The Written Word and the Development of the State in China and Europe

• In Event: Historical Political Economy of China

Brief Overview

Shows how religious competition, induced by the proliferation of Buddhism, led to further state development in 7-12th century CE China, thus underpinning a political great divergence between Western Europe and East Asia.

Authors

• Cheng Cheng, New York University

• David Stasavage, New York University

• Yuhua Wang, Harvard University