Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2015

 

Climate Change, Low Agricultural Yields, and Physiocratic Theory: The Case of Chao Cuo in the Han Dynasty

(Abstract)

 

Yue Xiangyu

 

It is no accident that Chinese physiocratic theories were more plentiful in cold (or cooling) periods than in warm periods. Our case study of the early Han dynasty shows that the lower yields resulting from a cooling climate caused a (partial) production crisis. This economic shock led to demands for change from society, which stimulated physiocratic thinkers represented by Chao Cuo to reform outmoded theories and policies to meet the new challenges. In the long term, the physiocratic movement’s historical development was catalyzed by a theoretical mechanism involving “climate cooling—reduced grain yields (disastrous for the peasants)—physiocratic theories (policy critiques).”