贡德·弗兰克与彭慕兰通过对明清时期西方白银流入东方过程的描述试图说明,直至18世纪中期,中国一直在世界 经济中居于支配地位。这一观点对于打破长期流行的“欧洲中心论”的神话是有益的,它为人们重新认识世界历史提供了新的 框架和角度。然而,白银在明朝中期以后的大量输入,虽然扩大了中国大一统经济系统的容量,促进了生产的扩张与贸易的发 展,使濒于热寂状态的社会经济重新焕发了生机。但毫无疑问,这是以对自然资源和人力资源的超限榨取为代价的。白银加快 了中国经济之轮的转速,却未能开拓出经济发展的新天地,反而使整个社会因资源的过度耗费而陷进了“高度平衡的陷阱”。所 以,弗兰克与彭慕兰在抛弃旧神话的同时,又编造出了一个新神话,即以“一体化全球经济”为前提的“大分流”。 Gandh Frank and Pomeranz’s description of the inflow of Western silver into the East during the Ming and Qing dynasties attempted to explain that until the mid-18th century China had been dominant in the world economy. This view is useful for breaking the myth of the long-held “Eurocentric” and provides a new framework and perspective for people to re-understand the history of the world. However, the massive input of silver after the middle of the Ming dynasty, although expanding the capacity of China’s unification economic system, boosted the expansion of production and the development of trade, renewed the vitality of the social economy in the heat of perdition. There is no doubt, however, that this comes at the expense of the overrun of natural and human resources. Silver accelerated the rotation of the Chinese economy but failed to open up a new world of economic development. Instead, the entire society was trapped in a “highly balanced trap” because of the excessive cost of resources. Therefore, while abandoning the old mythology, Frank and Pomerania have also created a new myth, that is, “Divergence” based on the premise of “integrating the global economy.”