Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast

Taisu Zhang


Listen Later

Another podcast, another Metropolitan movie reference. This time we are joined by our colleague and friend, Taisu Zhang, Professor of Law at Yale Law School. We give you a sneak peak of Professor Zhang’s new book The Ideological Foundations of Qing Taxation: Belief Systems, Politics, and Institutions, which comes out in November. Taisu starts by explaining why understanding the Qing dynasty is a prerequisite to understanding the modern era of Chinese history and modern Chinese politics. We then debate theories of the Great Divergence, or why many countries in the Western world emerged as the most powerful economies in the 19th and 20th centuries while Qing China, Mughal India, and others failed to launch. Taisu argues that the absence of the Chinese fiscal state and agricultural taxes led to a military and economic decline because of a lack of state investment. He also argues that the Qing dynasty was wrong to assume that agricultural taxes would lead to rebellion, pointing to similar taxation elsewhere in the world.

As we love to do here at Digging a Hole, we also took a step back to think about broader methodological and institutional questions. First, Sam and Taisu discuss humanist and social science approaches to history and causal arguments. Taisu intentionally makes his work structured, clear, and empirically falsifiable, putting it against most causal theories of Chinese fiscal decline, which are done by economists. Second, David jumps in to ask whether the broader question here is about institutions. Can divergence be explained by excessive centralization in the Qing government or the role of underdeveloped financial markets? In addition, we delve in constitutional questions and interrogate whether Qing China had a constitutional system and the role that system played.

Referenced Readings

  • The Ideological Foundations of Qing Taxation: Belief Systems, Politics, and Institutions, by Taisu Zhang
  • The Laws and Economics of Confucianism: Kinship and Property in Pre-Industrial China and England, by Taisu Zhang
  • ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory PodcastBy Digging a Hole Podcast

    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8

    4.8

    62 ratings


    More shows like Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast

    View all
    We the People by National Constitution Center

    We the People

    1,096 Listeners

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker

    3,912 Listeners

    The Lawfare Podcast by The Lawfare Institute

    The Lawfare Podcast

    6,287 Listeners

    Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts by Slate Podcasts

    Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

    3,478 Listeners

    Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

    Conversations with Tyler

    2,392 Listeners

    U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments by Oyez

    U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments

    677 Listeners

    Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

    Know Your Enemy

    1,905 Listeners

    Strict Scrutiny by Crooked Media

    Strict Scrutiny

    5,572 Listeners

    Time To Say Goodbye by Time To Say Goodbye

    Time To Say Goodbye

    404 Listeners

    What's Left of Philosophy by Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris

    What's Left of Philosophy

    258 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    15,326 Listeners

    Amarica's Constitution by Akhil Reed Amar

    Amarica's Constitution

    371 Listeners

    Divided Argument by Will Baude, Dan Epps

    Divided Argument

    665 Listeners

    Ones and Tooze by Foreign  Policy

    Ones and Tooze

    342 Listeners

    Politix by Politix

    Politix

    97 Listeners