Industrial Slavery in China During the Former Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 25)

C. Martin Wilbur

The Journal of Economic History, 1943, vol. 3, issue 1, 56-69

Abstract: Industry and commerce developed rapidly in China during the last three centuries before Christ, as they did also in the Mediterranean world. Contemporary Hellenistic and Roman businessmen made extensive use of slave labor, and slavery gradually developed an industrial character. Nothing comparable occurred in China. Private and government slavery had a marked growth under the Han empire, but the use of slaves for industrial purposes—even commercial farming— did not become an important characteristic of the Chinese institution. This fact raises questions concerning the “style” of ancient Chinese slavery, and concerning the economic organization of which it was a part.

Date: 1943
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