As early as the 1960s, Steiner put forward the "grassroots market theory".
Unlike Weber, who understood the Oriental city as a centralized system divided into different levels for the purpose of local administration, Stevener argues that China's urban and rural areas have formed different levels of unofficial political relations based on economic functions such as sales and trading, thus breaking through the Eurocentric view and applying the Sinocentric view.
The scope of farmers' activities extends beyond the natural villages, forming a grassroots market network that can meet basic trading needs. They are very closely linked to the grassroots market, as the starting point for the flow of agricultural and handicraft products to a higher market system, and as the end point for the downward flow of peasant consumer products along the market hierarchy.
In the market, farmers are rational economic beings, and they will follow the laws of the market and strive to achieve their own maximum interests. From the perspective of administrative divisions, the grassroots market community centered on the grassroots market usually belongs to economic units below the county level.
Stein further expanded his theory of the grassroots market to include that all counties have at least one market, and that this market is a central place according to its position in the market system.
Of the heartlands of the same level, only a few have become administrative units, and most are non-administrative units. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the growth of population and the commercialization of agriculture, the number of regions gradually increased, and the urban system continued to expand, forming the division of eight regions in the country.
After the formation of the Steiner model, the scope of the analysis of modern China gradually shifted"Political Frontiers"Transfer to"Economic Territory"。For example, scholars such as Wang Guobin, Li Zhongqing, Smith, Hill, and Ma Libo have been influenced by the Steiner model when they study the market or regions of modern China.
Wang Guobin divided the grain circulation channels of the Qing Dynasty into the commercial domain, the state domain, and the custom domain, and although these three areas were different, they were all related to each other.
The commercial sector includes local food markets to meet local food needs and food markets formed by the export of grain to food-deficit areas; The national sphere is the channel of food circulation formed through the purchase, taxation and donation of grain; The customary realm refers to the food circulation channels formed by the local wealth** or lending grain to the poor.
The food riots in Qing Dynasty China mainly occurred in the third area, that is, those who did not produce their own grain believed that the rich would transport grain out or hoard grain and refused**, so that the riots occurred; ** Intervene in the grain market and quell food riots by opening warehouses and persuading the wealthy.
After the 1830s, the ability to regulate grain declined, and due to the diversity of demand and the instability of the grain market, food riots became a common social conflict in the Qing Dynasty.
Li Zhongqing's research shows that between 1250 and 1850, the transformation of southwest China made it one of the eight major regions of China. This shift is not driven by an increase in agricultural productivity, but by the expansion of industrialization and urbanization, with the demand for labour (non-farm migrants) leading to an increase in the proportion of the region's non-farm population, while the core regions are largely dependent on external imports for food**.
Smith believes that after the Tang and Song Revolutions, Sichuan began to dominate the manufacturing industry in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and this rise was due to the improvement of the level of agricultural development and the expansion of Sichuan and the eastern and southern regions.
Hill researched Xishuangbanna and discovered the long distance of tea between the Yunnan-Guizhou region and the Southeast Asian highlands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Han Chinese merchants in Yunnan managed to monopolize the region's tea long distance** through cooperation with local Dai political authorities and knowledge of the markets in the central cities of Yunnan and Guizhou, which borders Xishuangbanna.
In the 18th century, Ma Libo's research points out that the rice market in China's Liangguang region was highly integrated and able to meet the food needs of urban dwellers and farmers who were not engaged in food crop production, which made the region very similar to the Lingnan region proposed by Steiner.
Although the market size was huge, and perhaps even more integrated than the later grain markets in Europe and the United States, the two vast rice markets in the Qing Dynasty were not perfect, and endemic food shortages still occurred from time to time.
Ma Libo and Chen Chunsheng further studied the phenomenon that the price of rice in Guangdong in the 18th century was lower than the population growth rate.
In the early days of Guangdong, due to the advancement of urbanization and agricultural commercialization, the problem of food shortage became increasingly apparent. However, the area of cultivated land and agricultural productivity have not been effectively improved, coupled with the failure of the grain harvest caused by the dual currency system of silver and copper and climate fluctuations, it is difficult to find a reasonable explanation for the fluctuation of grain **.
What is even more unfavorable is that the state's intervention in the grain market through the granary has led to a sharp increase in rice prices. In the 1760s, silver storage began to replace grain storage, and more attention was paid to the regulation of the market.
This change has eased the trend of rice prices, and it also proves that during the Qianlong period, an integrated rice market had been formed in the Lingnan region. During this time, the Steiner model was challenged and tested.
For example, Shao Randi's research found that the rural economy in the hilly areas of western Jiangsu was almost static during the ** period. In general, the problem of food shortage in Guangdong in the early days needs to be solved through market regulation and a reasonable monetary system, not just relying on the intervention of the first country.
At the same time, the economic research of this period also provides us with a certain reference significance.
Due to the rugged terrain and inconvenient transportation in the area, coupled with the low income level of the people, the modernization of the surrounding cities and the inter-city ** have not had a significant impact on the region.
Until 1925, there were no standard towns in this area, which is contrary to Steiner's description of the modernization of the ** period. In addition to the innovation of Weber's urban view in the Steiner model, the anti-Vietnam War ideology also prompted American scholars to rethink the "Eurocentric view" and turn to the "Sinocentric view".
Ke Wen once summarized the "Sinocentric view", arguing that the traditional Western view of China as stagnant is "narrow" and distorts history, while the "Sinocentric view" shifts the starting point of research from the West to China.
In studying China's history and development, we take a pluralistic perspective, which includes both in-depth studies of different regions, provinces, cities, and counties, as well as different strata within society.
This approach focuses more on the autonomy of Chinese history and the dynamic continuity between "tradition" and "modernity". Many scholars, such as Luo Youzhi, Zeng Xiaoping, Shi Lan, Wright, Reed, and Jiang Daochang, have emphasized the need to relate to the reality of modern China and let China's history speak for itself when they study the reasons for the slow development of industry, commerce, and transportation.
Luo Youzhi pointed out that we should not think that the development of modern China's industry is sluggish just because of technological stagnation, and we must first note that China's short-staple cotton itself is not as suitable for mechanized weaving as British long-staple cotton.
This approach to research is more comprehensive and in-depth, allowing us to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of Chinese history.
In traditional Chinese handicrafts, we find some signs of technological innovation, which contradicts the theory of technological stagnation of Yimaoke. Shi Lan also argues that previous studies have too simply attributed the backwardness of transportation and communication technology to the incompetence and indifference of the Qing Dynasty, and that in fact, the cost of transportation in Qing China was lower than that of Britain and Europe in the same period, which made it unnecessary and unmotivated to improve transportation conditions.
Wright observed that during the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty and the Nanjing National Period, the company was committed to promoting the development of private industry, which stabilized the profit expectations of mining enterprises to a certain extent and reduced operational risks.
It is not the lack of entrepreneurship that restricts the development of China's modern industry, but the failure to provide the necessary stability for private enterprises.
Wright pointed out that from 1896 to 1936, capital investment in China's coal industry was limited by insufficient market demand, not insufficient capital formation. This view is supported by Zeng Xiaoping's study of the Furong Salt Works in Zigong, Sichuan, modern China, arguing that insufficient capital accumulation and imperfect credit markets have not constrained the spirit of Chinese entrepreneurs.
On the contrary, driven by high profits, expanding markets and major technological innovations have led local investors to separate land ownership and property management rights through the establishment of contracts.
Through the establishment of joint-stock enterprises, the business risk was reduced, and capital entered the salt industry, making the Furong Salt Farm one of the major industrial centers in modern China. Reid also recognized the creativity of Chinese entrepreneurs, and he believed that in the early development of Shanghai's printing industry, the "foreman capitalists" used the technology to transfer and develop the local printing industry, and trained the first people through the traditional apprenticeship system.
The reason why the Chinese printers in Shanghai were unable to expand and develop further was because of the war, not because of technical or commercial competition. Jiang Daochang pointed out that the low production efficiency of salt is not all due to corruption and incompetence, and it should also be seen that the salt industry has always been regarded as a tax tool, rather than an economic enterprise.
In addition, the use of salt as a necessity rather than a raw material for manufacturing has left salt merchants with little incentive to improve salt production and increase sales efficiency, thus failing to modernize salt **.
Mei Ailian's and Elanson's research on the ** banking industry breaks the binary thinking of tradition and modernity, emphasizing that tradition and modernity do not need to be opposed, and tradition should not be seen as an obstacle to modernity.
Mei found that bank leaders at the time of the first generation not only used modern means such as training, financial incentives and performance appraisal systems to foster employee loyalty.
Rather than seeing traditional Chinese Confucianism as an obstacle to development, they translated their values into a unified idea of family welfare and bank profits, with social welfare rather than profit as the main driver of development.
Contrary to the traditional view, Erlanson pointed out that Chinese banks such as Juxingcheng used new financial technologies (such as bills and discounts) to promote the growth of the real economy during the period.
In addition, Gadra argues that although the traditional Chinese bookkeeping method is slightly less systematic than the double-entry bookkeeping method in the West, it may not be suitable for the needs of modern capitalist enterprises, but within the framework of the pre-industrial commercially developed Chinese society, this form of bookkeeping is sufficient to meet the needs of business activities, effectively recording and dealing with a series of highly personalized business enterprise management and household financial issues.
The actions of Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia and Taiwan prove that this traditional technique is not obsolete. This challenges Sombart's view that values and technology in the emergence of modern capitalism are historical norms, but a special cultural phenomenon.
Although some scholars such as Wu Ruoxian, Pang Baiteng and Li Zhigang insist on a "Eurocentric view", they believe that the main reason for China's failure to achieve similar development as Western industrial capitalism is not the invasion of the West, but the inability of the Qing Dynasty itself to provide investment protection for new industrial enterprises.
By comparing the silk reeling industries in Shanghai and Guangzhou in modern China, Wu Ruoxian found that the Guangdong silk reeling industry, which was more localized and manufactured locally, was successful in its early days.
After the introduction of foreign equipment and technical personnel, the development progress of Shanghai's silk reeling factory is slow. This is not due to the unique advantages of Chinese or foreign capital, but because Western capital is unable to penetrate China's economy and rarely directly involves the silk reeling industry.
Neo-Marxists are oversimplistic in their view that Western capital is only exploitative and oppressive, but in fact, Sino-foreign relations should be described as symbiotic confrontation, and China's silk reeling industry has benefited from the West to a certain extent, but it is also plagued by unequal relations.
The development of the silk reeling industry is limited by internal structural problems, including capital shortages, the negative impact of ** and unequal industrial relations.