My Chinese history ain't so sharp either, but checking, the three dynastic periods you're referencing start about 1115, or some 700 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The barbarian invaders in each case are the Mongols, whom I'd mentioned (along with the timeframe) above. So this largely proves my poiont.
Whilst yes, there are multiple Chinese dynasties being considered here, there's pretty much a single cultural tradition, as opposed to the equivalent period of Western history which spans Egypt, the Phoenecians (or Phillistines, from which Palistine comes from), Minoans, Greeks, Macedonians, and Romans, as well as the Persian, Syrian, and several other cultures from what's now considered the Middle East.
The whole quesition of why China's progress stopped where, when, and how it did is a fascinating one. It's actually what Joseph Needham was getting at, and is termed "the Needham Question". It's strongly related to the parallel question: why did the Industrial Revolution emerge in 19th century England, and not elsewhere, or earlier, or later? I've been exploring that and could venture some suggestions.
In aaddition to Needham, there are Karl Polanyi (The Great Transformation), Kenneth Boulding (The Meaning of the Twentieth Century), Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel) and many of the titles in the series the Princeton economic history of the world (http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=hotseries&q=se%3A"Princeto...).
Vaclav Smil's Energy in World History explores the question somewhat, though I'd suggest mining the excellent bibliography for further reading (I've got a scanned copy that's not handy for extracting refs at the moment). http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/3...
I can see a few influences, some of which are pretty well developed by others, some perhaps not. Geography, politics, trade, uniformity, writing system, philosophy and theology, population, and environment all quite probably play significant roles.
Whilst yes, there are multiple Chinese dynasties being considered here, there's pretty much a single cultural tradition, as opposed to the equivalent period of Western history which spans Egypt, the Phoenecians (or Phillistines, from which Palistine comes from), Minoans, Greeks, Macedonians, and Romans, as well as the Persian, Syrian, and several other cultures from what's now considered the Middle East.
The whole quesition of why China's progress stopped where, when, and how it did is a fascinating one. It's actually what Joseph Needham was getting at, and is termed "the Needham Question". It's strongly related to the parallel question: why did the Industrial Revolution emerge in 19th century England, and not elsewhere, or earlier, or later? I've been exploring that and could venture some suggestions.
In aaddition to Needham, there are Karl Polanyi (The Great Transformation), Kenneth Boulding (The Meaning of the Twentieth Century), Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel) and many of the titles in the series the Princeton economic history of the world (http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=hotseries&q=se%3A"Princeto...).
Vaclav Smil's Energy in World History explores the question somewhat, though I'd suggest mining the excellent bibliography for further reading (I've got a scanned copy that's not handy for extracting refs at the moment). http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/3...
I can see a few influences, some of which are pretty well developed by others, some perhaps not. Geography, politics, trade, uniformity, writing system, philosophy and theology, population, and environment all quite probably play significant roles.