166 The Great Divergence Between East and West: Who Runs Faster, and Who Runs Farther?
Why modern China fell behind Europe is a perennial question in historical research, with historians offering various theories and explanations over the years. In the 1990s, American historian Kenneth Pomeranz proposed a new theory in his book The Great Divergence. He pointed out that until the early 19th century, the development levels of Britain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region were still quite comparable, and their subsequent divergence onto different development paths was limited by several historical contingencies, rather than being the inevitable result of some structural causality. This disruptive theory not only sparked enthusiasm for historical research but also became a new chapter in the struggle of "historical victory studies."
Original Chinese title & description
166 东西大分流：谁比谁跑得快，谁又比谁跑得远
近代中国为什么落后于欧洲，是历史学研究中一个经久不衰的问题，历史学家历来对此有不同的理论和解释。上世纪90年代，美国历史学家彭慕然在《大分流》一书中提出了一种新理论，他指出直到19世纪初英国和长江中下游地区的发展水平依然相当，而两者之后走上不同发展道路受限于若干历史的偶然，而非某种结构性因果的必然。这一颠覆性的理论不仅激发了历史学研究的热情，也成为了历史赢学斗争的新篇章。
Participation credit “本期参与者”：沙青青（微信公众号：13号埋立地、小红书：Sha-13号埋立地）。
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