"I have studied three questions. Why did the Chinese Empire stay together when the Roman Empire, and every other empire of antiquity or the middle ages, ultimately collapsed? What were the causes of the medieval revolution which made the Chinese economy after about 1100 the most advanced in the world? And why did China after about 1350 fail to maintain her earlier pace of technological advance while still, in many respects, advancing economically?" -- from the Preface.

The Pattern of the Chinese Past

Elvin, Mark

Eyre Methuen Limited

1973

2007.066.508