Significado Psicológico (Real o fenomenológico) 120.

This study adopts a multidisciplinary approach to late Qing China’s industrialization. It combines political economic and sociological perspectives and historical research methods to explore the issue. First, I take a political economic approach to economic development, which regards fostering economic

development as a basic function of the state. More specifically two theories using this approach serve as the theoretical foundations of the proposed study. The late development theory derived from the

experiences of late nineteenth century Eastern Europe and postwar Latin America has demonstrated the significance of the state’s role in industrialization. The East Asian development model based on postwar East Asian economic success enumerates the specific measures taken by Eastern Asian states to foster industrialization. The essence of the model stresses the role of government intervention in late

industrialization compared to limited government involvement in economic affairs of the early developers such as Britain and the US.

Meiji Japan is generally considered as a successful late developer. In my view late Qing China was a late developer as well in terms of the timing of the beginning of its industrialization, and its problem supports the basic theme of the East Asian Development model from a different angle. Qing China’s failure lay in insufficient government leadership, whereas the successful industrialization of the other economies after WWII can be attributed to strong and effective government intervention in the economy. The case of Qing China and postwar Asian economies share the same underlying theme: successful economic transformation depends on effective government intervention.

Second, in addition to studying the relationship between the state and economy, this study adopts the

sociological perspective to examine how society affects the state’s ability to make policies to promote

industrialization. More precisely it explores how the state and society interact with each other, how the interplay affects the power of the state, and how the state in particular social circumstance makes economic policies. I intend to examine the issues in two steps. First I compare the roles of the

governments of Qing China and Meiji Japan to see whether any differences existed between them. If any significant differences are found, then I examine whether the differences contributed to the disparity in the outcomes of economic transformation between the two countries. Second, after having completed the above task, I intend to do some theoretical analysis, examining the relations between the state and society and the effect of state-society relations on economic development.

When studying society, my analytical units are large social groups instead of individuals. Social groups include class, ethnic groups, parties, entrepreneurial groups, etc. My analytical units are the ethnic groups in Qing China. I attempt to explore the interaction between the ethnic groups and the state: how the state’s ethnic policies affected the welfare of the ethnic groups, and how the reaction of the ethnic groups in turn affected the power of the state.

Third, this study is a historical one since it studies events of the past. As such, it adopts the historical research method, by which I mean historians’ emphasis on historical evidence, especially first-hand

materials when studying historical events. A considerable proportion of this project is based on archival and primary data that I collected from my fieldwork in China. Archives are original Qing governmental documents now kept in the First Historical Archives of China located in Beijing, and primary data are published Qing official records, including the Veritable Records (shilu) of Qing emperors and books

written by Qing officials and intellectuals. Archival data reveal some important issues in Qing society that have been overlooked by researchers. An example is the measures the state took to reify the ethnic line between the Manchus and the Chinese. I utilize documents submitted to the Department of Eight Banner Governance by banner officials at various levels dealing with Manchu affairs to establish the existence of

the mechanisms, and argue that these mechanisms were aimed to reinforce the inequalities between the two ethnic groups created by the state.

Throughout the study I strive to provide empirical evidence to support my arguments. Empirical

evidence here refers to factual information on historical events and social actors. Empirical data have been collected from two sources. The first source is archives and primary data on Qing ethnic relations. The second category of data is scholarly studies on various issues published in Chinese, Japanese, and English, which I refer to as secondary data. For example, my comparison of the economic development of China and Japan between 1865 and 1895 is based on Chinese and Japanese studies on important sectors of the economy such as sea transport, railway, and communications.

Empirical data are crucial to this study for two reasons. First, historians have placed some of the issues that this study looks at on the margins. A glaring example is Manchu-Chinese relations. In China, Japan, and as well as the US, only a small number of researchers have carried out research on it. As a result of limited scholarly effort, many aspects of this important issue remain unclear. Therefore I make an effort to present some of the materials I have collected in the hoping of clarifying the questions.

Second, sociological theories on China and Japan in general lack detailed and reliable information on the issues studied: Many statements about China and Japan seem to be either inaccurate or cursory. An example is the notion that Japan had become a modern capitalist society prior to the Meiji Restoration. Another example is the idea that Qing China was far behind Tokugawa Japan in terms of level of economic development (Chapter II). These views of China and Japan are on shaky ground from the perspective of historians of China and Japan. Thus in this study I endeavor to reliable evidence, including archives, primary sources, ancient books, and secondary Chinese, English, and Japanese studies.