The Rise and Fall of Imperial China

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 talks 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 shows 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. Yuhua Wang explains how the ruler’s pursuit of power by fragmenting the elites became the final culprit for China’s fall.

Discussant: Richard Hu, UM Development Foundation Distinguished Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Macau

Live on Zoom on October 27, 2022
9:00 Hong Kong/Beijing/Singapore
10:00 Tokyo | 12:00 Sydney
Previous Day 18:00 Los Angeles | 21:00 New York