Fernand Braudel and China

This Master Dissertation is basically a research on Fernand Braudel’s historiography aiming to critically discuss is theory on the history of Chinese failure to develop towards Capitalism in the modern period. Although revisiting several Braudel’s titles, the core of the research deals with the most influential book published by the famous 20th century French historian: Civilization and Capitalism, three volumes that can be also summarized as a history of Modern Capitalism. The dissertation researches these three volumes as sources for understanding an ongoing historiography analysis widely shared stressing the lack of capitalism dynamics in the modern and early contemporary history of China, from 15th to early 19th centuries.
After the reconstruction of Braudel main arguments regarding China position in the modern history of the world, it seems clear that the French historian tried to
build up a theory criticizing the limitations of Max Weber classic studies on Chinese religion, adapting his famous connections between Protestantism and Capitalism to
emphasize the leading role of Confucianism in the reproduction of a Chinese patriarchal and despotic imperial system. The Braudelian analysis on China was grounded in countless subjects and debates, as well as within an original framework merging his ‘longue durée’ seminal theory with his key concept of ‘world-economy’.
Through these concepts, Fernand Braudel explains the main Chinese capitalist dysfunction: the absence of an economic leading position in the world trade and economy from 15th to early 19th centuries.
This dissertation was not organized through primary research, but follows up a process of gathering, selecting and summarizing available written and web resources, then cored in the main project goal of understanding the modern history of China within Braudel’s Civilization and Capitalism theory.