Oriental Despotism 18931 Anyone interested in studying the technical and organizational details of a major hydraulic order
may consult Willcocks’s admirable description of irrigation and flood control in 19th-century
Egypt (Willcocks, 1889: passim). A comprehensive survey of the hydraulic conditions in India at
the close of the 19th century has been made by the Indian Irrigation Commission (RRCAI). In
my study of Chinese economics and society I have systematically analysed the ecological founda-
tions and the various aspects of China’s traditional hydraulic order (Wittfogel, 1931: 61–93,
188–300, and 410–456). Today we also have an archaeological account of the growth of hydrau-
lic and other constructions over time and for a limited, but evidently, representative area: the Virú
Valley in Peru (see Willey, 1953: 344–389).
32 Reed, 1937: 373. Robins, 1946: 91 ff., 129 ff.
33 For Palenque see Stevens, 1863–1877, II: 321, 344. For Aztec Mexico see Tezozomoc, 1944: 23,
379 ff.; Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, 1889: 117, 128.
34 Cf. Pietschmann, 1889: 70.
35 Cf. Cahen, 1940: 132.
36 Jacobsen and Lloyd, 1935: 31; Luckenbill, 1926–1927, II: 150. Cf. Olmstead, 1923: 332;
Thompson and Hutchinson, 1929: 129 ff.
37 See Wittfogel, 1957, ch 6.
38 Heichelheim, 1938: 728. See also Wittfogel, 1957, ch 7.
39 Williams, 1910: 168. Cf. Sombart, 1919, I: 396; II: 252.
40 Kulischer, 1928–1929, II: 381 ff.
41 Williams, 1910: 168.
42 Sombart, 1919, II: 251.
43 Williams, 1910: 168.
44 Kees, 1933: 129, cf. 109. Breasted, 1927: 147 and passim.
45 Thompson, 1941: 515.
46 Previously I viewed Chou China as a feudal society exhibiting Oriental features, which appeared
early and became increasingly conspicuous until, at the close of the period, they prevailed com-
pletely (Wittfogel, 1931: 278 ff.; ibid., 1935: 40 ff.). The idea of a society that crosses the institu-
tional divide is entirely compatible with the findings of the present inquiry; and by interpreting
Chou society in this way, I would not have had to change a long-held position. But intensified
comparative studies compel me to change. The arid and semi-arid settings of North China (17
inches annual rainfall in the old Chou domain and 24 inches in the domain of the pre-Chou
dynasty, Shang) suggest hydraulic agriculture for the ancient core areas. The lay of the land, the
summer floods, and the periodic silting-up of the rivers necessitated comprehensive measures of
flood control especially in the heartland of Shang power. A realistic interpretation of legends and
protohistorical sources (cf. Wittfogel and Goldfrank, 1943: passim) points to the rise of a hydrau-
lic way of life long before the Shang dynasty, whose artifacts (bronzes) and inscriptions reflect a
highly developed agrarian civilization with refined techniques of record keeping, calculations and
astronomy. The recognizable institutions of early Chou are those of a hydraulic society, which
gradually intensified its managerial and bureaucratic ‘density’. The Chou sovereigns behaved
toward the territorial rulers not as the first among equals but as supreme masters responsible only
to Heaven. It was not their fault that their despotic claims, which possibly imitated Shang prece-
dents, were realized imperfectly and with decreasing effect. In contrast, the rulers of the territorial
states were strong enough to proceed absolutistically within their respective realms. The lands that
they assigned were given not in a contractual way and to independently organized (corporated)
knights and barons, but to office holders and persons permitted to enjoy sinecures. They were not
fiefs but office lands.
47 See Shih Chi, 29.3a–b, 4b–5a, 5b–6a, 7b–8a, 126.15b. Han Shu, 29.2b–3a, 4a–b, 5a–b, 7a–8a,
89.14b–15a.
48 See Shih Chi, 29.2a–b, 4a–b. Han Shu, 29.1b–2a, 3b–4a, 64A.6b. Hou Han Shu, 35.3b.
49 Sui Shu, 3.11a, cf. 5a.