Quantifying the social structure of elites in ancient China

Xiongfei Jiang, Long Xiong, Ling Bai, Na Zhao, Jiu Zhang, Ke Xia, Kai Deng and Bo Zheng

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2021, vol. 573, issue C

Abstract: With data from epitaphs of elites in ancient China, we construct the elite social networks of the Tang-dynasty and the Song-dynasty. The complexity theory is then introduced to unveil associations between the elite social networks and the history. The top influential elites in ancient China are identified from the elite social networks. We detect the community structure formed with strongly connected elites, and investigate the interactions between the communities. It is observed that the elite social networks of the Tang-dynasty and the Song-dynasty exhibit the neutral and disassortative mixing patterns, respectively. Additionally, this work quantitatively supports the Tang-Song Transition Hypothesis.

Keywords: History; Complex networks; Social networks; Elite (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:573:y:2021:i:c:s037843712100248x

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2021.125976

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