2. The Song Dynasty in China, circa 1200 AD: 25% to 30% of global output
2. 中國宋朝,公元1200年前后:占全球經濟產出總量的25%-30%
Agriculture came later to China than it did in the modern-day Middle East. But by the time Chinese civilization made good use of the benefits of agricultural society, around 1200 AD, they had created one of the most magnificent civilizations the world had ever seen. Some scholars, like Ronald A. Edwards, an economic historian of China’s Song Dynasty at Tamkang University, argues that it was China, not England, that experienced the world’s first industrial revolution. He draws on research conducted by Japanese and Chinese scholars that shows that China experienced per capita economic growth at the same time that its population grew, something Europe wouldn’t achieve for hundreds of years.
中國開始發展農業的時間要晚于現在的中東地區。但是到了公元1200年前后,當中華文明充分發揮出農業社會的種種優勢時,他們已然創造出了史上最為輝煌的文明之一。有些學者,比如在臺灣淡江大學研究中國宋代史的經濟史學家羅納德•愛德華茲認為,世界上最早經歷第一次工業革命的國家應該是中國,而不是英國。他的依據是中日兩國學者進行的研究,這些研究表明,當時中國在人口增長的同時,也經歷了人均經濟產出的增長,而歐洲在幾百年之后都沒有做到這一點。