Did ending feudalism cause corruption in imperial China?
Short answerNo single institutional choice explains it: feudal lords threatened central power, while centralisation required information and officials to circulate effectively across a very large empire.
NotesFeudal lords could accumulate enough regional power to threaten the centre, so retaining feudalism would not remove the problem of controlling a large empire. Effective centralisation required information to move in both directions between the capital and provinces. Officials also needed experience across the empire, rather than remaining at the centre or treating a distant posting as a punishment. The proposed weakness is insufficient circulation of people and knowledge. There is no single institutional change offered as a complete remedy.