The Socioeconomic Image of China in the Early Modern Age and the Debate on the Decline of Castile
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4296736 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Luis Perdices De Blas (0000-0001-6890-1129, Department of Applied and Structural Economics and History, Faculty of Economics and Business, Complutense University of Madrid, Campus of Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), Spain ([email protected]), corresponding author), José Luis Ramos Gorostiza (0000-0002-1187-1464, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, corresponding author), José Luis Ramos-Gorostiza (Department of Applied and Structural Economics and History, Faculty of Economics and Business, Complutense University of Madrid, Campus of Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), Spain ([email protected])) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 843-872 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2702 • E-ISSN: 1527-1919 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00182702-11330085 |
| OpenAlex | W4399075412 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
This article analyzes the socioeconomic image of China developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by Spanish travelers and historians, differentiating between the idealized "Iberian view" and the more nuanced and critical Jesuit perspective. What were thought to be the main reasons behind China's wealth that impressed Europeans so much is relevant for a better understanding of the seventeenth-century debate on the causes of the decline of Castile, the heart of the Spanish Empire. On the one hand, the contrast between the increasingly battered Hispanic monarchy and the image of prosperity-more or less nuanced-conveyed by both visions of China made clearer the situation of socioeconomic decline of the Spanish Empire. In fact, from both visions could be implicitly derived diverse criticisms of the Spain of the last Habsburgs. On the other hand, it is paradoxical and surprising that the protagonists of the debate on the Castilian decline, the arbitristas, were not aware of the writings on China of their contemporaries, which reduced the potential of their analysis
Ancient history · Art · China · Development economics · Economic history · Economics · Empire · Monarchy · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Population · Prosperity · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Vision · Anthropology · Chinese history and philosophy · Demography · Early Modern Women Writers · History · Law · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Highly cited | No |
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