An Investigative View Of The Non-economic Factors In Economic Activities Of The East Zhou Dynasty

The society of the East Zhou marked an immerse evolution in the history of our nation, whose economic activities remain a fascination of investigation in the academic world. However, the issue poses so involved background problems that, even up till now, there is much room for further studies. There is no denying that Marx's analysis of productivity and productive relation in terms of materialistic historical view provides us with an important and indispensable theoretical weapon to understand human economic activity. But it presents merely a generalization of human economic activity, especially capitalist economic activity. In other words, it is a theory drawn by removing the effects and disturbance of all other factors. Considering thorough studies on the factor of productivity on the part of those forerunner scholars, this study sets as its focus the long-neglected non-economic factors so as to promote the study of economic activities of the East Zhou Dynasty. This paper is intended to demonstrate the place and function of "non-economic factors" in economic activity by analyzing the enormous effects of the three "non-economic factors", namely, politics, population and religion, on economic activities of the East Zhou to build up common awareness of "non-economic factors" (cultural factors) in study of economic activity.The paper is divided into five parts:Part One is introduction, which, in terms of Marx's consideration on productivity and productive relation, points out those misunderstandings of this theory in previous studies of the history of ancient economy. And through an analysis of recent studies, it introduces non-economic factors as a distinct view to interpret economic activities in the East Zhou Dynasty.Part Two focuses on the political factor in economic life in times of the East Zhou. The society of the East Zhou witnessed an age when politics all-roundly interfered with and dominated economy. Under this framework, the government carried out the policy of encouraging agriculture but checking mercantilism and controlled the relation of Chinese procedure of shaping the nation and the ceremony and propriety and product...