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The political system of the Qing empire

Nepomnin O. E. (1935-2020), sinologist and orientalist with wide research interests, belonged to the most prominent theorists of the development of Eastern societies. In April 2021, based on the Department of the History of the East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the seminar named after Nepomnin O. E. — “Discussion problems of the history of the East” began its work. The seminar continues the tradition of scientific events dedicated to a broad discussion of controversial issues of Eastern history from ancient times to the present day. Continuing the topics raised by the author in previous issues: the cyclical nature of the historical process in China [Nepomnin, 2019] and its differences from the development of statehood in Japan [Nepomnin, 2020], this article is devoted to the analysis of the political structure in the Qing Empire. The author examines the despotism of imperial China, decomposing it into the components “power-property” and “class-state” and comparing it with political processes in the medieval West. The powerful state machine of the Qing Empire, suppressing any manifestations of the autonomy of the population, did not give a chance for the emergence of a class of active “private traders”, a religion that could be opposed to the state, or free cities. Nepomnin O. E. concludes that in the conditions of a ubiquitous state and an inert society, the Chinese despotism preserved itself — and the Western linear path of development was inaccessible to China for a long time. China walked in a circle, avoiding crises that allowed it to enter a new round of formational development.