Why Did European Art Diverge in the 19th Century

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The "Great Divergence" Redefined: the Ascent and Autumn of the West and the Recovery of Red china

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2014, Vol. six No. 09 | pg. one/3 | »

Up until the nineteen^th century, Communist china held a position as a smashing world power. Notwithstanding, for the last ii hundred years the W has dominated the world technologically, economically, and politically. The point at which the West began its relative dominance over all other globe civilizations is known equally "the Bang-up Deviation." Currently, a steady modify has been developing in Prc. Not only has China caught up to the West only also Cathay's economy is continuing to accelerate at a rapid rate and may fifty-fifty surpass the West in the near hereafter. One of the master reasons for the "Great Divergence" was an underlying "Cultural Divergence," which began as far back equally the "Centric Age" (c. 800-200 BCE). This "Cultural Divergence" was due to the commencement of the western philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in contrast to those of Confucius in Prc. Understanding this "Cultural Departure" is relevant today because it helps explain China'due south lag compared to the W, its recent ascension in economic ability, and the affect of this cultural perspective in economic development.

The West (Western Europe and by extension the United states of america) has led the globe in technological, economical, political and social advancement over the by two hundred years, eclipsing all other world civilizations. The origins of this authority is often referred to as the "Great Divergence," a phrase coined by the late American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington.ⁱ Yet, prior to 1800 Cathay was the world leader in technology, commerce, and political power. China is currently catching up to the W and, according to some predictions, may presently regain its role as the ascendant earth influence. Avoiding a Eurocentric² historical business relationship, three questions need to be addressed: get-go, how do we account for the rapid economical evolution of 19th century Western Europe in comparison to Red china? 2d, why did China brainstorm to lag backside the West during the by 2 centuries? Finally, how do nosotros explicate the contempo return of China to global prominence?

China from old to new.

Established scholars such equally Jared Diamond and Robert Marks have produced compelling non-Eurocentric accounts of the "Nifty Divergence." However, these models can be overly reductive and incomplete. Both authors provide explanations that stem ultimately from geographical blow. Research suggests that what is overlooked in these corrective models is the historical bear on of human culture. As such, information technology seems more appropriate to redefine the "Bully Departure" every bit a "Cultural Divergence" that can be linked to the contrasting ideologies of the West and those of Cathay. Further, the roots of this divergence may lie not in the 19^thursday century, but actually run equally far back equally the "Axial Age" (c. 800-200 BCE) and the founding of Confucianism. In the end, it is clear that Confucianism must exist a fundamental component in the explanation of not only the "Bang-up Divergence," but also China'southward recent rapid return to globe eminence.

Jared Diamond, in Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), argues that the reason for the "Keen Departure" is that "History followed different courses for different peoples considering of differences among peoples' environments, non because of biological differences among peoples themselves"'⁵Additionally, Diamond sees the causes for the "Great Difference" every bit primarily environmental (even just accidents of geography), mediated past agriculture, population size, social organization, and engineering. Essentially, Jared Diamond believes that "surroundings molds history."ⁱⁱⁱ According to Jared Diamond, this is the ultimate cause of the rise and authorisation of Europe. Diamond describes that there were both ultimate and proximate factors that explain "the broadest patterns of history."⁴

The key difference between the Westward and China is that European society has always been focused on the "individual," whereas the Chinese take e'er centered their focus on "relationships," the interaction betwixt people, or "guanxi 關係." The Chinese take been fundamentally a "human relationship-based" order that places emphasis on taking intendance of the community as a whole.

Diamond explains this unequal distribution of power betwixt Eurasia and the Americas (the ultimate factors) are the natural conditions that led to the rising of nutrient production. Those geographical areas of the world that allowed agronomical based societies to be established early on quickly gained a permanent advantage in history.

As a result, these ultimate factors led to, in the hereafter, regional variations in technology, social organisation, and heath. These ultimate factors were followed by proximate causes, which explicate why different environments move at different rates in the acquisition of agronomics, and explaining how the resulting differences largely determined the fate of different peoples.⁵ One of his examples for proximate causes include Francisco Pizarro'south conquest over the Incan empire in 1532, by means of superior steel weapons and armor, horses and cavalry, centralized political organization and a written form of communication. Well-nigh importantly new diseases (smallpox and other epidemics) the Castilian brought with them to the Americas.

Ecology historian of Prc, Robert B. Marks, in The Origins of the Modern Globe (2007), addresses this "Smashing Divergence" providing his own non-Eurocentric explanation. Rather Marks gives a polycentric ane, characterizing the modern consequence as anticipation between two forces that emerged after 1400: nation-states and global capitalism. He argues that the outcome (the Due west came to dominate after the middle-1800s) resulted from historical conjunctures, contingencies, and accidents. Therefore, it was in this way that by 1900, the foundation for the existing system of nation-states, global capitalism, and the growing gap between rich and poor areas had developed.^half-dozen

Marks argues that Western dominance did not result from inherent superiority of European culture, values, and institutions, simply from the conjuncture of European marginality in the world economy and diseases that killed New World natives. Marks argues that during the 1800s, industrial development growing out of a conjunctures of European nation-land expansion, mercantilist policies, and the convenient placement of coal, provided the implements necessary for establishing powerful empires. Marks gives the example of another such conjuncture by stating that Europeans came to eclipse the two formal world economies of China and India because they possessed iron-hulled, steam-powered gunboats and guns, along with the adequacy to produce cotton appurtenances using machinery. He claims that as other European states followed England's lead and industrialized, in a sense, Red china and India "de-industrialized."⁷

The rise of the W, argues Marks, was contingent upon events exterior of Europe. The narrative for the "rise of the Due west" is merely a story of "how some states and peoples benefitted from historically contingent events and geography to be able, at a certain point in time (a historical conjuncture), to boss others and to accumulate wealth and power," Marks explains, "There is no more mystery in it than that . . . those who have benefited should exist humbled by the actual sources of their good fortune, and those who have not should take heart that in the future new contingencies may well favor them."⁸

The Great Divergence
Nautical chart by The Economist showing changing income levels between Western and Asian societies since 1300

An example of a contingent factor he gives is the fact that Columbus stumbled upon America where large amounts of American silverish happened to exist and was made available to Europe at the same fourth dimension as Mainland china happened to "remonetize its economy using argent"⁹ and thus depended on silver-based monetary system. Another contingent cistron Marks provides is that Europeans created a labor force by enslaving peoples in Africa using them to mine silver in the New World and then using the aforementioned labor system on the plantations.^ten

Robert B. Marks too claims that accidents outside of human agency played a major role in the reason for the rise of the West. An example he uses is climate; however, his principal instance is the location of coal. He explains that, unlike Groovy Britain, the China did not have coal supplies in close proximity to those who might employ coal. –"The story of coal and its relationship to industrialization."¹¹ Although Marks does argue that conjuncture, contingency, and accident go out open the possibility for human agency.

Economist David South. Landes, of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1999), unabashedly prefers to revive the conventional Western interpretation to other explanations by taking a Eurocentric position supporting the "European Miracle."¹² Landes explores a variety of reasons for the W's successes. One reason Landes emphasizes is climate status. He explains that tropical countries were at a disadvantage to others, such as those in Western Europe, considering they experienced oppressive heat. Additionally, the reason why Western Europe was able to create a "mod world" of rapid economic growth and perpetual technological advancement was due to a variety of attributes it possessed that other less developed world civilizations lacked. For instance, he explains that Western markets were much freer and had political systems that were more than tolerant and had limits to authorities power.

The W was much more concerned with private freedom, with civil liberties, and for the respect of women'southward rights. However, he argues that the nearly important attribute of all was culture. "If nosotros learn anything from the history of economical development," Landes says, "it is that culture makes all the difference."¹³ In terms of Western civilization, Landes is an ardent believer in the "Protestant piece of work ethic" as the driving force behind the ascension of capitalism. Equally such, this combination of attributes possessed by Western Europe resulted in a greater respect for property rights (security of private property), a more than open up-minded view toward exploration, innovation and invention, scientific and technological advances, and a greater willingness to accept the notion that social self-worth was based on its commercial success.

Although Landes' reasons are backed by a significant amount of evidence, other scholars have been quite disquisitional of the arguments in his volume: "The intellectual weakness of the approach taken, its lack of theoretical basis, the all-embracing opportunism of its Eurocentric infatuation, the special 'easiness' of its empirical version of prejudiced economic history, brand this book a blunder of ballsy proportions, supportive of European arrogance, dismissive of the peoples yet left without history."^xiv Connected on Next Folio »

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