Lessons from Chinese history

The Economist has an interesting review of a new book entitled Peak Human, by Johan Norberg.  This caught my eye:

Song emperors were much keener on the rule of law than their predecessors, who tended to rule by whim. To enforce predictable rules, they hired lots of officials via meritocratic exams. The first Song emperor enacted the “unconventional policy reform” of “[not] killing officials who disagreed with him”.

Peasants were granted property rights and allowed to move around, rather than being tied to a lord’s land.