Julean Arnold and American economic perspectives of China, 1902-1946.

摘要

This thesis examines the economic viewpoints of Julean Arnold in the context of contemporary American outlooks and present-day scholarship on China's economy of the first half of the twentieth century. Arnold served as an United States foreign service officer in China from 1902 until 1940, primarily as the commercial attache. Accordingly, Arnold's work papers and personal correspondence provide insight into American attitudes toward China.; The economic conditions of China during this turbulent time are the subject of intense controversy. One group of scholars believes that China's economy during this period was experiencing growth which included the early stages of the development of a modern sector. The opposition argues that the Chinese economy was stagnant, if not regressing. Arnold's views and those of many of his contemporaries closely match those of the group of scholars who assert that China's economy was developing.