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Article: Classicism and Modern Growth: The Shadow of the Sages
Title | Classicism and Modern Growth: The Shadow of the Sages |
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Authors | |
Issue Date | 5-Apr-2024 |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Citation | The Journal of Economic History, 2024 How to Cite? |
Abstract | This paper examines how the worship of ancient wisdom affects economic progress in historical China, where the learned class embraced classical wisdom for millennia but encountered the shock of Western industrial influence in the mid-nineteenth century. Using the number of sage temples to measure the strength of classical worship in 269 prefectures, I find that classical worship discouraged intellectuals from appreciating modern learning and thus inhibited industrialization between 1858 and 1927. By contrast, industrialization grew faster in regions less constrained by classicism. This finding implies the importance of cultural entrepreneurship, or the lack thereof, in shaping modern economic growth. “The humor of blaming the present, and admiring the past, is strongly rooted in human nature, and has an influence even on persons endued with the profoundest judgment and most extensive learning.” —David Hume (1754, p. 464). |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/342148 |
ISSN | 2023 Impact Factor: 2.5 2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.980 |
DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Ma, Chicheng | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-04-09T07:30:05Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2024-04-09T07:30:05Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2024-04-05 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | The Journal of Economic History, 2024 | - |
dc.identifier.issn | 0022-0507 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/342148 | - |
dc.description.abstract | <p>This paper examines how the worship of ancient wisdom affects economic progress in historical China, where the learned class embraced classical wisdom for millennia but encountered the shock of Western industrial influence in the mid-nineteenth century. Using the number of sage temples to measure the strength of classical worship in 269 prefectures, I find that classical worship discouraged intellectuals from appreciating modern learning and thus inhibited industrialization between 1858 and 1927. By contrast, industrialization grew faster in regions less constrained by classicism. This finding implies the importance of cultural entrepreneurship, or the lack thereof, in shaping modern economic growth.</p><p>“The humor of blaming the present, and admiring the past, is strongly rooted in human nature, and has an influence even on persons endued with the profoundest judgment and most extensive learning.”</p><p>—David Hume (1754, p. 464).</p> | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.publisher | Cambridge University Press | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | The Journal of Economic History | - |
dc.title | Classicism and Modern Growth: The Shadow of the Sages | - |
dc.type | Article | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1017/S0022050724000111 | - |
dc.identifier.eissn | 1471-6372 | - |
dc.identifier.issnl | 0022-0507 | - |