贫穷与教权导致分裂与创新—论工业革命在西欧的发生

西欧国家在近代一举超越经济和科技长期领先世界的中国。原因是在大变革时代，王权专制下分裂的西欧为经济和科学上革命性创新的出现提供了更多机会。西欧分裂而中国保持统一的原因在于古代经济水平的差异，以及由此导致的教权差异。中国在发达农业的支持下很早实现了中央集权式统一。由于缺乏适合多雨气候和粘质土壤的耕作技术，古代西欧经济严重落后，无力建立中央集权大国；贫穷愚昧还助长了罗马教会的教权，使西欧在经济发展以后仍然不能统一。经济发展水平和宗教对统一的影响还解释了其他地区的统一或分裂。

The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade,Institutional Change,and Economic Growth

Western Europe surpassed China in recent times both in economy and science, and the political fragmentation contributed a lot. Uniform in China and fragmentation in Europe stems from economic conditions: with highly developed agricultural production, China uniformed its vast territory and operated a huge bureaucracy system to maintain its centralization. Lacking in suitable farming technology in the rainy land, Early-Mediaeval Europe was too poor to afford bureaucracy that kept the empire uniform. The Roman Church acquired authority at that time and then precluded the unification of Europe after its economy developed. Economic conditions and religious power also explained the unification or fragmentation of other areas.