A Re-study of the “Daoguang Depression”

The Harvard-Yenching Institute presents a talk by Ni Yuping on the Daoguang Depression.

Co-sponsored by Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies 

A talk by Prof. Ni Yuping (History, Beijing Normal University; HYI Visiting Scholar 2011-12)

Since the late 20th century, especially with China's rapid economic rise through reform and opening-up in the 21st century, studies on Chinese economic history and China's position in the world economy have attracted increasing attention. The Jiaqing and Daoguang period (1796-1850) of the Qing Dynasty has always been considered the most important turning point in Chinese economic history. The Daoguang Depression theory believes that the amount of customs duties continued to decline at that time, due at first to food trade being pre-blocked, and then due to a market slump. However, by aggregating the national customs revenue, Professor Ni argues that during the Jiaqing and Daoguang period, the amount of customs duties still maintained a level of more than 500 million taels. In short, the amount of customs duties is not able to support the conception of the Daoguang Depression.