Ping Chen:Needham’s Question and China’s Evolution

Abstract：Joseph Needham''s question Why did capitalism emerge in the West and not in China is discussed along with the sources to form a centralized state and the mechanism for perpetuating the Chinese bureaucracy. The relationship between the stability and complexity of socio -ecological systems is also analyzed. The potential application of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics to social evolution in China is introduced. A brief survey of historical and contemporary issues relating to the transition of agricultural structure in China and the recent crisis in economic and political reform is given.

u2010050515.pdf