ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how China was unified and ruled from the national capital in all but a few decades. During the 1630's and 1640's, several independent warlords controlled the various regions of China, but they were quickly destroyed or brought under control by the Manchu invaders. Centralized government and long distance commerce were necessary each to the other, but the rural population was not very dependent on either. Even with centralized government, however, the high degree of independence of individual viceroys often inhibited transfers. Further, the economic forces favoring regionalism tended to increase over time and hence were much stronger by middle or late Ch'ing than during the early Ming period. The thesis that China's traditional economy of the Ming and Ch'ing periods tended to favor regionalism is based on broad propositions.
