Recently, the academic paper Sino-Western Comparison of Family inheritance System from the 14th century to the 19th centuryco-authored by Professor Chen Yueyuan, Professor Long Denggao, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, and Assistant Professor Zhao Liang, School of Economics, Guangdong Ocean University, was published in the first issue of Chinese Social Sciences, 2024.Based on the comparison between the property rights system and the basic economic entity system, this paper compares the commonness, difference and economic logic of the family property inheritance system in China and the West from the 14th to the 19th century, so as to form a systematic understanding framework of the inheritance system and long-term economic evolution.

The difference between the system of equal division of sons in Ming and Qing China and the system of primogeniture in Western Europe stems from the different characteristics of land property rights and economic subjects in China and the West.The multi-level land property rights and diversified transaction forms in Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the independent individual family farms with strong vitality, became the system guarantee for the operation and long-term continuation of the separation of family and production. In Western Europe, the identity and integrity of manor property rights make property inheritance and identity inheritance inseparable, and the management mode and self-contained production and life order of farming-animal husbandry manor strengthen its integrity, and primogeniture inheritance becomes a logical and adaptive institutional choice.

The difference of succession system between China and the West profoundly affects the paths of economic evolution and institutional change. In Western Europe, the "younger sons" shunted out of the primogeniture region make a living and developed outside the original system and field, and the new heterogeneous factors gradually grow, and then continuously impact the original essential factors, and finally form the power to challenge and change the old system.The modern revolution in Western Europe is not brought about by primogeniture itself, on the contrary, after the revolutionary change of modern property rights system is completed, primogeniture come to an end, and identity and franchise rights are gradually expanded to universal rights, and modern inheritance system with equal children replace it.Accordingly, the system of equal distribution of sons and individual family farms in Ming and Qing China strengthen each other with low threshold, which is reproducible, easy to recover and make the traditional economy dynamic and resilient, and remain in a stable state for a long time, and the change factors impacting the traditional system failto grow.Starting from the economic logic of the family property inheritance system, this paper systematically explains the interaction between the inheritance system and economic evolution, eliminating all kinds of prejudices and misunderstandings, and providing a new perspective and theoretical explanation for understanding the basic characteristics of the Chinese and Western economies and the "great divergence".

Long Denggao, Zhao Liang, Chen Yueyuan, Sino-Western Comparison of Family inheritance System from the 14th century to the 19th century, Chinese Social Sciences, No. 1, 2024; The article links: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yooYjPLfpifK8LGG9qnAEw

About the Authors:

Long Denggao, professor of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, special Professor of "Changjiang Scholar" of the Ministry of Education, winner of the 18th Sun Yefang Economic Science Award. He has published many papers in authoritative journals such as Chinese Social Sciences, Economic Research, Management World and Historical Research.

Zhao Liang, assistant professor at Guangdong Ocean University. His research interests include Land System, Comparison between China and the West, and International Financial History. He has published several papers in authoritative journals such as Research in Chinese Economic History and European Review of Economic History.

Chen Yueyuan, lecturer at BNUBS. Her research interest is Economic History, focusing on civil society organizations, land system and property rights theory since Ming and Qing Dynasties. She has been awarded the National Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation and Outstanding Doctoral Graduates and Graduate Students of Tsinghua University. She has published many papers in authoritative and professional journals such as Economics (quarterly journal), Society, and Research on Chinese Economic History, and 2 papers have been reprinted by Renmin University Photocopying Newspaper Materials · Economic History.

Provided by Scientific Research Office

Edited by Sun Yue

Reviewed by Cai Hongbo