EARLY MODERNIZATION IN SUNG CHINA
At the beginning of the second millennium AD during the rule of the Sung dynasty China was the most economically developed country of the world. At that time we can observe in China certain phenomena which are typical for societies undergoing the process of modernization. In the sphere of technology and economy we see the increasing use of coal and rapid growth in metallurgy, revolution in shipbuilding and navigation, development of internal waterways and great expansion of trade. The social development of Sung China is marked by rapid urbanization, the spread of mass education and increasing literacy, wide social rights of women. These interconnected socio-economic changes do resemble to large extent processes occurring during the early phase of European modernization from 16-th to 18-th centuries. Politically the Sung empire can be considered a mature natural state, where for the first time in the history of mankind were achieved the doorstep conditions for transition to open access order, namely consolidated control of military, rule of law for elites and perpetually lived organizations in public and privates spheres. Political practices of Sung empire did include some elements of open access order such as protected private property, universal judicial system, open access to education, religious freedom and the absence of censorship. The author believes that during the reign of the Sung dynasty China entered the period of early modernization, interrupted later by foreign invasions, which induced changes in political culture and caused devolution of social institutes. In the long term view the development of China was kept back by the dominant malthusian growth model, where high rate of population growth does not allow living standards to increase and hinders innovative activity.