Mining Politics: the Logic and Dilemma of State Governance in the Qing Dynasty

About This Novel

The maintenance of a country depends on the extraction of resources. The methods of resource extraction correspond to different national governance models. Traditional China had a vast territory with various regional differences. Constrained by the backward transportation, rudimentary technical means and information capabilities at that time, how did the rulers draw resources across the country? This book starts with a number of variables that affect the country's resource extraction model, such as importance, scarcity, transaction costs, social effects, the country's bargaining power and multi-subjectivity. Combined with the characteristics of mining costs increasing over time, it discusses the Qing Dynasty's mineral resource extraction situation through rich and detailed historical materials. While revealing the Qing Dynasty's mining policy model and its inherent flaws, it also discusses several important principles and aspects of national governance at that time. Based on the above empirical facts, this book further connects the Ming and Qing dynasties' acquisition patterns of important materials such as salt, silk, porcelain, and horses. Combined with the general background of national transformation from the 15th to the 18th century, this book reveals the logic and dilemma of national governance in the Qing Dynasty by elucidating concepts such as "central comprehensive decision-making mechanism," "suspicious decision-making," "administrative information creation," and "case-based principles."

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