Chapter from the book: Tanimoto M. & Wong R. 2019. Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy: Comparative Perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe.
This chapter, by Takehiko To, focuses on the rulers’ initiative in water-control policy during a period of the thriving Qing dynasty in the eighteenth-century China, highlighting the strong leadership of the emperor and the intelligent setting of agendas by the governor general and governor. The author uses flood control and irrigation policy in the Jifu region near Beijing, the capital of Qing China, as an example of good governance and the concept of a “shapeless treasury,” in which the development of arable land has the same effect as a state treasury or state granaries in coping with famine and poverty.
To, T. 2019. Infrastructure Maintenance in the Jifu Region, Beijing Metropolitan Region during the Eighteenth Century. In: Tanimoto M. & Wong R (eds.), Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy. California: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.63.k
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Published on Jan. 15, 2019