Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2022

 

The Lord’s Economy in the Feudal Era

(Abstract)

 

Huang Chungao

 

The manor was a manifestation of the lord’s economy in agricultural production, where the lord used his feudal power to subjugate the serfs and free peasants and make them produce his daily needs. The operation of the manor reflected the dichotomous nature of livelihood and profit in the lord’s economy. This economy was manifest in the cities in the commercial and industrial sphere, where the lord made large sums of money by leasing out land, markets and transferring feudal power. The operation of the city reflected the coexistence of the economic features of an expanding market and the maintenance of tradition in the lord’s economy. Feudalism was an expression of the lord’s economy in terms of the distribution of income; the rights and obligations surrounding feudal relationships, such as knight-service, shield money, aid money, inheritance payments, marriage payments, etc., were ultimately realized in monetary terms, and the economic gaming between the barons was an outward manifestation of feudal relationships. The lord’s economy of the feudal era was thus characterized by the coexistence of a real economy and a formal economy, with many elements of power, morality, markets and money jointly embedded in each.