興衰：菁英網絡演變與帝制中國

Princeton Studies in Contemporary China

by Yuhua Wang, 王裕華, 林資香 (Translator)

貴族、門閥、士族，如何讓王朝從富國強兵、太平盛世到苟延殘喘？

　　中國歷史上的統治者都面臨到這樣的兩難取捨：團結的菁英階層既能強化國家，也能群起反抗讓皇帝下台。
　　․為何國家衰弱而王朝存續更久？
　　․哪個朝代的君王承受菁英政變的風險最大？
　　․統治者藉由分化菁英來掌控權力，如何導致朝代衰亡？
　　․統治者與菁英之間，能達到均衡狀態嗎？
　　․菁英為何會從一個共容性利益集團轉變為狹隘性利益集團？

　　成也菁英？敗也菁英？

　　哈佛大學政府系王裕華教授以長時段的歷史為基礎，透過社會科學研究與統計方法，解釋了中國古代國家的興衰──菁英利益的轉變與其建構的社會網絡，最終影響了國力以及政權穩定性：

　　隋唐時期，「星形網絡」的菁英，他們熱衷於以各種方式來增強國力，因為他們的私人利益與國家利益是一致的：

　　這階段的統治者以犧牲個人權力為代價，透過菁英的力量來幫助國家擁有強大國力。

　　宋朝之後，「領結形網絡」的菁英深耕地方，汲汲於影響中央政策，試圖由此來讓自己的家族親屬蒙受其益：

　　皇帝以制度性變革（科舉考試）來重塑菁英階層，彼此成為一種夥伴關係。統治者以極度內縮的國家為代價，利用分裂、地方化菁英建立起絕對的君主政體。

　　清朝時期，因科舉考試廢除，「環形網絡」的菁英與國家之間的連結被切斷，國家的外患與內亂，讓地方菁英擁有了極高的自主性與權力：

　　鴉片戰爭後西方國家入侵，統治者失去了保護人民的能力。太平天國之亂時，中央政府無法控制私有民兵的存在；當仕紳菁英滲透的地方軍隊宣告獨立，清王朝的統治注定邁向落幕。

　　兩千多年來，中國始終是領先全世界的超級強權，只在最近兩個世紀落後。為此，值得我們探究：是什麼因素導致帝制中國的衰亡？為什麼中國的歷史教訓能幫助人們深入了解國家建設的課題？

　　作者為中國國家發展的三個階段做出敘事分析，聚焦於統治者、中央菁英以及社會團體之間的互動，如何為國家與社會帶來不同的權衡結果，並延伸討論了中國的國家發展路徑與歐洲的不同之處。

　　本書結合了歷史數據與社會科學研究，對國家發展模式提出全新的理論框架：菁英的三個轉型階段與國家興衰的關聯，凸顯出菁英的社會關係對國家發展軌跡的深遠影響與作用，由這個角度回應並充實現有的國家制度理論。

Genres: China, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, Theory, Science

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2022

Reviews

[Joe Rousmaniere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots and lots and lots of statistical analysis.

[Zulu Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. This book genuinely changed the way I think about Chinese history and state society relations in general. It’s been a while since I’ve been exposed to such a cascade of new ideas. Although this is, for sure, a very academic book which is definitely speaking to an academic audience at times, Wang still does a great job of not assuming any prior knowledge and of speaking plainly to a general audience. While there are some portions on the nitty gritty of his research methodology which I skimmed through, I learned a lot about some periods of Chinese history I was less familiar with, and, more to the point, I was really moved by Wang’s main arguments.

Stepping back and using the lens of “elite social terrain”, as it turns out, yields some pretty interesting insights regarding trends and transformations over the past 1400 years or so of Chinese history. I won’t recite them here, but suffice it to say, Wang does a great job of taking some pretty academic arguments and expressing them in a compelling way. Highly recommended.

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerfully theorized decentering of the European intellectual tradition about the course of state building that tells a vast story about the social structure of Chinese elites determined the nature of state power and authority

Sovereign dilemma — things that increase your power decrease your survivability.

Elite terrain Network structures:
- star-shaped network
- bow-tie network
- ring network

Somewhat underplayed here is how peculiarly Chinese all this is, rooted in a culture of filial piety and exalted nepotism. In Europe the Church did all sorts of things to restraint aristocratic families from producing huge broods which meant lineages died out rapidly; in China, there were no such religious constraints on the ability of rich men to take many wives and concubines so as to endure their lineal descent.

[Lucille Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterfully written work on the history and theory of state development using Chinese imperial history as a starting point. Elite power networks as a basis for state-society relations define the level of state strengthening and weakening. Helps explain much of imperial Chinese history and could be of-use to explain other states as well, in their own historical context.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broad-scale overview of the rise and fall of specific dynasties, with use of kinship data and network analysis. Fluent use of historical literature. Not much I can add in the details, but v. impressive.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.3

[DW Rowlands · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dense, but readable even to a non-expert, academic text on why the Chinese state became weaker and less able to impose taxes and provide services after the Tang dynasty, even as it also became more stable, with several dynasties lasting three centuries and few assassinations and depositions of emperors. Yuhua Wang's thesis is that this change was due to a shift in the social organization of Chinese elite families, due to the extermination of the old aristocracy during the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the civil service exam system becoming more meritocratic during the Song dynasty. This, in turn, resulted in elite families being less interconnected between provinces and more invested in maintaining independence and control over their home territories than in a strong state, which the Tang-era aristocracy had supported because marriage alliances with families from other parts of China made them more invested in the state's overall strength. Instead, from the Song Dynasty on, aided by Neo-Confucian changes that permitted commoners to engage in more ancestor worship, lineage societies became a local-level replacement for the state and the gentry who passed the civil service exams and became bureaucrats used their positions to weaken the state and lower taxes to protect the interests of their lineage associations.