China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and was the largest and most advanced economy for much of recorded history. The Financial Times stated that "China has been the world’s largest economy for 18 of the past 20 centuries". According to Ebrey's Cambridge Illustrated History of China, "Until 1700 China's material culture had been unrivalled; its standard of living was among the best in the world, and inventions flowed more commonly...
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China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and was the largest and most advanced economy for much of recorded history. The Financial Times stated that "China has been the world’s largest economy for 18 of the past 20 centuries". According to Ebrey's Cambridge Illustrated History of China, "Until 1700 China's material culture had been unrivalled; its standard of living was among the best in the world, and inventions flowed more commonly from east to west than vice versa."
By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic era, agriculture was practiced in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (ca. 1600–1045 BCE) and Zhou (1045–771 BCE), a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy of these dynasties supported these early handicraft industries, as well as urban centers and considerable...
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