, right of use, and right of revenue, to examine the institution of land tenure is principally to check the institution of land right of ownership, the institution of land right of use, the institution of land right of revenue,etc.The theme of this dissertation is expressed by describing and analysing of the institutional change of land tenure in Chinese history, appling the principle of new institutional economics to interpret the influence of the institutional change of land tenure in the process of Chinese history, moreover attempting to analyse why, on one hand, although in the 14th long ago China had been the condition of the western industrial revolution in the 18th, China didn't take place industrial revolution. On the other hand, Chinese history has been stretched and unbroken for thousands of years, and the civilization of China exsists to be the only complete preserver in human ancient civilization.The conclusion of this dissertation is that the change of land tenure run through the social economy development and evolution from beginning to end. There is a intimate relation between the change of land property rights institution in Chinese history and the evolution of Chinese economic history. Land private ownership appeared in China long ago, then the distinction of land tenure became an important encouragement institution to impel. Since Qin dynasty that land private ownership had been definite, meanwhile land had been permitted to be traded free, the land tenure had been standing in the unstable state continuously, capital accumulation of land as the essential factor of production had been usually broken.The fundamental cause that China fell behind the western nations lay in institution aspect since Ming and Qing dynasty, and was determined by institution of land tenure, it is namely the aspect of property rights combination of productive means and productive forces. China landlordism's land institution had made deterimental influence upon the whole China economy development, its prime influence was that it hindered the development of social productive capacity of China. The land cultivation and management model of China traditional society had been transformed unceasingly with the evolution of China history, from ploughing side by side with thousands of farmers, to cultivating collectively in big or small manors, to family cultivating under equal land institution, to cultivating of lease-land by contract with management right separating from proprietary right, to landlords running their land by hiring laborer. These institutional changes were both certainly adapting to the change of social political military situation at that time, and natural choice of social history advance.The small-scale production of peasant family was a management model that it continued to exist the longest time in China history. Although traditional peasant economy was an efficient production and management model in the aspect of micro-production unit, traditional peasant economy itself existed a lot of limit in the macroscopic aspect. It was unfavorable to adopt big-scale management and advanced technique, and it hindered the development of agricultural production especially in the later period of feudal society and modern society. Material land rent appeared in Qin-han dynasty period in China. The institution of material fixed amount land rent was executed universally in Ming-qing dynasty period. Furthermore, currency land rent began to prevail in that time. These were all important institution innovation that was favorable the development of agricultural production. However, land rent rate exceeded 50% in the feudal society of lower agricultural production technique. The land rent rate was obviously too high, and exceeded the bearing capacity of lease-land farmer. The high land rent rate led to lease-land fanners not to engage agricultural capital accumulation. The high revenue due to possessing land ownership made enormous benefit impulse by buying and mergering land. It was a major reason leading to self-tillage farmer lost land and came to naught. All these do be the basic reason that Chinese economy of feudal society was both developed and undeveloped, particularly, China emerged stagnation and gradually fell behind the western nations.The distinctiveness of this dissertation is that the writer raises the views explicitly and systematically that the unstableness of land tenure in Chinese history was the prime reason that hindered Chinese capitalism sprout to continue developing and capital to accumulate. This dissertation probes that the peasant economy was efficient in China history evolution, and considers that the peasant economy, including self-tillage economy and lease-land economy, was efficient, because of it adapting to the condition of production and technique at that time in traditional agriculture society. However, with the improvement of production technique condition and the enhancement of management standard, the peasant economy model fell behind and became unadapted. This dissertation expounds the academic view that the land rent rate was so high that the agricultural accumulation not to be engaged in China traditional agriculture society, so far as to the simple reproduction wasn't kept sometimes.The shortage of this dissertation is displayed concentratively that the theoretic analysis of institutional change of land tenure is superficial. This dissertation doesn't use mathematical model to research and discuss the theme. It makes the proving process and its persuasion to be discounted.