Conclusions

Abstract

This concluding chapter draws inspiration from both Western and Chinese literature on social change and inequality as; For the former, as Charles Dickens depicted in A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” (Dickens 1859). If Dickens brilliantly captured the epic scale of social change and the implications on the social structure and inequality, Su Shi (苏轼), one of the most acclaimed poets in Chinese history and once a scholar-official himself, elaborated on his sentiment of social change at the individual level.