英国历史讲座.docx
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英国历史讲座.docx
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英国历史讲座
1.WHATISTHEQUESTION?
AlanMacfarlane
(PleaserememberthisaroughlecturescriptfortheWangGouweilectures,Beijing2011)
Theanswertolargequestionsdependsonhowthequestionisposed.Thisparticularlyappliestothelargequestionofthenature,originsandfutureofmodernitywhichisthethemeoftheselectures.
Itisrathertempting,withhindsight,tobelievethatsincethegreatevent(thedevelopmentofmodernindustrial,urbanandscientificsocieties)hashappened,itwasboundtohappenandindeed,sincetheyhavenowspreadovermuchoftheplanetperhapsitwasnotsodifficultafterall.
WhenEnglandwastheonlycountryintheworldtohavemadethe‘escape’fromagrarianconstraints,andremainedtheonlyonetobeabletodothisfortwogenerations,everyoneagreedthatitwasamiracleandtheyallwonderedhowithadhappenedandhowitcouldbecopied.Itwasthen‘theEnglish’,orperhapsBritish(becauseofScotland)miracle.
InTocqueville’sdayintheearlynineteenthcenturythequestionseemedquiteobvious.Somethingnewwasatworkintheworld.ForTocqueville,anewworldwasemerging;itwasnotjustbasedonthetechnologyofindustrialproductionneverbeforeseenintheworld,norjustbasedonaself-evidentlynewunderstandingofnaturallawsthroughthegrowthofreliableknowledge(science),butaboveallbyanewsocial,politicalandideologicalstructure,seenmostdramaticallyinAmerica,buttakingthewholeworldinanewdirection.
Itseemedunlikelythatthetwopercentoftheworld’spopulationinthistinycornerwouldconverttheother98%.Butitwassomethingnewandmighthaveanexplosiveconsequence.
Yet,amazingly,manyelementsstartedtospread.FirstlythishappenedonpartsoftheContinentinthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury.YetitstillseemedsounusualthatitwasnowaEuropeanmiracle.EvenwithinEuropeitwasclearlynoteasy,andmuchofMaxWeber’soriginalinspiration,forexample,cameoutofanattempttounderstandwhypartsofGermany,particularlyintheProtestantnorth,weresuccessfullyindustrializing,butnototherparts,particularlyintheCatholicsouth.
Agenerationlaterinthe1860’sattheotherendoftheworldFukuzawaYukichisawthesamething.AllofAsiawasstill‘Ancien’,buttheWest–andthisnowincludedpartsofFrance,GermanyandotherpartsofEurope,werebecoming‘modern’.Intheperiod1870-1910Japanjoinedtheclub,verylargelybyadoptingmanypartsoftherecipewhichhadworkedinEuropeandwasexactlyinthatperiodworkinginNorthAmerica.SooneAsiaticsocietycouldachievethebreak-through.SoitwasnowaEuro-American-Japanesephenomenon,EuropeincludingRussiafromtheearlytwentiethcentury.
AlmostallobserversnoticedthatapartoftheworldhadchangedinthenineteenthcenturyandthatthiswasnowcrashingintoAsia.WhathadcausedtheEuropeanmiracle,whyhadithappenedthereandthenandnowhereelse?
ThesearchwasonforcertainfeaturesintheWestwhichmadetheriseofmodernityoccur.Thosewhosawitasinevitableeachchosetheirownfavouritecards–Christianity,watercommunications,feudalism,Americanminerals,coalsuppliesorothers,leadinginevitablyto‘modernity’.
Thiswasthepositionuptothe1960’s,aEuropeanmiraclewithtwooffshoots.Theninthenexttwentyyearsafterthefourmore‘littleTigers’wereaddedtotheescapees.AllwererelativelysmallandalleitherheavilyinfluencedbyBritain(Singapore,HongKong)orJapan(Taiwan,SouthKorea).
Theninthelate1980’s,thetwothirdsoftheworldpopulationwhichhadsofarnot‘escaped’intoindustrialandscientificgrowth,namelyChina,India,SouthAmericaandAfrica,begantomove–withtheexceptionofAfrica(exceptSouthAfrica).Thislasteventreversedtheproblem.
Anumberoftheoristsarguedthatthequestionhadbeenwronglyposed.TheOrienthadneverbeenbackwardreally;therehadbeennospecialwesternmiracletobeinvestigated.AllWeber’sspeculationsaboutthingswhichwereinhibitingmodernityintheEastorencouragingitintheWest-religion,acertainlegalsystem,democracy,westernlogic-wereirrelevantandmistaken.TheEastcoulddoperfectlywellwithoutthem.BasicallythewholeprojectfromMontesquieuuptothe1970’shadbeenoneformof‘Orientalist’thinking,inSaid’sterms,amakingofAsiaintoabackwardareaas‘theother’.
InsomewaysPomeranz,BinWongandthe‘CaliforniaSchool’werethelogicalfinalinstanceofthisrevisionism.InhisTheGreatDivergence’Pomeranzarguesthattherewasnodivergencebefore1800–ChinaandtheFarEast,andEurasiaacrosstoEurope,wereallroughlythesameuptothatdate.Afterthatcamethedivergence.Hencethedivergencewasonthesurface,externalfactorssuchascoalandtheprofitsofawindfallEmpireinthecaseofBritain.
Fortherevisioniststheproblemhasdisappeared.The‘modernworld’wasneverapeculiarthing.Inasenseitwasalwayseverywhere.Inanothersenseitwasasetofsurfacechangesineconomyandtechnologywhichspreadrapidlyandeffortlesslyacrosstheworld.Modernityisatoolkitofinventions,manyofthemoriginallymadeinChina,thenstolenorborrowed,improved,andthenre-exportedtoAsia.
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LetmesayafewthingsaboutwhatIshallnotbearguing. Firstly,theEuropeanmiracle,asweshallstartbycallingit,hasnothingtodowithmorality.Modernity,howeverwedefineit,isnotnecessarilymorallysuperiortotheancienregime.
Secondlytherewasabsolutelynothinginevitable,necessaryorpre-determinedaboutwhathashappened.Thereisnopre-destinedgoalofhistory,nosetofnecessarystepswhichweshallallclimbup,whichevenFukuzawahalfbelieved–basedonhisreadingofpreciselythoseevolutionaryandtriumphalistinterpretationssuchasBuckleandFroude.
Thirdly,IdonotthinkthatwhatweneedtoexplainisamiraclecreatedfromingredientswithinEurope.Theoriginofalmostallthethingsthatledintotheinventionofthemodernworldcamefromoutside.Everycountryispartofahugenetwork,stretchingrightacrosstheworldfromBritaintoChinabythetimeofKingAlfred,byboththelandandseasilkroads.ThusmanyofthemajorconstituentscamefromoutsideEurope,soitisaworldmiracle.Almostallthegreattechnologicalintentionsbefore1400weremadeinChina,whilemanyofthegreatestscientificdiscoverieswereinGreece,anddevelopedwithinIslamiccivilizations.Europein1300wasmadeintherestoftheworldasmuchaswithinitself.
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ThroughoutthelecturesIshalltrytogivesomespecificationofwhatIdoanddonotmeanbymodernity,butherearesomefirstclues.
WhatIdonotmeanismoderntechnology.Nowadaysandforsometime,asinfascistorcommunistsocieties,itisquitepossibletocombinemoderntechnologieswithwhatIcallAncienRegimesystems.Sowemustnotconfusemodernityandtechnology.Theindustrialrevolutioniscentral,butitisnotthedefiningmomentofmodernity.Thedevelopmentsinpower,medicine,communicationsandothertechnologiesareimportantbutdonotinthemselvesdistinguishthemodernfromthenon-modern.
Tobemodernisnotthesameastoberecent,oratanyparticularpointintime.Theworldhasalwayshadsocietieswhichare‘modern’andnon-moderntypes.Bymydefinition,Florenceinthefifteenthcentury,Hollandintheseventeenth,Britainformanycenturieshaveallbeen‘modern’,whileFranceintheeighteenthcenturyorNorthKoreatodayareancienregime.
Theancienregimemixestheseparatespheresofourlives.Intribalismtheyareallunitedwithinkinshipastheco-ordinator;inpeasantsocietiesthesocialandeconomicarejoined,asarereligionandpolitics,andsotheentitiesarefamiliesandvillagecommunities–withaverythinlayerofliteraterulersabovethem.Modernitymakesthefurtherseparations–Popper’sOpenSociety.Thereisnofundamentalofanykind,everythingisheldincheck,inbalancedoppositions.
Howthencanweapproachthisproblem?
Ifwelookatmodernityasapackageofinter-connectedfeatures,wecanseparatetheingredients–andthentrytoreconstitutetherecipe,howtheingredientsshouldbecombined,inwhatquantities,order,andweights.
ThetaskIshallsetmyselfistotracepartsofthepackagebackthroughthehistoryofthecountrywhereTocquevilleandWeberthoughtmodernityoriginatedintheformwhichwenowknow–namelyBritainandespeciallyEngland.
ThisinvestigationisnotdonetopromoteBritainasashiningmodel;thiscountryhardlybroughtsweetnessandlighttomanyofthepeoplesaroundtheworldwhosecountriesitinterferedwith.Itisratherthatinordertounderstandourpresentworldandtochartapossiblecourseovertheslipperypathsofthefuture,weneedtoseewheremuchofthepresentcomesfrom.
Iinvestigatethisnotonlyasahistorianbutalsoasacomparativeanthropologist.Ihavealsospentmuchofmytimewanderingthroughothergreatcivilizations.NotmerelypartsofcontinentalEuropeandAmerica,butalsoalmostmanyvisitstoJapan,China,India,NepalandAustralia.FromthesedistantplacesIhavelookedbackonthehistoryandcultureofmyownsmallisland.
2WAR,TRADEANDEMPIRE
AlanMacfarlane
(PleaserememberthisaroughlecturescriptfortheWangGouweilectures,Beijing2011)
War
ThereareseveralsignificantfeaturesoftheroleofwarfareinBritishhistory.OneisthatEnglandhasbeenalmostconstantlyatwaroverthelastthousandyears.Forexample,inthe126yearsbetween1689and1815,whentheindustrialandagriculturalrevolutionswereattheirheight,Englandwasatwarfor73years(Mokyr,Industrial,219). SorokinpublishedatablewhichshowsthatEnglandintheperi
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