China Books

Throughout the history of imperial China, the educated elite used various means to criticise government policies and actions. During the Song dynasty (960-1278), some members of this elite found an elegant and subtle means of dissent: landscape painting. By examining literary archetypes, the titles of paintings, contemporary inscriptions, and the historical context, Alfreda Murck shows that certain paintings expressed strong political opinions - some transparent, others deliberately concealed. She argues that the coding of messages in seemingly innocuous paintings was an important factor in the growing respect for painting among the educated elite and that the capacity of painting's systems of reference to allow scholars to express dissent with impunity contributed to the art's vitality and longevity. (ISBN:0674007824) (For this item please quote stock ID 18624) ISBN: 0674007824

According to the Rites of Zhou, an emperor should have 121 concubines. Of these concubines, however, only a tiny few had the honour of sleeping with the emperor. The imperial consorts, therefore, often conspired against each other in their life-and-death struggle to win the emperor's good graces. Consequently, a spate of tragedies took place in this female world as many of the women lived out their disconsolate lives in the recesses of the imperial palace. (For this item please quote stock ID 12520) ISBN: 9789622382183

[Indent] An exhaustive look at an important early urban centre Chang'an was the most important city in early imperial China, yet this is the first comprehensive study of the Sui-Tang capital in the English language. Following a background sketch of the earlier Han dynasty Chang'an and an analysis of the canonical and geomantic bases of the layout of the Sui-Tang capital, this volume focuses on the essential components of the city - its palaces, central and local administrative quarters, ritual centers, marketplaces, residential wards, and monasteries. Based on careful textual and archaeological research, this volume gives a sense of why Sui-Tang Chang'an was considered the most spectacular metropolis of its age. Victor Xiong is Associate Professor of Asian History and Chair of East Asian Studies, Western Michigan University. He has written several articles on the urban, cultural, and socioeconomic history of early imperial China, with special focus on the Sui-Tang period. (For this item please quote stock ID 19693) ISBN: 9780892641376

Zhuang Zi Following Lao Zi, In his representative works Zhuang Zi, he explained the essence of the Tao School and expanded the Tao School. Lao Zi Great thinkers in the Spring and Autumn Period. The founder of Taoism. His Tao Te Ching started China's ancient philosophy. (For this item please quote stock ID 28805) ISBN: 9787884082056

Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi The Two Chengs mean the brothers of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. They were thinkers and philosophers in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the founder of the rationalistic Confucian philosophical school of Song and Ming dynasties. The successors compiled the ana and works of them into a book called Complete Works of the Two Chengs. Mo Zi The founder of Mo School.His thoughts boast ten propositions, with the indiscriminate love as the core and frugality and pursuance of virtuousness as the fundamentals. His thoughts are mainly recorded in the Mo Zi compiled by his disciples. (For this item please quote stock ID 28806) ISBN: 9787884082056

Zhang Zhongjing His book Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases was the greatest achievement of the medical theory since Qin and Han Dynasty, which was applied broadly in medical practice. It was also one of the most significant books in medical science history. Zhu Zaiyu An eminent musicologist, mathematician and calendarist, who was honored to be ?oriental personage of artistic encyclopedia type?. He held that practice and experiment were very important, exerting his utmost effort in seeking the truth. (For this item please quote stock ID 28807) ISBN: 9787884082056

Zhang Heng Zhang Heng, was a great astrologer in Eastern Han Dynasty. He not only made indelible contributions to the development of astronomy in our country, but also demonstrated his outstanding ability and extensive knowledge in mathematics, geography, painting, literature and other fields. Du Kang Du Kang is a person who is just like a mystery in Chinese history. All the liquor makers respect Du Kang and consider him as an immortal. Gradually, Du Kang has already become a household name for good liquor. (For this item please quote stock ID 28808) ISBN: 9787884082056

Cai Wenji Cai Yan, She was erudite from childhood, good at writing and melody. Her famous works are the Poem of Grief and Indignation and Eighteen Stanzas on the Nomad in five-character style. ?Wenji Returning to Han? is a much-told story in Chinese history with wide popularity. Cai Yong Cai Yong, is a poet, proser, calligrapher and player of old zither in East Han. He had an excellent understanding in history, literature and poetry. Besides, he was an expert in Zhuan and Ni calligraphy style. (For this item please quote stock ID 28809) ISBN: 9787884082056

With an introduction to the experiences and thoughts of ordinary Chinese people, this book provides you with a colorful panorama of present Chinese society from various perspectives. Through the book, you can see a vigorous and fast-developing China. (For this item please quote stock ID 29039) ISBN: 9787119051147

Meng Jiangnu Brings Down the Great Wall brings together ten versions of a popular Chinese legend that has intrigued readers and listeners for hundreds of years. Elements of the story date back to the early centuries B.C.E. and are an intrinsic part of Chinese literary history. Major themes and subtle nuances of the legend are illuminated here by Wilt L. Idema's new translations and pairings. In this classic story, a young woman named Meng Jiang makes a long, solitary journey to deliver winter clothes to her husband, a drafted laborer on the grandiose Great Wall construction project of the notorious First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (BCE 221-208). But her travels end in tragedy when, upon arrival, she learns that her husband has died under the harsh working conditions and been entombed in the wall. Her tears of grief cause the wall to collapse and expose his bones, which she collects for proper burial. In some versions, she tricks the lecherous emperor, who wants to marry her, into providing a stately funeral for her husband and then takes her own life. The versions presented here are ballads and chantefables (alternating chanted verse and recited prose), five from urban printed texts from the late Imperial and early Republican periods, and five from oral performances and partially reconstructed texts collected in rural areas in recent decades. They represent a wide range of genres, regional styles, dates, and content. From one version to another, different elements of the story - the circumstances of Meng Jiangnu's marriage, her relationship with her parents-in-law, the journey to the wall, her grief, her defiance of the emperor - are elaborated upon, downplayed, or left out altogether depending on the particular moral lessons that tale authors wished to impart. Idema brings together his considerable translation skills and broad knowledge of Chinese literature to present an assortment of tales and insightful commentary that will be a gold mine of information for scholars in a number of disciplines. Haiyan Lee's essay discusses the appeal of the Meng Jiangnu story to twentieth-century literary reformers, and the interpretations they imposed on the material they collected. (For this item please quote stock ID 29259) ISBN: 9780295987842

This volume examines the role of dynastic rulers, the imperial system, and the ruling literati in the promotion and shaping of Chinese thought and culture. It includes ten papers chosen for publication from a conference held in Taiwan in September 1992: 'Determining Orthodoxy: Imperial Roles' by Jack L. Dull; 'Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Portrayal of the First Ch'in Emperor' by Stephan Durrant; 'The Literary Emperor: The Case of Han Wu-ti' by David R. Knechtges; 'Empress Wu and Feminist Sentiments in T'ang China' by Chen Jo-shui; 'Academies: Official Sponsorship and Suppression' by Thomas H. C. Lee; 'Imperial Power and The Reestablishment of Monastic Order in the Northern Sung' by Huang Chi-chiang; 'Imperial Rulership in Cultural History: Chu Hsi's Interpretation' by Huang Chun-chieh; 'The Emperor and the Star Spirits: A Mythological Reading of the Shui-hu chuan' by Frederick P. Brandeur; 'Ku Yen-wu's Image and Ideal of the Emperor: A Cultural Giant and Political Dwarf' by Ku Wei-ying; and 'Imperial Power and the Appointment of Provincial Governors in Ch'ing China' by R. Kent Guy. Of interest to students of Chinese culture including literature, art, religion, philosophy, and politics. (For this item please quote stock ID 4659) ISBN: 9780295973746

The Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the centre of the world: the European voyages of exploration were searching not just for new lands but also for new trade routes to the Far East. In this book, Timothy Brook eloquently narrates the changing landscape of life over the three centuries of the Ming (1368-1644), when China was transformed from a closely administered agrarian realm into a place of commercial profits and intense competition for status. The Confusions of Pleasure marks a significant departure from the conventional ways in which Chinese history has been written. Rather than recounting the Ming dynasty in a series of political events and philosophical achievements, it narrates this longue durée in terms of the habits and strains of everyday life. Peppered with stories of real people and their negotiations of a rapidly changing world, this book provides a new way of seeing the Ming dynasty that not only contributes to the scholarly understanding of the period but also provides an entertaining and accessible introduction to Chinese history for anyone. (For this item please quote stock ID 4693) ISBN: 9780520221543

(For this item please quote stock ID 4852) ISBN: 9780674497009

Chinese history dates back over 3,000 years. Through the centuries, this remarkable civilisation has remained virtually untouched by outside influences. The mountains, deserts, and seas that surround China formed vast natural barriers against neighbouring civilisations. Foreign influences that did infiltrate the country, such as Buddhism, were easily absorbed by its strong, self-contained culture. Using a beautiful selection of specially commissioned photographs, Eyewitness China brings to life the art, literature, and architecture of the great Chinese empire. Fascinating pictures and models reveal the lives and customs of its people, from peasant farmers to emperors. Discover how early farm machinery worked, examine the elaborate implements used for calligraphy, and learn about life on China's great waterways. Finally, learn how 2,000 years of ancient tradition came to an end with the fall of the last emperor. Written by Arthur Cotterell, the author of a number of best-selling books on Chinese history, China is a unique and exciting examination of a unique and exciting country! (For this item please quote stock ID 6099) ISBN: 9780789458667

Views the impact of foreign imperialism on China during its apogee, the early Republican era (1910 to 1920). (For this item please quote stock ID 6949) ISBN: 9780892640294

(For this item please quote stock ID 6950) ISBN: 9780892640218

(For this item please quote stock ID 7177) ISBN: 9789622381674

'A fascinating picture of a lively and brilliant society ... Every major aspect of life during this period is treated with meticulous exactitude ... an unrivalled glimpse of Chinese society as it was 700 years ago' ? Journal of Southeast Asian History. 'A pioneering high popularisation of Sung social history ... An elegant work' - The Journal of Asian Studies. (For this item please quote stock ID 7395) ISBN: 9780804707206

With a history of over 570 years, the Imperial Palace - or the Forbidden City - is now China?s largest museum (the Palace Museum) which contains legacies of the Ming and Qing dynasties as well as art and cultural relics of greater antiquity. Little was known to the general populace of life in the Forbidden City. Tales and tidbits about the lives of emperors and their families, about courtiers and eunuchs, about the buildings and the treasures contained within them have long been the object of public fascination. With illustrations and thorough documentation this book offers a source of information and entertainment as well as being of great academic value. (For this item please quote stock ID 7630) ISBN: 9787507103359

This is the true story of the Qin emperor - the man who unified China, built the Great Wall, searched for immortality, dodged assassins, and died before his fiftieth birthday. His legendary mausoleum was only located in the twentieth century, when it was found to be guarded by the world-famous Terracotta Army. Jonathan Clements tells the exciting and lively tale of the first emperor, Zheng Zhao. The son of a royal concubine and a prominent minister, Zheng was placed on the throne by his scheming father. In 221 BC he had conquered the last remaining state in China, becoming the first emperor and ruler of the known world. His ruthless reforms laid the foundations for China as it is today, established a code of law and a unified script for communication, and led to its most famous and enduring cultural artefact, the 5000 km long Great Wall. (For this item please quote stock ID 7645) ISBN: 9780750939591

In the late eighteenth century two expansive Eurasian empires met formally for the first time ? the Manchu or Qing dynasty of China and the maritime empire of Great Britain. The occasion was the mission of Lord Macartney, sent by the British crown and sponsored by the East India Company, to the court of the Qianlong emperor. Cherishing Men from Afar looks at the initial confrontation between these two empires from a historical perspective informed by the insights of contemporary postcolonial criticism and cultural studies The history of this encounter, like that of most colonial and imperial encounters, has traditionally been told from the Europeans? point of view. In this book, James L. Hevia consults Chinese sources ? many previously untranslated ? for a broader sense of what Qing court officials understood; and considers these documents in light of a sophisticated anthropological understanding of Qing ritual processes and expectations. He also reexamines the more familiar British accounts in the context of recent critiques of orientalism and work on the development of the bourgeois subject. Hevia?s reading of these sources reveals the logics of two discrete imperial formations, not so much impaired by the cultural misunderstandings that have historically been attributed to their meeting, but animated by differing ideas about constructing relations of sovereignty and power. His examination of Chinese and English-language scholarly treatments of this event, both historical and contemporary, sheds new light on the place of the Macartney mission in the dynamics of colonial and imperial encounters 'Cherishing Men From Afar, extremely impressive in its marshalling of basic Qing material, accomplishes something quite remarkable: the product of a postmodern critical sensibility, it will also satisfy the most traditional of scholars on sinological grounds' ? William T. Rowe, Johns Hopkins University. (For this item please quote stock ID 7933) ISBN: 9780822316374

(For this item please quote stock ID 8517) ISBN: 9780198215684

(For this item please quote stock ID 8979) ISBN: 9780674821521

When natural disaster threatened the Grand Canal network in the early 19th century, the Qing government faced a crisis of colossal proportions. Leonard discusses the Daoguang Emperor?s handling of the crisis in the context of the strategic, institutional, and technological imperatives that had long shaped management of the canal. Her lucid explication is accompanied by maps and pictures that clearly illustrate both the setting and the technical details of the canal. (For this item please quote stock ID 9419) ISBN: 9780892641154

A hundred years before Columbus and his fellow Europeans began making their way to the New World, fleets of giant Chinese junks commanded by the eunuch admiral Zheng He and filled with the empire's finest porcelains, lacquerware, and silk ventured to the edge of the world's 'four corners'. It was a time of exploration and conquest, but it ended in a retrenchment so complete that less than a century later, it was a crime to go to sea in a multimasted ship. In When China Ruled the Seas, Louise Levathes takes a fascinating and unprecedented look at this dynamic period in China's enigmatic history, focusing on China's rise as a naval power that literally could have ruled the world and at its precipitious plunge into isolation when a new emperor ascended the Dragon Throne. During the brief period from 1405 to 1433, seven epic expeditions brought China's 'treasure ships' across the China Seas and the Indian Ocean, from Taiwan to the spice islands of Indonesia and the Malabar coast of India, on to the rich ports of the Persian Gulf and down the African coast, China's `El Dorado', and perhaps even to Australia, three hundred years before Captain Cook was credited with its discovery. With over 300 ships - some measuring as much as 400 feet long and 160 feet wide, with upwards of nine masts and twelve sails, and combined crews sometimes numbering over 28,000 men - the emperor Zhu Di's fantastic fleet was a virtual floating city, a naval expression of his Forbidden City in Beijing. The largest wooden boats ever built, these extraordinary ships were the most technically superior vessels in the world with innovations such as balanced rudders and bulwarked compartments that predated European ships by centuries. For thirty years foreign goods, medicines, geographic knowledge, and cultural insights flowed into China at an extraordinary rate, and China extended its sphere of political power and influence throughout the Indian Ocean. Half the world was in China's grasp, and the rest could easily have been, had the emperor so wished. But instead, China turned inward, as suceeding emperors forbade overseas travel and stopped all building and repair of oceangoing junks. Disobedient merchants and seamen were killed, and within a hundred years the greatest navy the world had ever known willed itself into extinction. The period of China's greatest outward expansion was followed by the period of its greatest isolation. Drawing on eye-witness accounts, official Ming histories, and African, Arab, and Indian sources, many translated for the first time, Levathes brings readers inside China's most illustrious scientific and technological era. She sheds new light on the historical and cultural context in ghich this great civilization thrived, as well as the perception of other cultures toward this little understood empire at the time. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, When China Ruled the Seas is the fullest picture yet of the early Ming Dynasty - the last flowering of Chinese culture before the Manchu invasions. (For this item please quote stock ID 9465) ISBN: 9780195112078

In this innovative look at several current debates in China studies, Daniel Little investigates the merits of social scientists' hypotheses, reasoning, and explanations. Little focuses on four topics: the relative importance of individual rationality and community values in explaining traditional peasant behavior; the role of marketing and transportation systems in Chinese society; the causes of agricultural stagnation in traditional China; and the reasons for peasant rebellions in Qing China. 'This clearly written and wide-ranging book will be of interest to working social scientists as well as to philosophers' - Julius Sensat, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. 'A rich and judicious work. Little's searching assessment of the debates about agrarian Asia is a model of logic-chopping close analysis. He never loses sight of the larger quarry: the philosophy of social science practice' - James C. Scott, Yale University. (For this item please quote stock ID 9888) ISBN: 9780300054774

The Great Wall is a great achievement not only in Chinese but in world architecture too. And the old Chinese saying, 'He who hasn?t been to the Great Wall is not a true man', show the profound impact it has had on the mind of many. This book surveys the history and construction of the Great Wall, including a discussion of the three eras of building - the Qin, the Han and Ming dynasties. Also presented is a detailed explanation of the functions of its various facilities, and the communications, defence, and drainage systems. In addition, descriptions of cultural artefacts (which include the tomb murals of the Han dynasty in Horinger, the Buddhist scriptures in six languages in Yuntai, the ancient travel permits and inscribed wooden slips) and related legendary tales will certainly arouse the interest of not only the general reader but the intrepid traveller as well.! (For this item please quote stock ID 9987) ISBN: 9787119017457

{Indent] The four centuries of the Han dynasties from 206 BC to AD 220 witnessed major developments in the ideas of sovereignty. Michael Loewe traces these changes along with some of their religious aspects, including the techniques used by emperors and others to forecast the future or to divine the present. Both mythology and the tradition of learning affected the growth of the imperial ideal that, despite its failings, was of major importance both for the Han and China's subsequent dynasties. Contents; >Introduction: the history of the early empires >1. Man & beast: the hybrid in early Chinese art & literature >2. Water, earth & fire: the symbols of the Han dynasty >3. The Han view of comets >4. The authority of the emperors of Ch?in & Han >5. The term K?an-yu & the choice of the moment >6. Imperial sovereignty: Tung Chung-shu?s contribution & his predecessors >7. The cult of the dragon & the invocation for rain >8. Divination by shells, bones & stalks during the Han period >9. The oracles of the clouds & winds >10. The Almanacs (Jih-shu) from Shui-hu-ti: a preliminary survey >11. The Chüeh-ti games: a re-enactment of the battle between Ch?ih-yu & Hsüan-yüan? >12. The failure of the Confucian ethic in Later Han times >13. The imperial tombs of the Former Han dynasty & their shrines. (For this item please quote stock ID 10079) ISBN: 9780521454667

'Chinese Eunuchs is a fascinating disseration on an esoteric subject and it is highly recommended to all those interested in exploring the little-known alcoves of history and culture' - MD Magazine. (For this item please quote stock ID 10881) ISBN: 9780804818810

The world's pre-eminent authority on Chinese science explores the philosophy, social structure, arts, crafts, and even military strategies that form our understanding of Chinese science, making instructive comparisons along the way to similar elements in Indian, Hellenistic, and Arabic cultures. (For this item please quote stock ID 11155) ISBN: 9789622012127

The Qing dynasty (1644-1911) was the last and arguably the greatest of the conquest dynasties to rule China. Its rulers, Manchus from the north, held power for three centuries despite major cultural and ideological differences with the Han majority. In this book, Evelyn Rawski offers a bold new interpretation of the remarkable success of this dynasty, arguing that it derived not from the assimilation of the dominant Chinese culture, as has previously been believed, but rather from an artful synthesis of Manchu leadership styles with Han Chinese policies. Evelyn S. Rawski is University Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, co-author of Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century (1987), and co-editor of Harmony and Counterpoint: Ritual Music in Chinese Context (1996), Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China (California, 1988), and Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (California, 1985). (For this item please quote stock ID 12019) ISBN: 9780520212893

Chinese Archery is a broad view of traditional archery in China as seen through the eyes of historians, philosophers, poets, artists, novelists and strategists from 1500 BC until the present century. The book is written around parallel text translations of classical chinese sources some famous and some little known in which Chinese writers give vivid and detailed explanations of the techniques of bow-building, archery and crossbow technique over the centuries. The author is both a sinologist and practising archer; his translations make the original Chinese texts accessible to the non-specialist. Written for readers who may never have picked up a book about China, but still containing a wealth of detail for Chinese scholars, the book brings the fascinating history of Chinese archery back to life through the voices of its most renowned practitioners. Stephen Selby holds an MA (Hons) Degree in Chinese from Edinburgh University. He has worked in Hong Kong for twenty years, during which period he has pursued his interest in Chinese language and culture, and has published a number of articles on Chinese culture, history and traditional law. With a keen interest in Asiatic archery, he has done research in China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia. He is the founder of the Asian Traditional Archery Research Network (ATARN) which has an Internet web page at www.atarn.org. (For this item please quote stock ID 12457) ISBN: 9789622095014

The Cambridge History of Ancient China provides a survey of the cultural, intellectual, political, and institutional developments of the pre-imperial period. The four subperiods of Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States, are described on the basis of literary and material sources and the evidence of recently found manuscripts. Chapters on the prehistoric background, the growth of language, and relations with the peoples of Central Asia provide the major context of China's achievements in the 1,500 years under review. The teachings of China's early masters are set alongside what is known of the methods of astonomers, physicians and diviners. A final chapter leads the reader forward to imperial times, as described in the volumes of The Cambridge History of China. 'This volume presents informative summaries of major periods and topics with meticulous attention to the evidence. The discussions of sources, sites, and artifacts will be invaluable to present and future students, who will also be grateful for the illustrations and Chinese characters included in the text' - Choice. 'It is indeed a daunting task to review this hefty volume consisting of fourteen chapters by specialists in their respective fields and no summary can do justice to its contents. Read it' - Susan Bush, Early Medieval China. Contributors Michael Loewe, Edward L. Shaughnessy, David N. Keightley, Kwang-chih Chang, William G. Boltz, Robert Bagley, Jessica Rawson, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Cho-yun Hsu, Mark Edward Lewis, Wu Hung, David Sheperd Nivison, Donald Harper, Nicola di Cosmo Contents Introduction Calendar and chronology Geography and climate 1. China on the eve of the historical period 2. Language and writing 3. Shang archaeology 4. The Shang: China?s first historical dynasty 5. Western Zhou history 6. Western Zhou archaeology 7. The waning of the Bronze Age: material culture and social developments, 770?481 BC 8. The Spring and Autumn period 9. Warring States: the political history 10. The art and architecture of the Warring States period 11. The classical philosophical writings 12. Warring states: natural philosophy and occult thought 13. The Northern Frontier in pre-Imperial China 14. The heritage left to the Empires. (For this item please quote stock ID 12548) ISBN: 9780521470308

Culture, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Art & Architecture: The Legacy of Four Thousand Years This is an authoritative and accessible guide to one of the world?s most remarkable civilisations. Superbly illustrated, it offers a vivid portrait of this fascinating culture, from the court of the emperor to the traditions of Taoism and Confucianism. Includes full-colour photographs of magnificent art, architecture, landscapes, ceremonies and festivals. Brings depth and clarity to key aspects of China?s historical, religious, philosophical and artistic heritage. Explores the major themes of Chinese history and culture over the last 4000 years, from the dawn of antiquity to the end of the imperial era. Is written by leading scholars and reflects the latest archaeological research. Features a special section on the continuing legacy of the imperial period, tracing its impact through the twentieth century to the present day. Contains maps, time charts and highlighted features on key topics for easy reference. A succinct, authoritative, accessible overview of the multiple aspects of China's history. (For this item please quote stock ID 12549) ISBN: 9781844830961

Sima Qian (145?-90? BC) is the first major Chinese historian. His Records of the Grand Historian chronicles the history of China and much of the adjacent world from the remote past to his own time. These three volumes contain a new translation of the history of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) and a revised version of the Han dynasty (from 206 up to ca. 90 BC) portion of the Records. Western readers will value this book not only for its historical importance, but perhaps even more for Sima Qian's warm interest in people. Burton Watson is a world-renowned translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. (For this item please quote stock ID 12711) ISBN: 9780231081665

Sima Qian (145?-90? BC) is the first major Chinese historian. His Records of the Grand Historian chronicles the history of China and much of the adjacent world from the remote past to his own time. These three volumes contain a new translation of the history of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) and a revised version of the Han dynasty (from 206 up to ca. 90 BC) portion of the Records. Western readers will value this book not only for its historical importance, but perhaps even more for Sima Qian's warm interest in people. Burton Watson is a world-renowned translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. (For this item please quote stock ID 12712) ISBN: 9780231081641

Sima Qian (145?-90? BC) is the first major Chinese historian. His Records of the Grand Historian chronicles the history of China and much of the adjacent world from the remote past to his own time. These three volumes contain a new translation of the history of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) and a revised version of the Han dynasty (from 206 up to ca. 90 BC) portion of the Records. Western readers will value this book not only for its historical importance, but perhaps even more for Sima Qian's warm interest in people. Burton Watson is a world-renowned translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. (For this item please quote stock ID 12713) ISBN: 9780231081689

The pastoral tribes on China's northern borders played a major role in the cultural development of China during antiquity. By the first millennium B.C., the region's experienced merchants were trading in horses, wool, carpets, and fur - articles in constant demand by their settled, urban Chinese neighbors. Trade, intermarriage, and war between the pastoral tribes and the urban dwellers continued throughout the first millennium B.C. The artistic creations of the two groups reflect centuries of flourishing contact and complex interrelationships. The pastoral tribes produced belt buckles, chariot and harness fittings, weapons, and tools in cast gold, silver, and embellished bronze. The urban dwellers made wine and food vessels and bronze bells to use in elaborate rituals conducted in palatial structures. Recently excavated finds from along the northern border on both sides of the Great Wall are enabling scholars to describe a plausible picture of contact, trade, and intercultural influence. Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier seeks to clarify the nature of the exchanges by exploring works of art produced by these groups. For the first time, Chinese urban and northern pastoral artifacts are studied and illustrated side-by-side in light of the most recent archaeological discoveries in China. Taking an unusual point of view, this book emphasises the character of consumerism in these ancient neighbouring societies and the effects of commerce and migration on the appearance and production of everyday and luxury goods. Filled with illustrations of previously unpublished objects, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier promises to be absorbing for art and cultural historians, anthropologists, and all those interested in the societies of ancient China. (For this item please quote stock ID 12814) ISBN: 9780295974736

'Spence's study, elegantly researched, explores the social and political life of the early Manchu period, a time when the English were fighting over religion and New England was the home of a few struggling Puritan Settlements' - Washington Post Book World (For this item please quote stock ID 12880) ISBN: 9780300042788

This fascinating book presents eyewitness accounts of a turbulent period in Chinese history: the fall of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in the mid-17th century. Lynn Struve has translated, introduced, and annotated absorbing testimonies from a wide range of individuals in different social stations - Chinese and Europeans, missionaries and viceroys, artists and merchants, Ming loyalists and Qing collaborators, maidservants and eunuchs - all telling stories of hardship and challenge in the midst of cataclysmic change. 'This important and beautifully illustrated documentary study of the mid 17th century Manchu conquest of China and its aftermath is much more than a chronicle of horrors... The book combines skillful translation of a rich variety of primary sources with authoritative commentary and meticulously researched annotation...The book will furnish excellent discussion readings for thoughtful undergraduates as well as being deeply interesting for professional sinologists. More broadly, it will undoubtedly capture many a general reader's heart and mind for Chinese history' - Helen Dunstan, Historian 'Throughout the volume, Struve's translations capture the different voices of the cataclysm. Students of Chinese history will find a wealth of information here' - Choice 'These vivid contemporaneous accounts of the seventeenth-century conquest of China by the Manchus provide an ingenious breadth of perspective that will make them very compelling to students of the period' - Pamela Kyle Crossley, Dartmouth College. 'Lynn Struve sheds further light on what it meant to be Chinese in the 17th century, showing that for many it was far from pleasant...It is a book that brings history graphically to life' - Keith Pratt, Asian Affairs 'Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm fleshes out the bones of history with 15 chapters that include first-hand accounts by eye-witnesses, contemporary commentary and a variety of relevant evidence from those involved in the devastating events that racked China in the seventeenth century...The whole is very well put together' - Ian McMorran, Journal of Oriental Studies. 'The 'voices' in this book - a Qing viceroy, an artist, an empress, a merchant, a widow who became the consort of an invading prince, and others - offer history at the individual level and give a real sense of the turmoil of the times' - Washington Post Book World. (For this item please quote stock ID 12986) ISBN: 9780300075533

Emperor Qin Shihuang established the Qin Dynasty, the first centralised and unified regime in China?s history, and history has judged Emperor Qin Shihuang with both praise and blame.Some of the stories in this book come from historical records which serve to silhouette the life of the Emperor, and some are based on popular legends adding highly coloured details about him. These two sources complement each other and provide a comprehensive look at Qing Shinhuang and his world. (For this item please quote stock ID 14046) ISBN: 9787119021010

Xinjiang, called the West Region in ancient times, remains an indispensable part of China?s territory. It was an important hub of communication and fusion between East and West in ancient times, and was a strategic point of the land Silk Road since 60 B.C. This book, presenting more than 180 cultural relics and historic sites, describes Xinjiang?s historic and cultural wealth and its history in national development and religious evolution. (For this item please quote stock ID 14189) ISBN: 9787805478647

This book presents stories about dozens of emperors, from the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) to the rulers of the Qing (1616-1911 AD), who were most typically called emperors in Chinese history. These stories focus on the political centre of the royal court, describe their lives and death, rise and fall, as well as the influence and impact of the emperors who left strong historical imprints on Chinese society. Historical events, interesting anecdotes and thought-provoking tales in which the emperors were the actors and heroes, are vividly told. (For this item please quote stock ID 14847) ISBN: 9787119020471

In feudal times the prime minister was the highest ranking court oficial who assisted the ruler in handling affairs-of-state. As many stories about the prime minister are told in classical novels and dramatised on the stage, people are quite familiar with this historical figure. There were loyal and devoted prime ministers who upheld justice, stood up for the people and became the pride of the nation. There were wicked and treacherous ones, lacking in conscience and full of guile. This book tells tales of both. (For this item please quote stock ID 15437)

Among the topics covered in this study are the development of communications and transport in Sung and Yuan times, the formation of a nationwide market and the development of cities and markets during the Sung dynasty, and the characteristics of commercial capital. (For this item please quote stock ID 15465) ISBN: 9780892649020

Provides rare insight into the archaeological excavation of Ding Ling, one of the imperial Ming dynasty tombs and the first to be opened in modern China. It describes the historical background, social setting and the digging process in detail, and the many unexpected findings. The imperial coffins, burial objects and artefacts exhumed shed light on mysteries which have lain buried for almost four centuries. The book also traces the history of this huge imperial tomb, including how it was built, what fierce struggles it evoked among the emperor, empresses, concubines and court officials, and why it has a somewhat different appearance today. (For this item please quote stock ID 16318) ISBN: 9787507102987

How China was governed in her long historic past, and how the emperor and the court functioned has aroused considerable interest to historians and social scientists in modern times. Nobody is more qualified to tell the story on China's institutional history than the late Professor Ch'ien Mu himself. The author picks the most important dynasties in Chinese history and discusses the organization of the government in terms of fiscal, military and civil services as well as relations between the central and provincial government. To achieve so much in such a short monograph is truly the work of a master. (For this item please quote stock ID 16910) ISBN: 9789622012547

A country famous for its ancient civilisation China has a long history of agriculture. There are many books and objects which depict China?s agricultural heritage as well as many rich and colourful materials that illustrate farming and weaving in ancient times. This book selects 413 pictures from the Warring States Period to the Qing dynasty (including 32 inscriptions and epilogues), and supplements them with explanatory poems of the successive Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. (For this item please quote stock ID 17050) ISBN: 9787109037588

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as China opened its doors, archaeologists introduced new field methods that led to important Western discoveries and the establishment of scientific research bodies. Today, the splendours of ancient China can be revealed: from the famous terracotta army to the lavish tomb of the Marquis of Dai from the Han dynasty. (For this item please quote stock ID 17220) ISBN: 9780500300954

In the modern world, few kings or queens remain but prime ministers are many, each playing a key role in running a state. In its long history, China saw hundreds of prime ministers who, like their modern counterparts, were celebrities in their own right. Ruling hundreds or even thousands of years ago in ancient China, these unique figures led fascinating lives filled with stories beyond our imagination and understanding of what a prime minister should or could do. Tales of thirty prime ministers are included in this book, covering virtually all the dynasties of Chinese history, and representative of their times. Many of these tales are still popular in China today, and their achievements and failings, rights and wrongs have been and will be discussed forever. (For this item please quote stock ID 17553) ISBN: 9787119029177

In the thirteenth century the Mongols created a vast, transcontinental empire that intensified commercial and cultural contact throughout Eurasia. From the outset of their expansion, the Mongols identified and mobilized artisans of diverse backgrounds, frequently transporting them from one cultural zone to another. Prominent among those transported were Muslim textile workers, resettled in China, where they made clothes for the imperial court. In a meticulous and fascinating account, the author investigates the significance of cloth and colour in the political and cultural life of the Mongols. Situated within the broader context of the history of the Silk Road, the primary line in East-West cultural communication during the pre-Muslim era, the study promises to be of interest not only to historians of the Middle East and Asia, but also to art historians and textile specialists. (For this item please quote stock ID 18698) ISBN: 9780521893145

Paleography, which often overlaps with archaeology, deciphers ancient inscriptions and modes of writing to reveal the knowledge and workings of earlier societies. In this now-classic paleographic study of China, Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien traces the development of Chinese writing from the earliest inscriptions to the advent of printing, with specific attention to the tools and media used. Now expanded and updated, this edition includes material that treats the many major documents and ancient Chinese artifacts uncovered over the 40 years since the book's first publication. Substantial contributions from Edward Shaughnessy, including a new afterword, complete this long-awaited second edition. Written on Bamboo and Silk - the only book of its kind available in English - has long been considered a landmark in its field. Critical in this regard is the excavation of numerous sites throughout China, where hundreds of thousands of documents written on bamboo and silk - as well as other media - were found, including some of the earliest copies of historical, medical, astronomical, military, and religious texts that are now essential to the study of early Chinese literature, history, and philosophy. Discoveries such as these have made the amount of material evidence on the origins and evolution of communication throughout Chinese history exceedingly broad and rich, and yet Tsien succeeds in tackling it all and building on the earlier classic work that changed the course of study and understanding of Chinese paleography. 'This admirable monograph covers the whole field of epigraphy and the technique of human communication, including the origins and development of paper and the use of it for writing, down to the time of the invention of printing' - Journal of Asian Studies. 'The best study on the subject, this book should be recommended not only to students of book history and of Chinese culture, but to those in other disciplines who are seeking evidence of the early stages of communication in Chinese Civilisation' - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien is professor emeritus of Chinese studies and curator emeritus of the East Asian Library at the University of Chicago. Edward L. Shaughnessy is the Lorraine J. and Herrlee G. Creel Professor in Early Chinese Studies at the University of Chicago. (For this item please quote stock ID 19170) ISBN: 9780226814186

Evidence from Shang oracle bones to memorials submitted to Western Han emperors attests to a long-lasting debate in early China over the proper relationship between humans and gods. One pole of the debate saw the human and divine realms as separate and agonistic and encouraged divination to determine the will of the gods and sacrifices to appease and influence them. The opposite pole saw the two realms as related and claimed that humans could achieve divinity and thus control the cosmos. This wide-ranging book reconstructs this debate and places within their contemporary contexts the rival claims concerning the nature of the cosmos and the spirits, the proper demarcation between the human and the divine realms, and the types of power that humans and spirits can exercise. It is often claimed that the worldview of early China was unproblematically monistic and that hence China had avoided the tensions between gods and humans found in the West. By treating the issues of cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinisation in a historical and comparative framework that attends to the contemporary significance of specific arguments, Michael J. Puett shows that the basic cosmological assumptions of ancient China were the subject of far more debate than is generally thought. (For this item please quote stock ID 19175) ISBN: 9780674009592

(For this item please quote stock ID 19188) ISBN: 9789629960896

On 8 February 1421 the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from China, commanded by Emperor Zhu Di to go to the 'end of the earth'. Their journey would last over two years and circle the entire globe. This historical detective story traces the astonishing voyages of the Chinese fleet. Gavin Menzies, Royal Navy Submarine Commanding Officer, retired, lived in China for two years before WW2. In the course of researching this book, he visited 120 countries, over 900 museums and libraries and every major sea port of the late Middle Ages. (For this item please quote stock ID 19335) ISBN: 9780553815221

In 1856 Emperor Hsien Feng turned over an ornately carved jade name-plaque next to his bedchamber, an action with which he brought a much-desired new concubine to his bed and unwittingly sealed the fate of the Manchu dynasty. A centuries-old prophecy had foretold that Manchu rule in China would be brought to ruin by a woman from the Yeho-Nala tribe; in the darkness of the bedchamber those words became reality. The Emperor was entranced with the young woman he had chosen, and from that time her power over him was ensured. Her name was Yehonala. Forced to enter the Forbidden City at the age of sixteen Yehonala lost her family, her betrothed and the life she had sought. She was entering a world of opulence, scholarship, intrigue and power struggles; a world that had remained for centuries untouched by the outside world or the passing of time, ruled by etiquette and tradition but with danger in every word or gesture. The beautiful young girl proved herself equal to all the court. She rose to be one of the greatest female autocrats in history, the most powerful person in China, maintaining her power with a mixture of seduction, intrigue, manipulation and even murder. (For this item please quote stock ID 20146) ISBN: 9780470848814

This volume seeks to study the connections between two well-studied epochs in Chinese history: the mid-imperial era of the Tang and Song (ca. 800-1270) and the late imperial era of the late Ming and Qing (1550-1900). Both eras are seen as periods of explosive change, particularly in economic activity, characterized by the emergence of new forms of social organization and a dramatic expansion in knowledge and culture. The task of establishing links between these two periods has been impeded by a lack of knowledge of the intervening Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). This historiographical 'black hole' has artificially interrupted the narrative of Chinese history and bifurcated it into two distinct epochs. This volume aims to restore continuity to that historical narrative by filling the gap between mid-imperial and late imperial China. The contributors argue that the Song-Yuan-Ming transition (early 12th- through the late 15th-century) constitutes a distinct historical period of transition and not one of interruption and devolution. They trace this transition by investigating such subjects as contemporary impressions of the period, the role of the Mongols in intellectual life, the economy of Jiangnan, urban growth, neo-Confucianism and local society, commercial publishing, comic drama, and medical learning. (For this item please quote stock ID 20204) ISBN: 9780674010963

This book explains the general intellectual climate of the early Ch?ing period, and the political and cultural characteristics of the Ch?ing regime at the time. Professor Huang brings to life the book?s central characters, Li Fu and the three great emperors - K?ang-hsi, Yung-cheng, and Chien-lung - whom he served. Although the author?s main concern is to explain the contributions of Li Fu to the Lu-Wang school of Confucianism, he also gives a clearly written account of the Lu-Wang and Ch?eng-Chu schools from the 12th-century to the 18th. In a clear, succinct style, Huang explains the historical differences between the Ch?eng-Chu and Lu-Wang schools without sacrificing the subtleties of either. The book culminates in a discussion of the hero-emperor K?ang-hsi?s appropriation of the ?Tradition of the Way? from his intellectual officials, which denied them their traditional role as moral censors and critics of the emperor?s exercise of authority. (For this item please quote stock ID 20367) ISBN: 9780521529464

This book describes how the Chinese government, between about 620 and 850, developed an official organisation designed to select, process, and edit material for inclusion in official historical works eventually to be incorporated in an official history of the dynasty. The first part gives a detailed account of the establishment of the official apparatus designed to produce a record of the T?ang dynasty, which would remain standard for more than a millennium, with some analysis of the individuals who served in these offices. The second part gives all available detail about the various works produced by this apparatus, divided among its various genres, and listing all known titles, their authorship, and their relationships to one another. The third part shows the cumulative process by which a dynastic history came into being, and the way in which we can detect various elements in the completed history. (For this item please quote stock ID 20370) ISBN: 9780521522939

This book argues that the Mongol invasion of the 13th century precipitated a transformation of marriage and property law in China that deprived women of their property rights and reduced their legal and economic autonomy. It describes how after a period during which women?s property rights were steadily improving, and laws and practices affecting marriage and property were moving away from Confucian ideals, the Mongol occupation created a new constellation of property and gender relations that persisted to the end of the imperial era. It shows how the Mongol-Yüan rule in China ironically created the conditions for radical changes in the law, which for the first time brought it into line with the goals of Learning the Way Confucians and which curtailed women?s financial and personal autonomy. The book re-evaluates the Mongol invasion and its influence on Chinese law and society. (For this item please quote stock ID 20379) ISBN: 9780521573733

For thirteen centuries grueling examinations were administered to male recruits of all ages for service to the emperor of China. For the fortunate few who passed, there were nine possible civil and military ranks to be earned. Each rank was identified by a finely embroidered silk square that was worn on the front and back of a surcoat. Ladder To The Clouds is the first comprehensive book on this subject and is divided into two distinct parts. Nominated for Pacific Rim Book Prize 'Engaging' ? Visual Resources. 'The dual approach to the study of rank badges and what they represent offers an entertaining glimpse into aspects of Ch'ing life and an excellent and informative reference book for anyone wanting to identify rank badges' ? Pacific Reader: An Asian Pacific North American Review of Books. 'A fascinating excursion to a world lost forever' ? The Wall Street Journal. 'In research, writing, and execution, this book is top-notch' ? PieceWork magazine. (For this item please quote stock ID 21310) ISBN: 9781580081276

[Indent] As early as the Warring States period in China (fourth through third centuries B.C.), debates arose concerning how and under what circumstances new institutions could be formed and legitimated. But the debates quickly encompassed more than just legitimation. Larger issues came to the fore: Can a sage innovate? If so, under what conditions? Where did human culture originally come from? Was it created by human sages? Is it therefore an artificial fabrication, or was it based in part on natural patterns? Is it possible for new sages to emerge who could create something better? This book studies these debates from the Warring States period to the early Han (second century b.c.), analysing the texts in detail and tracing the historical consequences of the various positions that emerged. It also examines the time?s conflicting narratives about the origin of the state and how these narratives and ideas were manipulated for ideological purposes during the formation of the first empires. While tracing debates over the question of innovation in early China, the author engages such questions as the prevailing notions concerning artifice and creation. This is of special importance because early China is often described as a civilisation that assumed continuity between nature and culture, and hence had no notion of culture as a fabrication, no notion that the sages did anything other than imitate the natural world. The author concludes that such views were not assumptions at all. The ideas that human culture is merely part of the natural world, and that true sages never created anything but instead replicated natural patterns arose at a certain moment, then came to prominence only at the end of a lengthy debate. (For this item please quote stock ID 21346) ISBN: 9780804736237

[Indent] An in-depth study of county government personnel and informal administrative practice in the Qing dynasty and its implications for state-society relations in the late imperial era. (For this item please quote stock ID 21347) ISBN: 9780804737586

The Summer Palace was first built in 1750, the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It was burned down by British and French invasion forces in 1860 and rebuilt in 1886 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu. The 273 sections of the Long Corridor (a total length of 728 metres) are decorated with more than 8000 paintings. The beams are painted with colourful human figures, landscapes, flowers and birds - all very delicate, vivid, and true to life. The most fascinating of these are the more than 200 paintings depicting historical figures, folk tales, myths, legends, and stories from classical novels and historical records. This work, rich in content, covers a 5000-year history of China. (For this item please quote stock ID 21397) ISBN: 9787800057069

This book is more than a series of tales about the intrigues, illicit love affairs, jealousies, and murders committed by the various women who populated the harems of China's many emperors. It is a unique retelling of major events in China's more than 3,000-year-old history as seen through the eyes of these courtesans. Each emperor had thousands of beauties at his beck and call. Most of themm, separated at a young age from their families, lived in the rear palace in loneliness and seclusion. A few, however, wielded great power or even gained supremacy over the imperial court. Their stories vividly portray the social customs and palace life in ancient China, and give new insights into the important role of women in Chinese history. (For this item please quote stock ID 21772) ISBN: 9787119020419

This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior scholar of this epoch, F. W. Mote highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule. No other work provides a similar synthesis: generational events, personalities, and the spirit of the age combine to yield a comprehensive history of the civilisation, not isolated but shaped by its relation to outsiders. This vast panorama of the civilisation of the largest society in human history reveals much about Chinese high and low culture, and the influential role of Confucian philosophical and social ideals. Throughout the Liao Empire, the world of the Song, the Mongol rule, and the early Qing through the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, culture, ideas, and personalities are richly woven into the fabric of the political order and institutions. This is a monumental work that will stand among the classic accounts of the nature and vibrancy of Chinese civilisation before the modern period. (For this item please quote stock ID 21812) ISBN: 9780674012127

Bejewelled women, embroidered robes, delicately painted fans and exquisite shoes conjure up a lost world of the rich elite of imperial China. This was a world of spacious mansions and gardens, of high-ranking officials and wealthy landlords, and of a domestic life conducted with decorum and taste, a world as much of cruelty and sorrow as of grandeur and luxury. (For this item please quote stock ID 21886) ISBN: 9789627283850

In China, much of life is lived on the street. Open-air markets, streetside stalls, portable kitchens wreathed in tantalising aromas - all turn the street into a place of unceasing encounter. Superb photography heightens the timeless quality of characters that have existed on China's streets for centuries but - given the pace of change - may not exist a century from now. (For this item please quote stock ID 21887) ISBN: 9789627283485

~The cave-temple complex popularly known as the Dunhuang caves is the world's largest extant repository of Tang Buddhist art. Among the best preserved of the Dunhuang caves is the Zhai Family Cave, built in 642. It is this remarkable cave-temple that forms the focus of Ning Qiang's cross-disciplinary exploration of the interrelationship of art, religion, and politics during the Tang. The author combines, in his careful examination of the paintings and sculptures found there, the historical study of pictures with the pictorial study of history. The result is a comprehensive analysis of the visual culture of the period and a vivid description of social life in medieval China.

~The original Zhai Family Cave pictures were painted over in the 10th century and remained hidden until the early 1940s. Once exposed, the early artwork appeared fresh and colourful in comparison with other Tang paintings at Dunhuang. The relatively fine condition of the Zhai Family Cave is crucial to our understanding of the original pictorial program found there and offers a unique opportunity to investigate the visual details of the original paintings and sculptures in the cave. At the same time, the remaining traces of reconstruction and redecoration provide a new perspective on how, for over three centuries, a wealthy Chinese clan used its familial cave as a political showcase.

~Ning Qiang teaches in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan. (For this item please quote stock ID 22633) ISBN: 9780824827038

~Across the Threshold of the Forbidden City removes the dust of time and takes us into the Forbidden City of yesterday. This book is a guide to the history and treasures that even today depict that life: the relics, their history and associated stories; the grand halls and squares and the magnificent ceremonies that took place within them; the decorations which hint at the luxurious but lonely lives the women lead; and the simple, buildings which emanate the tales of a servant's life. (For this item please quote stock ID 22641) ISBN: 9787505409064

~This volume constitutes the fourth volume in the series of Giles' works in bilingual format. Historic China, & Other Sketches serves a milestone for Giles' contributions to the renditions of Chinese history, culture, and literature, substantiated by his later masterpieces, including Gems of Chinese Literature (1884, 1922, 1923) and A History of Chinese Literature (1901).

~Contents
>1. The Great Exhibition at Lin-t'ung >2. A Version of a Golden Being >3. The Death of Ts'ao Ts'ao >4. A Visit to the Country of Gentlemen >5. The Intercession of Amida Buddha >6. The Rev. Mr. Gold >7. Preface [to the Record of the Chief Criminal Cases Tried by Lan Lu-chow] >8. The Three Body Snatches >9. Evil Effects of Superstitious Doctrines >10. A Witness from the Grave >11. The Blank Petition >12. A Dead Bweggar Gets a Wife & Son >13. The Robbers & the Widow >14. The Quarrelling Brothers >15. Altering the Register >16. Torture at an Inn >17. A Meddling God >18. The Efficacy of Pig's Blood >19. Two Troublesome Coffins

~>Compiler's Note I >Compiler's Note II >Biographical Note (For this item please quote stock ID 23159) ISBN: 9789574556632

This book examines traditional Chinese literacy primers in the context of intellectual involvement in elementary education. It analyses the contents of the primers, in terms of their relationship to the theory and practice of elementary education in late imperial China, their underlying philosophical premises, and what they reveal about elite attitudes towards children and childhood. By highlighting the ways in which these primers aimed to shape children's behaviour and moral outlook, the study points to a close link between elite conceptions of children and Confucian attempts to construct an ideal society. It thus provides a new perspective on pre-modern Chinese society and culture which may be relevant to our understanding of education in contemporary China. Bai Limin received her Ph.D in history and Asian Studies in 1994 from La Trobe University, Australia. She is now a Senior Lecturer in the School of Asian and European Languages of Victoria University of Wellington. Her current research focuses on the intelligentsia in late imperial China; educational theory and practice in pre-modern and contemporary China. (For this item please quote stock ID 23239) ISBN: 9789629961145

~Published with the assistance of the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation

~'Few themes in premodern China's social and intellectual life have had greater significance than ming. The Magnitude of Ming is the most wide-ranging, provocative and generally valuable interdisciplinary discussion in any language of this critical concept. Christopher Lupke is to be commended for this highly stimulating volume, which, despite the wide range of its subject matter, its broad disciplinary representation, and its chronological sweep, has a remarkable thematic coherence. This well-edited work will generate much discussion and fruitful debate among scholars of Chinese history, philosophy, religion, language and literature, as well as comparativists in these disciplines and will also serve as a valuable, indeed, indispensable, reference work. A first-rate production' - Richard Smith, Rice University.

~'The rich content of this volume substantiates its presiding thesis: 'ming [command/mandate/fate/life] is a ubiquitous term in Chinese thought, history, and literature'. By examining the topic in a wide variety of writings - from paleographic inscriptions and classical texts, through medieval ritual scriptures and traditional fiction and drama, to modern and contemporary literatures - the contributors reveal concretely the term's pliant polysemy further shaped by shifting linguistic and social contexts. The book will serve as a needed reference and stimulus for future inquiry' - Anthony Yu, University of Chicago.

~Few ideas in Chinese discourse are as ubiquitous as ming, variously understood as 'command', 'allotted lifespan', 'fate', or 'life'. In the earliest days of Chinese writing, ming was already present, invoked in divinations and etched into ancient bronzes; it has continued to inscribe itself down to the twenty-first century in literature and film. This volume assembles twelve essays by some of the most eminent scholars currently working in Chinese studies to produce the first comprehensive study in English of ming's broad web of meanings. The essays span the history of Chinese civilisation and represent disciplines as varied as religion, philosophy, anthropology, literary studies, history, and sociology. Cross-cultural comparisons between ancient Chinese views of ming and Western conceptions of moira and fatum are discussed, providing a specific point of departure for contrasting the structure of attitudes between the two civilisations.

~Ming is central to debates on the legitimacy of rulership and is the crucial variable in Daoist manuals for prolonging one's life. It has preoccupied the philosopher and the poet and weighed on the minds of commoners throughout imperial China. Ming was the subject of the great critic Jin Shengtan's last major literary work and drove the narrative of such classic novels as The Investiture of the Gods and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Confucius, Mencius, and most other great thinkers of the classical age, as well as those in ages to come, had much to say on the subject. It has only been eschewed in contemporary Chinese philosophy, but even its effacement there has ironically turned it into a sort of absent cause.

~Contributors: Stephen Bokenkamp, Zong-qi Cai, Robert Campany, Woei Lien Chong, Deirdre Sabina Knight, Christopher Lupke, Mu-chou Poo, Michael Puett, Lisa Raphals, P. Steven Sangren, David Schaberg & Patricia Sieber.

~Christopher Lupke is assistant professor of Chinese language and culture at Washington State University and associate editor of the Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese. (For this item please quote stock ID 23312) ISBN: 9780824827397

A plot against an eighteenth-century Chinese emperor is unravelled - and a vanished culture is illuminated - in this riveting account from an acclaimed historian. On an October morning in 1728, the most powerful military and civilian official in northwest China was on his way home from a colleague's party when a stranger ran toward him and passed him a large envelope. To the official's astonishment, the mysterious package contained a secret, treacherous plot to overthrow the Manchu government - a conspiracy that renowned historian Jonathan Spence here recounts in a gripping blend of cultural history and compelling narration. With the same vivid storytelling that made books like The Professor & the Madman, Longitude, and the author's own The Death of Woman Wang as entertaining and exciting as the most compelling novel, Treason By The Book uses this particularly dramatic and wonderfully colourful moment to illuminate a fascinating time and culture, with a compelling cast of characters and a plot that unfolds like a page-turning thriller. Drawing on the rich original manuscripts stored in the Beijing and Taipei archives, Jonathan Spence's amazing storytelling reveals much about the political and legal systems of eighteenth-century China. A mesmerizing and historically accurate portrait, Treason By The Book will appeal to all readers of superb narrative nonfiction. (For this item please quote stock ID 24088) ISBN: 9780142000410

Before Shanghai, there was Suzhou: a city of canals and commerce, gardens and scholars, the largest noncapital city on earth between 1400 and 1850. This book shows how, though Suzhou entered the Ming dynasty defeated and suspect, interactions between the imperial state and local elites gave rise to a network of markets that fostered high-quality local specialisation. Population growth and economic expansion followed, as did the acceptance of conspicuous consumption, critical distance from the imperial state, and the dissolution of traditional barriers between scholar-officials and merchants. These developments shaped Suzhou?s artistic and literary creativity, and made possible the continued success of its sons in the imperial examinations. Thus political success, cultural creativity, and economic centrality, the author argues, enabled Suzhou not just to influence the region, but to reshape the empire. (For this item please quote stock ID 24624) ISBN: 9780804731126

Rethinking world history has become a major concern of a significant number of historians over recent decades. In T'ang China S.A.M. Adshead engages with current debates by looking at the forces which have shaped China throughout its history. By offering a survey of T'ang China (618 970 AD), the book asks the questions: How did China come to occupy a central place in the world economy in pre modern times; what forces helped shape China during this period, known by the Chinese as their 'golden age'; how will these forces alter China's place in the world as we move into the Twenty First century? More broadly, the book explores the ways in which regional changes have, throughout history, shifted the balance of the world, politically, culturally and economically. (For this item please quote stock ID 24805) ISBN: 9781403934574

Using recent archaeological findings and little-known archival material, Wang Zhenping introduces readers to the world of ancient Japan as it was evolving toward a centralised state. Competing Japanese tribal leaders engaged in 'ambassador diplomacy' and actively sought Chinese support and recognition to strengthen their positions at home and to exert military influence on southern Korea. They requested, among other things, the bestowal of Chinese insignia: official titles, gold seals, and bronze mirrors. Successive Chinese courts used the bestowal (or denial) of the insignia to conduct geopolitics in East Asia. Wang Zhenping brings diplomatic history to life in his descriptions of the diplomats and their personalities and literary talents as well as their ambitions and frustrations. He explains in detail the rigorous criteria of the Chinese and Japanese courts in the selection of diplomats and how the two prepared for missions abroad. He journeys with a party of Japanese diplomats from their tearful farewell party to hardship on the high seas to their arrival amidst the splendors of Yangzhou and Changan and the Sui-Tang court. The depiction of these colourful events is combined with a sophisticated analysis of pre-modern diplomacy using the key concept of mutual self-interest and a discussion of two major modes of diplomatic communication: court reception and the exchange of state letters. Wang reveals how the parties involved conveyed diplomatic messages by making, accepting, or rejecting court ceremonial arrangements. Challenging the traditional view of China?s tributary system, he argues that it was not a unilateral tool of hegemony but rather a game of interest and power in which multiple partners modified the rules depending on changing historical circumstances. In addition to its masterful analysis of the role of language manipulation, Ambassadors from the Island of Immortals distinguishes itself from other works on China-Japan relations with its 'people-centered' approach to diplomatic history, thus revealing the human face of diplomatic institutions. Wang Zhenping is associate professor at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. (For this item please quote stock ID 24926) ISBN: 9780824828714

The Eurocentric conventional wisdom holds that the West is unique in having a multi-state system in international relations and liberal democracy in state-society relations. At the same time, the Sinocentric perspective believes that China is destined to have authoritarian rule under a unified empire. In fact, China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (656-221 BC) was once a system of sovereign territorial states similar to Europe in the early modern period. Both cases witnessed the prevalence of war, formation of alliances, development of the centralized bureaucracy, emergence of citizenship rights, and expansion of international trade. This book examines why China and Europe shared similar processes but experienced opposite outcomes. This historical comparison of China and Europe challenges the presumption that Europe was destined to enjoy checks and balances while China was preordained to suffer under a coercive universal status. (For this item please quote stock ID 24960) ISBN: 9780521525763

The empire of the Qara Khitai, one of the least known dynasties in the history of Central Asia, existed for nearly a century before it was conquered by the Mongols in 1218. Arriving in Central Asia from China, the Qara Khitai ruled over a mostly Muslim population. Their history affords a unique window onto the cross-cultural contacts between China, Inner Asian nomads and the Muslim world. Using Muslim and Chinese sources, Michal Biran writes about the legacy of the Qara Khitai. She considers their political, institutional and cultural histories to explore a range of topics including the organisation of the army, the position of the women and the religions of the Qara Khitai. Crucially she asks why they did not, unlike their predecessors and successors, embrace Islam. The book represents a groundbreaking contribution to the field of Eurasian history for students of the Islamic world, China and Central Asia. (For this item please quote stock ID 24961) ISBN: 9780521842266

This year is the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's first voyage to the Western Ocean. This book records the feats of a group of mankind's greatest explorers, who displayed courage in sailing again and again into the world of the unknown on board merchant ships. They started their voyages on treasure ships from the vast Western Pacific, crossed the mysterious and turbulent Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and got to the southeast coast of the Atlantic beyond, opening a navigation route linking three oceans. They thus erected the first monument to mankind's great navigation period, and in effect, expanded the millennium-old 'Maritime Silk Road' into a vast trading network between Asia and Africa. (For this item please quote stock ID 25009) ISBN: 9787119038544

One of the great breakthroughs in Chinese studies in the early 20th century was the archaeological identification of the earliest, fully historical dynasty of kings, the Shang (ca. 1300-1050 B.C.E.). The last 50 years have seen major advances in all areas of Chinese archaeology, but recent studies of the Shang, their ancestors, and their contemporaries have been especially rich. Since the last English-language overview of Shang civilisation appeared in 1980, the pace of discovery has quickened. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization is the first work in 25 years to synthesise current knowledge of the Shang for everyone interested in the origins of Chinese civilization. China in the Early Bronze Age traces the development of early Bronze Age cultures in North and Northwestern China from about 2000 BCE, including the Erlitou culture (often identified with the Xia) and the Erligang culture. Robert Thorp introduces major sites, their architectural remains, burials, and material culture, with special attention to jades and bronze. He reviews the many discoveries near Anyang, site of two capitals of the Shang kings. In addition to the topography of these sites, Thorp discusses elite crafts and devotes a chapter to the Shang cult, its divination practices, and its rituals. The volume concludes with a survey of the late Shang world, cultures contemporary with Anyang during the late second millennium BCE. Fully documented with references to Chinese archaeological sources and illustrated with more than 100 line drawings, this volume also includes informative sidebars on related topics and suggested readings. Students of the history and archaeology of early civilisations will find China in the Early Bronze Age the most up-to-date and wide-ranging introduction to its topic now in print. Scholars in Chinese studies will use this work as a handbook and research guide. For all readers, this volume makes fascinating reading in the formative stages of Chinese culture accessible. Robert L. Thorp is Professor Emeritus of Chinese Art History and Archaeology at Washington University, St. Louis. He is the author of Chinese Art & Culture. (For this item please quote stock ID 25167) ISBN: 9780812239102

Focusing on the Ming (1368-1644) and (especially) the Qing (1364-1912) eras, this book analyses crucial moments in the formation of cultural, regional, and religious identities. The contributors examine the role of the state in a variety of environments on China's 'peripheries,' paying attention to shifts in law, trade, social stratification, and cultural dialogue. They find that local communities were critical participants in the shaping of their own identities and consciousness as well as the character and behaviour of the state. At certain times the state was institutionally definitive, but it could also be symbolic and contingent. They demonstrate how the imperial discourse is many-faceted, rather than a monolithic agent of cultural assimilation. 'This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the construction of identity, especially ethnic identity, in China. The essays are well written and of high quality, and the research is uniformly impressive. Empire at the Margins will likely become a standard work concerning the frontiers of China and the peoples who lived there in the early modern period' - Joanna Waley-Cohen, New York University. (For this item please quote stock ID 25262) ISBN: 9780520230156

The Bronze Age state of the Western Zhou represented a ground-breaking period in Chinese culture and civilisation. This book addresses the complex relationship between geography and political power within the context of the crisis and fall of that state between 1045-771 BC. Drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, the book shows how inscribed bronze vessels can be used to reveal changes in the political space of the period, and explores literary and geographical evidence to produce a coherent understanding of the Bronze Age past. Feng Li is Assistant Professor of Early Chinese Cultural History at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University. He has undertaken extensive fieldwork on Bronze Age sites and is the author of numerous research articles on the Bronze Age. (For this item please quote stock ID 25359) ISBN: 9780521852722

Long before the civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome, China was already a vast empire, protected from the nomads of the Asian steppes by its famous Great Wall, and with rich and distinctive traditions in the arts, technology, and philosophy. Drawing on the latest discoveries by historians and archaeologists, this richly illustrated volume focuses on the outstanding achievements of ancient China. Spectacular artistic highlights include the glorious bronze cauldrons of the Shang dynasty, Buddhist cave paintings depicting daily life, and the Terracotta Army ? the extraordinary legion of clay soldiers fashioned to protect the First Emperor in the afterlife. Tracing the succession of dynasties from c.2000 BC to the end of the great Tang empire in the 10th century AD, Ancient China offers fascinating insights into key themes of Chinese life, society, and culture, including mythology, literature, music, calligraphy, Taoism, Buddhism, medicine, cooking, and the silk trade. A vivid and masterful illumination of a venerable heritage. Edward Shaughnessy is Professor of Early China at the University of Chicago. His books include The Cambridge History of Ancient China. (For this item please quote stock ID 25632) ISBN: 9781844831524

Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia commemorates the 600th anniversary of Admiral Zheng He's maiden voyage to Southeast Asia and beyond. The book is jointly issued by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and the International Zheng He Society. To reflect Asian views on the subject matter, nine articles written by Asian scholars - Chung Chee Kit, Hsu Yun-Tsiao, Leo Suryadinata, Tan Ta Sen, Tan Yeok Seong, Wang Gungwu, and Johannes Widodo - have been reproduced in this volume. Originally published from 1964 to 2005, the articles are grouped into three clusters. The first cluster of three articles examines the relationship of the Ming court, especially during the Zheng He expeditions, with Southeast Asia in general and the Malacca empire in particular. The next cluster looks at the socio-cultural impact of the Zheng He expeditions on some Southeast Asian countries, with special reference to the role played by Zheng He in the Islamization of Indonesia (Java) and the urban architecture of the region. The last three articles deal with the route of the Zheng He expeditions and the location of the places that were visited. Contents: >Preliminary pages with Introduction >1. The Opening of Relations between China and Malacca 1403-05 (Wang Gungwu) >2. The First Three Rulers of Malacca(Wang Gungwu) >3. Did Zheng He Set Out to Colonize Southeast Asia? (Tan Ta Sen) >4. Chinese Element in the Islamisation of Southeast Asia: A Study of the Story of Njai Gede Pinatih, the Great Lady of Gresik (Tan Yeok Seong) >5. Zheng He, Semarang and the Islamisation of Java: Between History and Legend (Leo Suryadinata) >6. A Celebration of Diversity: Zheng He and the Origin of the Pre-Colonial Coastal Urban Pattern in Southeast Asia (Johannes Widodo) >7. Notes Relating to Admiral Cheng Ho's Expeditions (Hsu Yun-Tsiao) >8. Did Admiral Cheng Ho Visit the Philippines? (Hsu Yun-Tsiao) >9. Longyamen is Singapore: The Final Proof? (Chung Chee Kit) (For this item please quote stock ID 26121) ISBN: 9789812303295

The 'Wu Family Shrines', one of the most important cultural monuments of early China, comprise approximately 50 stone slabs from the so-called Wu cemetery in Shandong province. Depicting emperors and kings, heroic women, filial sons, and mythological subjects, these famous carved and engraved reliefs may have been intended to reflect such basic themes as loyalty to the emperor, filial piety, and wifely devotion; centuries later, they vividly bring to life the art, social conditions, and Confucian ideology of the Eastern Han. This generously illustrated book examines the stone slabs and their rubbings as artefacts with a complex cultural history from the second century to the present, and addresses questions about the traditional identification of the structures as Han dynasty shrines of the Wu family. Written by a team of distinguished scholars in the fields of Chinese art and history, the book includes a novel examination of Han burial items in relation to burial belief, pictorial carvings, and funerary architecture. (For this item please quote stock ID 27190) ISBN: 9780300107975

The Han Dynasty was the first to be set up by common people. Emperor Wu built up a nation involving both government and commerce where commodities of all kinds became widely avialable. The systmem created by Emperor Wu formed the basis of the Chinese centralized bureaucrat system which lasted for 2000 years. The history of the time is recorded in the famous ?ShiJi?, which described the Han Dynasty as "a prosperous territory, with a gateway opened up to merchants from all over the world". (For this item please quote stock ID 28440) ISBN: 9787883673712

Wu Zetian is the only woman emperor in China's history. Although only an emperor's concubine, she finally came to dominate the whole nation, thus causing disputes throughout Chinese history as to her motives and abilities. After becoming a consort in 655, Wu Zetian intervened in state affairs for 29 years, then administered the country for 21 years in her own right. As an empress, Wu Zetian was an ironhanded person, but she was also noted for her culture and wisdom; the poet Li Bai regarded her as one of the seven sages of the Tang Dynasty. (For this item please quote stock ID 28441) ISBN: 9787883673712

In A.D. 1735, the Manchu Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne in the properous Qing Dynasty. Just like his grandfather, Emperor Qianlong took great pains throughout his life to reassure the Han population of his good intentions. In 1795, after 60 years' control of the country, he thought himself unsuitable to be on throne longer than his ancestors, so he passed the throne to his son, but continued to control the state. Under Qianlong, the Qing Danasty's golden age came to an end. (For this item please quote stock ID 28442) ISBN: 9787883673712

King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty was the first historical person known to have become the emperor of China, and the Zhou were the actual founders of the social system in its initial stages in China. Zhou Gongdan,young brother of King Wu also made the first code, the ZhouLi, which set out the rites and manners proper to ethical and political behavior (more than 3,000 kinds are recorded).This system extended to all fields of social life, establishing the foundation of Chinese civilization for over 5,000 years, and even today China is still under its influence. (For this item please quote stock ID 28446) ISBN: 9787883673712

In A.D. 483,the sixth generation of Beiwei (Northern Wei) Dynasty, who had a far-reaching influence in Chinese history, stepped on to the stage of history. His reform promoted progress and development and made the Beiwei Dynasty emerge as one of the most prosperous of Chinese dynasties. (For this item please quote stock ID 28447) ISBN: 9787883673712

In 1404, Emperor Yongle decided to move the capital to Beijing. While building the new capital, he carried on two major projects of great and historical significance. He called up more than 2000 scholars to compile the immense " Yongle Statutes". At the same time Emperor Yongle sent Zheng He to the West Ocean seven times. The explorer successively visited about 50 countries and regions which subsequently became tributary nations, reflecting the prosperity and power of this famous emperor. (For this item please quote stock ID 28448) ISBN: 9787883673712

(For this item please quote stock ID 28449) ISBN: 9787883673712

In Text and Ritual in Early China, leading scholars of ancient Chinese history, literature, religion, and archaeology consider the presence and use of texts in religious and political ritual. Through balanced attention to both the received literary tradition and the wide range of recently excavated artifacts, manuscripts, and inscriptions, their combined efforts reveal the rich and multilayered interplay of textual composition and ritual performance. Drawn across disciplinary boundaries, the resulting picture illuminates two of the defining features of early Chinese culture and advances new insights into their sumptuous complexity. Beginning with a substantial introduction to the conceptual and thematic issues explored in succeeding chapters, Text and Ritual in Early China is anchored by essays on early Chinese cultural history and ritual display (Michael Nylan) and the nature of its textuality (William G. Boltz). This twofold approach sets the stage for studies of the E Jun Qi metal tallies (Lothar von Falkenhausen), the Gongyang commentary to The Spring and Autumn Annals (Joachim Gentz), the early history of The Book of Odes (Martin Kern), moral remonstration in historiography (David Schaberg), the "Liming" manuscript text unearthed at Mawangdui (Mark Csikszentmihalyi), and Eastern Han commemorative stele inscriptions (K. E. Brashier). The scholarly originality of these essays rests firmly on their authors' control over ancient sources, newly excavated materials, and modern scholarship across all major Sinological languages. The extensive bibliography is in itself a valuable and reliable reference resource. This important work will be required reading for scholars of Chinese history, language, literature, philosophy, religion, art history, and archaeology. (For this item please quote stock ID 29262) ISBN: 9780295987873

A unique interdisicplinary history, The Death of a Thousand Cuts explores the history, iconography and legal contexts of Chinese tortures and executions from the 10th to the 20th Century. The authors also investigate 'oriental' tortures as viewed by the Western imagination. (For this item please quote stock ID 29583) ISBN: 9780805838312

(For this item please quote stock ID 4526) ISBN: 9789622175204

The first comprehensive survey of Chinese environmental history, this book crystallises a new field of scholarship that studies the creation of distinct environments as a result of the interaction of human social systems with the natural world. Pioneering essays explore new methodologies of historical environmental research, comparisons of China with the West and Japan, and the impact of the early modern ecological transformation on the spread of disease. An indispensable book for those trying to understand the foundations of modern China or the origins of many of contemporary China's most daunting challenges. 'This volume firmly brings the study of environmental history to focus as an integral part of Chinese history ... this book will stimulate a good deal of thought on the subject and inspire further work' - Ruth I. Meserve, Journal of Asian History. (For this item please quote stock ID 6731) ISBN: 9780521563819

(For this item please quote stock ID 7614) ISBN: 9780520005259

Compiled from records of events of the first years of the Warring States period, Zuozhuan (Zuo?s Commentary) is a book devoted to an interpretation of Chunqiu (The Spring and Autumn Annals). As well as being one of the ?Thirteen Confucian Classics?, it is widely acknowledged as a formidable history book and an epoch-making literary work. This book provides selected extracts of Zuozhuan in modern Chinese and English translations. (For this item please quote stock ID 6041) ISBN: 9787806422922

Cao Cao Cao Cao,Emperor Wu of the Kingdom of Wei. The statesman,strategist and poet in the three kingdoms period. At the close of the Eastern Han Dynasty,After the War of Guandu,he defeated the warlord Yuan Shao and gradually unified the northern China. Cao Pi Cao Pi,the second son of Cao Cao. A writer,also the founder of the Kingdom of Wei in the three kingdoms period. He came to the throne of Wei after the death of Cao Cao. Soon he declared himself the first emperor. he has got achievements in both writing and theory. Cao Zhi He was most noted for his poems. More than ninety poems remain today,His poems best represent the achievement and characteristics of the Jian'an style and contributes to the development of five-character poems. His literary works is Collection of Cao Zijian. (For this item please quote stock ID 28810) ISBN: 9787884082056

Du Fu Du Fu,a famous poet in Tang Dynasty,There are over 1400 poems left. They deeply reflect the society of over 20 years before and after insurrection by An Lushan and Shi Siming. The poems record Dufu's life experience vividly.He is called the Sage of Poem . Bai Juyi Bai Juyi,succeeding DuFu,is another outstanding realistic poet with the most enormous production among poets in Tang Dynasty. His poems have a greatest characteristic of common and smooth language. (For this item please quote stock ID 28812) ISBN: 9787884082056

Xuan Zang Xuan Zang,was a great sutra translator in Chinese history. He opened a new era for the sutra translation history in China. At the same time he gave sermon actively. Bound up in Buddhism education,he had a lot of eminent students. Xuanzang's sutra translation and missionizing made Chang'an the center of Buddhism in the era. Yue Fei Yue Fei,was a famous general against Jin invaders in the early Southern Song. he was killed by Zhao Gou and Qin Hui on some trumped-up charge. (For this item please quote stock ID 28813) ISBN: 9787884082056

(For this item please quote stock ID 25466) ISBN: 9787560041162

After the collapse of the Han dynasty in the third century ce, China divided along a north-south line. Mark Lewis traces the changes that both underlay and resulted from this split in a period that saw the geographic redefinition of China, more engagement with the outside world, significant changes to family life, developments in the literary and social arenas, and the introduction of new religions. The Yangzi River valley arose as the rice-producing center of the country. Literature moved beyond the court and capital to depict local culture, and newly emerging social spaces included the garden, temple, salon, and country villa. The growth of self-defined genteel families expanded the notion of the elite, moving it away from the traditional great Han families identified mostly by material wealth. Trailing the rebel movements that toppled the Han, the new faiths of Daoism and Buddhism altered every aspect of life, including the state, kinship structures, and the economy. By the time China was reunited by the Sui dynasty in 589 ce, the elite had been drawn into the state order, and imperial power had assumed a more transcendent nature. The Chinese were incorporated into a new world system in which they exchanged goods and ideas with states that shared a common Buddhist religion. The centuries between the Han and the Tang thus had a profound and permanent impact on the Chinese world. (For this item please quote stock ID 29885) ISBN: 9780674026056

Records of the Taiping Era, compiled during the Taiping Xingguo reign period (976-984) of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), is a collection of about 7,000 stories, dating from the pre-Qin period (770-221 BC) to the early Northern Song Dynasty. The stories, mainly myths and legends, record or recount a variety of strange happenings in a succinct style. The subjects and contents as well as the literary genre thus formed exerted a tremendous influence on the development of classical Chinese novels, and indeed on Chinese literature as a whole. Many writers of later generations have sourced materials for prose and drama works from the Records of the Taiping Era. In addition, thanks to material collected in the records, it has been possible for later generations to gain first-hand knowledge of some 400 lost books and documents. This book contains 155 of the best-written stories from the Records of the Taiping Era. (For this item please quote stock ID 29941) ISBN: 9787119050881

Written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, the Records of the Historian was the first general history in the form of a series of biographies to appear in China. It records the history of China from the most remote past, the era of the legendary founder of the Chinese nation Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) in prehistoric China to the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The book has 130 chapters, recording the progress of history by means of biographies of historical figures. It marked the start of biographical literature in China and had a far-reaching influence on the development of the historical and literary works of later generations. Records of the Historian was ranked by Lu Xun, China's literary giant of the 20th century, as the country?s leading work of history, the 31 chapters selected for inclusion in the book are regarded as the most outstanding of those in the original work. Most of them are taken from the Liezhuan (biographies of important figures) section. (For this item please quote stock ID 29947) ISBN: 9787119050904

(For this item please quote stock ID 30950) ISBN: 9787560078434

A collection of twenty-two Chinese and English-authored papers from the international symposium, "Chinese Culture, Past and Present: An International Conference in Commemoration of Frederick W. Mote". Professor F. W. Mote (1922-2005) is widely recognized as a key Sinologist, enjoying a great reputation for his erudition, generosity, and broad knowledge of China. These essays focus on Ming-Qing history and literature and are contributed by prominent scholars in the field. The publication of these works not only commemorate the life and work of Dr. Mote, but they also make a major contribution to Sinology. (For this item please quote stock ID 31253) ISBN: 9789629964030

[Indent] From the eleventh through the seventeenth centuries, the publishers of Jianyang in Fujian province played a conspicuous role in the Chinese book trade. Unlike the products of government and educational presses, their publications were destined for the retail book market. These publishers survived by responding to consumer demands for dictionaries, histories, geographies, medical texts, encyclopedias, primers, how-to books, novels, and anthologies. Their publications reflect the varied needs of the full range of readers in late imperial China and allow us to study the reading habits, tastes, and literacy of different social groups. The publishers of Jianyang were also businessmen, and their efforts to produce books efficiently, meet the demands of the market, and distribute their publications provide a window on commerce and industry and the growth of regional and national markets. The broad cultural, historical, and geographical scope of the Jianyang book trade makes it an ideal subject for the study of publishing in China. Based on an extensive study of Jianyang imprints, genealogies of the leading families of printers, local histories, documents, and annotated catalogues and bibliographies, Lucille Chia has written not only a history of commercial printing but also a wide-ranging study of the culture of the book in traditional China. (For this item please quote stock ID 19174) ISBN: 9780674009554

Chen Hongmou (1696-1771) was arguably the most influential Chinese official of the 18th century and unquestionably its most celebrated field administrator. He served as governor-general, governor, or in lesser provincial-level posts in more than a dozen provinces, achieving after his death cult status as a 'model official'. In this magisterial study, the author draws on Chen?s life and career to answer a range of questions: What did mid-Qing bureaucrats think they were doing? How did they conceive the universe and their society, what did they see as their potential to 'save the world', and what would the world, properly saved, be like? The answers to these questions are important not only because vast numbers of people were subject to these officials? governance, but because the verdict of their successors was that they did their jobs remarkably well and should be emulated. Three persistent tensions in elite consciousness focus the author?s investigation. First, the elite adhered to the fundamentalist moral dictates of Song neo-Confucian orthodoxy at the same time that a new valuation of pragmatic, technocratic prowess abhorrent to the moral tradition emerged. Second, two contradictory views on the use of 'statecraft' to achieve an ordered world were in place ? one that favoured the expansive use of the state apparatus, and one that emphasised indigenous local elites and communities. Finally, the subordination of human beings to the service of hierarchical social groupings contended with a growing appreciation of the dignity, moral worth, and productive potential of the individual. The author uses a holistic approach, attempting, for example, to explore how notions regarding gender roles and funerary ritual related to Qing economic thought, how the encounter with other cultures on the expanding frontiers helped form ideas of 'civilised' conduct at home, and how an official?s negotiation of the complex Qing bureaucracy affected his approach to social policy. The author also considers how attitudes formed during the prosperous and highly dynamic 18th century conditioned China?s responses to the crises it confronted in the centuries to follow. (For this item please quote stock ID 20036) ISBN: 9780804748186

Presenting a new approach to the history of Chinese kinship, this book attempts to bridge the gap between anthropological and historical scholarship on the Chinese lineage by considering its development in terms of individual and collective strategies. Based on a wide range of newly available sources such as lineage genealogies and stone inscriptions, as well as oral history and extensive observation of contemporary ritual practice in the field, this work explores the historical development of kinship in villages of the Fuzhou region of southeastern Fujian province. In the late imperial period (1368-1911), the people of Fuzhou compiled lengthy genealogies, constructed splendid ancestral halls, and performed elaborate collective rituals of ancestral sacrifice, testimony to the importance they attached to organised patrilineal kinship. In their writings on the lineage, members of late imperial elites presented such local behavior as the straightforward expression of universal and eternal principles. In this book, the author shows that kinship in the Fuzhou region was a form of strategic practice that was always flexible and negotiable. In using the concepts and institutions of kinship, individuals and groups redefined them to serve their own purposes, which included dealing with ethnic differentiation, competing for power and status, and formulating effective responses to state policies. Official efforts to promote a neo-Confucian agenda, to register land and population, and to control popular religion drove people to organise themselves on kinship principles and to institutionalise their kinship relationships. Local efforts to turn compliance with official policies, or at least claims of compliance, to local advantage meant that policymakers were continually frustrated. Because kinship was constituted in a complex of representations, it was never stable or fixed, but fluid and multiple. In offering this new perspective on this history of Chinese lineage practices, the author also provides new insights into the nature of cultural integration and state control in traditional Chinese society. (For this item please quote stock ID 19230) ISBN: 9780804742610

In 1644, the Manchus, a relatively unknown people inhabiting China?s rude northeastern frontier, overthrew the Ming, Asia?s mightiest rulers, and established the Qing dynasty, which endured to 1912. From this event arises one of Chinese history?s great conundrums: How did a barely literate alien people manage to remain in power for nearly 300 years over a highly cultured population that was vastly superior in number? This problem has fascinated scholars for almost a century, but until now no one has approached the question from the Manchu point of view. This book, the first in any language to be based mainly on Manchu documents, supplies a radically new perspective on the formative period of the modern Chinese nation. Drawing on recent critical notions of ethnicity, the author explores the evolution of the 'Eight Banners,' a unique Manchu system of social and military organisation that was instrumental in the conquest of the Ming. The author argues that as rulers of China the Manchu conquerors had to behave like Confucian monarchs, but that as a non-Han minority they faced other, more complex considerations as well. Their power derived not only from the acceptance of orthodox Chinese notions of legitimacy, but also, the author suggests, from Manchu 'ethnic sovereignty,' which depended on the sustained coherence of the conquerors. When, in the early 1700s, this coherence was threatened by rapid acculturation and the prospective loss of Manchu distinctiveness, the Qing court, always insecure, desperately urged its minions to uphold the traditions of an idealised 'Manchu Way.' However, the author shows that it was not this appeal but rather the articulation of a broader identity grounded in the realities of Eight Banner life that succeeded in preserving Manchu ethnicity, and the Qing dynasty along with it, into the twentieth century. (For this item please quote stock ID 18920) ISBN: 9780804746847

This pioneering study overturns conventional wisdom about ancient Chinese religious traditions by vividly portraying the social processes by which adepts could achieve recognition and legitimacy as transcendents (immortals). Campany convincingly demonstrates that some forms of self-cultivation and asceticism were culturally scripted performances that could have a profound impact on the audiences who observed or read about them, and that both adepts and the individuals they encountered were involved in constructing narratives about transcendence. Making Transcendents succeeds in bringing these seemingly ephemeral beings down from the summits and the clouds by locating them where they have always belonged: in the hearts of their worshippers and acquaintances. This eloquently written book should prove an invaluable resource for both teaching and research. -Paul R. Katz, Academia Sinica

Robert Campany, probably the most exciting thinker working in Chinese religions today, does not disappoint with this volume. One of the most original contributions of this path-breaking book is his re-reading of hagiographic accounts not merely as records of belief, accounts of divine individuals revealing something about the nature of the sacred, but also as records of real-world individuals, religious professionals, interacting with a community of believers, sceptics, officials, and hangers-on. Rigorous in its methodology, informed by the most current scholarship, and broadly comparative in its approach, Making Transcendents will significantly change the treatment of early Chinese religious history. It should have wide appeal among scholars of early China and to students of mysticism the world over. -Terry Kleeman, University of Colorado, Boulder

Robert Campany does a beautiful job of analysing the quest for transcendence in early medieval China, reconstructing the religious and social worlds within which this quest flourished and within which the seekers of transcendence lived, established their reputations, and were remembered thereafter. In order to tease out the complexities of how to understand these seekers and the texts in which they were commemorated, Campany draws upon the rich resources of theory in religious studies and thereby provides a powerful approach that will be inspiring to scholars of any religious tradition. This is a book that will help to bring Chinese materials into the larger conversation of religious studies in general, and it will undoubtedly become a classic.- Michael Puett, Harvard University

By the middle of the third century B.C.E. in China there were individuals who sought to become transcendents (xian) deathless, godlike beings endowed with supernormal powers. These quests for transcendence became a major form of religious expression and helped lay the foundation on which the first Daoist religion was built. Both xian and those who aspired to this exalted status in the centuries leading up to 350 C.E. have traditionally been portrayed as secretive and hermit-like figures. This groundbreaking study offers a very different view of xian-seekers in late classical and early medieval China. It suggests that transcendence did not involve a withdrawal from society but rather should be seen as a religious role situated among other social roles and conceived in contrast to them. Robert Campany argues that the much-discussed secrecy surrounding ascetic disciplines was actually one important way in which practitioners presented themselves to others. He contends, moreover, that many adepts were not socially isolated at all but were much sought after for their power to heal the sick, divine the future, and narrate their exotic experiences.

The book moves from a description of the roles of xian and xian-seekers to an account of how individuals filled these roles, whether by their own agency or by others? or, often, by both. Campany summarizes the repertoire of features that constituted xian roles and presents a detailed example of what analyses of those cultural repertoires look like. He charts the functions of a basic dialectic in the self-presentations of adepts and examines their narratives and relations with others, including family members and officials. Finally, he looks at hagiographies as attempts to persuade readers as to the identities and reputations of past individuals. His interpretation of these stories allows us to see how reputations were shaped and even co-opted sometimes quite surprisingly into the ranks of xian.

Making Transcendents provides a nuanced discussion that draws on a sophisticated grasp of diverse theoretical sources while being thoroughly grounded in traditional Chinese hagiographical, historiographical, and scriptural texts. The picture it presents of the quest for transcendence as a social phenomenon in early medieval China is original and provocative, as is the paradigm it offers for understanding the roles of holy persons in other societies.

About the Author
Robert Ford Campany is professor of religion and East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Southern California.

(For this item please quote stock ID 31175) ISBN: 9780824833336

These two volumes elucidate the manner in which there emerged, on the North China plain, hierarchically structured, functionally specialized social institutions organized on a political and territorial basis during the second millennium BC. They describe the way in which, during subsequent centuries, these institutes were diffused through much of the rest of North and Central China. Author Paul Wheatley equates the emergence of the ceremonial center, as evidenced in Shang China, with a functional and developmental stage in urban genesis, and substantiates his argument with comparative evidence from Nuclear America, Mesopotamia, Egypt, South-East Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Yoruba territories.The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City seeks in small measure to help redress the current imbalance between our knowledge of the contemporary, Western-style city on the one hand, and of the urbanism characteristic of the traditional world on the other. Those aspects of urban theory which have been derived predominantly from the investigation of Western urbanism, are tested against, rather than applied to ancient China." The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City" examines the cosmological symbolism of the Chinese city, constructed as a world unto itself. It suggests, with a wealth of argument and evidence, that this cosmo-magical role underpinned the functional unity of the city everywhere, until new bases for urban life began to develop in the Hellenistic world. Whereas the majority of previous investigations into the nature of the Chinese city have been undertaken from the standpoint of elites, The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City has adopted a point of view closer to that of the social scientist than the geographer. About the author Paul Wheatley was professor and chairman of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He was most famous for his work dealing with comparative urban civilization. Some of his books include The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, 7th to 10th Centuries; Nagara and Commandery, Origins of the Southeast Asian Urban Traditions; and The Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore (with K. S. Sandhu). (For this item please quote stock ID 29334) ISBN: 9780202362021

The civilisations of Ancient Asia have played a major role in humankind's development through their accumulated knowledge and impressive achievements, yet they are little known to most Americans. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations is a new and exciting addition to Facts On File's series of encyclopedias on ancient history. Written by one of the pre-eminent scholars in the field, this authoritative single-volume reference covers ancient Asia from the Indus Valley Civilisation in approximately 3000 BCE through the Cambodian empires of Funan, Chenla, and Angkor that lasted until the 15th century. No previous work has brought together the complete range of early states under one cover. In many cases the civilisations included have thus far been treated only marginally in English literature. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations is the ideal resource for high school and college students researching the subject as well as a useful schorlarly reference. Likewise, the many travellers who are headed to Asia will find this historical overview enlightening. The encyclopedia begins with a lenghty introduction to the history of the region, followed by approximately 900 detailed A-to-Z entries that cover archaelogical sties, agricultural and economic development, personalities and political institutions, as well as articles on religion, trade, warfare, and other important topics. Easy to use and valuable for quick reference, more in-depth research, and browsing , this volume is an essential addition to every library's world history collection. Civilisations covered include: >Ancient Burma >Ancient China >Ancient India >Ancient Japan >Ancient Korea >Ancient Sri Lanka >Central Asia & the Silk Road >Champa in Vietnam >Dvaravati in Thailand >Funan, Chenla, & Angkor in Cambodia >The Indus Civilisation >The Maritime states of Southeast Asia Charles Higham is professor of anthropology at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Recognised as one of the leading international authorities on the civilisation of southeast and East Asia, he has, over more than 30 years, directed a series of major excavations in Thailand, and been the author of more than a dozen books, including The Civilization of Angkor and The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia. (For this item please quote stock ID 22013) ISBN: 9780816046409

In the 13th century, the Mongols created a vast transcontinental empire that functioned as a cultural ?clearing house? for the Old World. Under Mongol auspices various commodities, ideologies and technologies were disseminated across Eurasia. The focus of this path-breaking study is the extensive exchanges between Iran and China. The Mongol rulers of these two ancient civilisations ?shared? the cultural resources of their realms with one another. The result was a lively traffic in specialist personnel and scholarly literature between East and West. These exchanges ranged from cartography to printing, from agriculture to astronomy. The book concludes by asking why the Mongols made such heavy use of sedentary scholars and specialists in the elaboration of their court culture and why they initiated so many exchanges across Eurasia. This is a work of great erudition which crosses new scholarly boundaries in its analysis of communication and culture in the Mongol empire. 'Thomas Allsen?s book is a very compact and informative account of the cultural changes which took place during the supremacy of the Mongols. Allsen is able to share with the reader his impressive knowledge of the Arabic, Persian, and Chinese sources regarding the Mongols. The cross-cultural links, their implications and their background in this highly interesting period of history are presented in a systematic manner, making the book of great value for scholars in a variety of fields' - Bibliotheca Orientalis (For this item please quote stock ID 24909) ISBN: 9780521602709

'Timely and valuable?a substantial and indeed fascinating contribution to the study of early China' - American Historical Review. (For this item please quote stock ID 24932) ISBN: 9780824829056

This superb collection of essays on late imperial and modern Chinese history spans the brilliant forty-year career of the late Frederic E. Wakeman, Jr. Appearing for the first time in one volume, the essays offer richly textured narratives of critical historical events as well as sweeping analyses of China's place in world history. They take us from the late Ming dynasty to the People's Republic?delving into complex issues of Confucianism and intellectual history, the nitty-gritty details of Jiangyin localism, wartime Shanghai, and more. Always there is engagement with the larger concerns of history and the social sciences: the public sphere, rebellion and revolution, the world crisis of the seventeenth century, and the influence of imperialism.

(For this item please quote stock ID 31677) ISBN: 9780520256064

[Indent] From 1625 to 1627 scholar-officials belonging to a militant Confucianist group known as the 'Donglin Faction' suffered one of the most gruesome political repressions in China's history. Many were purged from key positions in the central government for their relentless push for a national moral rearmament under the Tianqi emperor. While their martyrs' deaths won them a lasting reputation for heroism and steadfastness, their opponents are remembered for fatally degrading the quality of Ming political life with their arrests and tortures of Donglin partisans. (For this item please quote stock ID 18063) ISBN: 9780824824754

The subject of sex was central to early Chinese thought. Discussed openly and seriously as a fundamental topic of human speculation, it was an important source of imagery and terminology that informed the classical Chinese conception of social and political relationships. This sophisticated and long-standing tradition, however, has been all but neglected by modern historians. In The Culture of Sex in Ancient China, Paul Rakita Goldin addresses central issues in the history of Chinese attitudes toward sex and gender from 500 B.C. to A.D. 400. A survey of major pre-imperial sources, including some of the most revered and influential texts in the Chinese tradition, reveals the use of the image of copulation as a metaphor for various human relations, such as those between a worshiper and his or her deity or a ruler and his subjects. In his examination of early Confucian views of women, Goldin notes that, while contradictions and ambiguities existed in the articulation of these views, women were nevertheless regarded as full participants in the Confucian project of self-transformation. He goes on to show how assumptions concerning the relationship of sexual behaviour to political activity (assumptions reinforced by the habitual use of various literary tropes discussed earlier in the book) led to increasing attempts to regulate sexual behavior throughout the Han dynasty. Following the fall of the Han, this ideology was rejected by the aristocracy, who continually resisted claims of sovereignty made by impotent emperors in a succession of short-lived dynasties. Erudite and immensely entertaining, this study of intellectual conceptions of sex and sexuality in China will be welcomed by students and scholars of early China and by those with an interest in the comparative development of ancient cultures. Paul Rakita Goldin teaches Chinese history and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. (For this item please quote stock ID 16133) ISBN: 9780824824822

Complied by the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, this title is a splendid historical work that reveals in intricate detail the essence of Chinese ancient mapping culture. (For this item please quote stock ID 3370) ISBN: 9787805293097

The material presented here, from the Institute of Cultural and Historical Relics and Archaeology, Hubei Province and the Museum of Chongqing City, was unearthed from cities and counties affected by the Three Gorges Reservoir Project. (For this item please quote stock ID 15753) ISBN: 9787536648296

The imperial residence of Chengde was built by two powerful and ambitious Manchu emperors between 1703 and 1780 in the mountains of Jehol. The site, which is on UNESCO's World Heritage List, combines the largest classical gardens in China with a unique series of grand monasteries in the Sino-Tibetan style. Mapping Chengde, the first scholarly publication in English on the Manchu summer capital, reveals how this unlikely architectural and landscape enterprise came to help forge a dynasty's multicultural identity and concretize its claims of political legitimacy. Using both visual and textual materials, the author explores the hidden dimensions of landscape, showing how geographical imagination shaped the aesthetics of Qing court culture while proposing a new interpretation of the mental universe that conceived one of the world's most remarkable examples of imperial architecture. Philippe Forêt is assistant professor in the Department of Geography and International Academic Programs, University of Oklahoma. (For this item please quote stock ID 7099) ISBN: 9780824822934

This chronicle - a rich blend of history, anecdotal narrative, biographical portraits and illustrations - carries readers through 500 years of imperial China. Much of the material for this volume, produced in collaboration with the producers of a documentary film, was collected during unprecedented access to the historical archives in Beijing. This truly unique book contains short but informative essays dealing with, among other things, the history and layout of the palace; the role of the emperor, the ceremony and symbolism associated with his office; the Jesuit fathers, valued for their scientific skills but not for their faith; the private lives of the emperors, their consorts and concubines, and the hundreds of eunuchs and serving maids who kept the system running. Contents: >Map of the Forbidden City >Foreword >Introduction >Outer Court >Inner Court >The Sun at Noon >Chronology of Ming & Qing dynasties >Select >Bibliography >Index (For this item please quote stock ID 24382) ISBN: 9787800474729

When society has already entered an age of high-tech and computers, an army of powerful imperial soldiers clad in armour and wielding threatening weapons suddenly looms out of the fog of time. As mysterious as extraterrestrial beings, the terracotta soldiers are at the same time life-like. They emerge out of the earth under which they have remained buried and unknown for more than 2200 years. Was it because they could no longer bear the darkness and loneliness underground, or because they wanted to reveal their ancient, long forgotten glory? Or was it because Emperor Qin Shi Huang had always intended to demonstrate to later generations his absolute imperial power? For whatever reason, the reappearance of his legions has given the impression that the story of China is a book we may never fully comprehend. (For this item please quote stock ID 21457) ISBN: 9787503218811

The Forbidden City in Beijing, the seat of Imperial power for five centuries, is one of the greatest sites in the world. Completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty, it was designed to convey the incredible wealth and status of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, the god-appointed link between the deity and his subjects. With vast courtyards, magnificent halls of audience and over 9000 rooms, it is a palace and a city on a truly cosmic scale. Some 120 million people, more than the entire population of Europe, were ruled from the Forbidden City. The life of rigid protocol and ritual remained unchanged, frozen in time, until the Republican revolution meant the abdication of the last Emperor in 1912. The Forbidden City was renamed The Palace Museum and opened to the general public in 1924. With 100 illustrations, a newly designed plan and other maps, this is a superb and informative guide to a truly magnificent site. Features: >A stunningly illustrated & informative guide as well as an historical overview >Newly designed map of the Forbidden City plus other maps & ground plans ensure an easy understanding of this extraordinary & complex site >A concise text explains the function of the sacred centre of the Chinese Antony White is an art historian and a publisher. He has been working on illustrated books on the land and art of China for the past 25 years. (For this item please quote stock ID 22244) ISBN: 9789628621538

A new approach, using new data, to the complex problem of how states came to form in China from the late Neolithic to the Bronze Age. This important new study makes use of an interdisciplinary approach to challenge traditional theories of state formation in China and promote debate on early Chinese history. Analysing data from archaeology, geology, cultural geography, ethno-history and ancient texts, the authors show how the procurement of key external resources ? especially metal and salt ? drove the dynamics of state formation in early China in the period 1800-1400 BC. (For this item please quote stock ID 22593) ISBN: 9780715632246

Maurice Cotterell is a bestselling author, engineer and pioneering scientist, specialising in the connection between astrology, fertility and catastrophe cycles. (For this item please quote stock ID 19921) ISBN: 9780747271338

In a series of well-documented case studies ranging over the centuries, contributors examine aspects of early Daoism and Buddhism as essential background to the sectarian movements of the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) periods. They take up White Lotus ('Eternal Mother') millenarianism prior to and during the 18th century and the Triads of the 19th, who were, it seems, only politically heterodox. Finally the most radical and populist traditions are explored: the quasi-Christian Taipings of the 19th century and the elite Republican movement of the early 20th. Heterodoxy in Late Imperial China attempts to define the efforts of groups and individuals to propose alternatives to the formidable socio-ethical orthodoxy of China's heritage. By approaching modern China from its long-standing tradition of dissent, it provides essential reading for those seeking the enduring themes of China's non-official history and especially the transition between the late imperial and modern eras. Contributors: Richard Bohr, David Faure, Wen-Hsiung Hsu, Paul Katz, Whalen Lai, Kwang-Ching Liu, Don Price, Richard Shek, Donald Sutton. Kwang-Ching Liu is emeritus professor of history at the University of California, Davis. Richard Shek is professor of humanities at California State University, Sacramento. (For this item please quote stock ID 22628) ISBN: 9780824825386

China is known for its deep veneration of history. Far more than a record of the past, history to the Chinese is the magister vitae (teacher of life): the storehouse of moral lessons and bureaucratic precedents. Mirroring the Past presents a comprehensive history of traditional Chinese historiography from antiquity to the mid-Qing period. Organised chronologically, the book traces the development of historical thinking and writing in Imperial China, beginning with the earliest forms of historical consciousness and ending with adumbrations of the fundamentally different views engendered by mid-nineteenth-century encounters with the West. The historiography of each era is explored on two levels: first, the gathering of material and the writing and production of narratives to describe past events; second, the thinking and reflecting on meanings and patterns of the past. Significantly, the book embeds within this chronological structure integrated views of Chinese historiography, bringing to light the purposive, didactic, and normative uses of the past. Examining both the worlds of official and unofficial historiography, the authors lay bare the ingenious ways in which Chinese scholars extracted truth from events and reveal how schemas and philosophies of history were constructed and espoused. They highlight the dynamic nature of Chinese historiography, revealing that historical works mapped the contours of Chinese civilisation not for the sake of understanding history as disembodied and theoretical learning, but for the pragmatic purpose of guiding the world by mirroring the past in all its splendor and squalor. On-cho Ng is associate professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. Q. Edward Wang is professor of history at Rowan University. (For this item please quote stock ID 24895) ISBN: 9780824829131

The Terracotta Army is one of the greatest, and most famous, archaeological discoveries of all time. 8,099 life-size figures of warriors and horses were interred in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of China ? each is individually carved, and they are thought to represent real members of the emperor?s army. This is the remarkable story of their creation, the man who ordered them made, their rediscovery and their continuing legacy as a pre-eminent symbol of Chinese greatness. The First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was king of the Chinese state of Qin and the first man to unite China into a single empire. He built the first Great Wall and brought a single written script to the whole country. He was an inspired and ruthless ruler, but one also beset by paranoia and a desire for immortality. He is still considered the founding father of the modern state of China. On his death in 210 BC he was buried in a giant mausoleum near modern-day Xi?an. Legends of the treasures contained therein still tantalize the imagination today. In 1974 local farmers digging a well for water broke through into the burial mound and found the first of the Terracotta warriors. Further excavations have revealed the full splendour of the buried army. But the majority of the mausoleum is yet to be opened, including the burial chamber itself ? myth tells us that amongst the treasures yet to be uncovered is a vast map of the First Emperor?s kingdom with rivers marked with channels of flowing mercury. The story of the First Emperor and the Terracotta Army is a fascinating one, not least for the discoveries yet to be made. About the Author MAN John is a historian and travel writer with a special interest in Mongolia and China. After reading German and French at Oxford he did two postgraduate courses, one in the history of science at Oxford , the other in Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of GENGHIS KHAN, ATTILA THE HUN and KUBLAI KHAN (For this item please quote stock ID 28531) ISBN: 9780593059302

A Mysterious Imperial Palace An Earthshaking Documentary Epic Base on the chief resource of The Forbidden City, which is a costly 12-episode documentary series invested and produced by CCTV, and also took a lot of effort from both CCTV and NGC’s numerous senior producers, Inside the Forbidden City was finally released. As a quintessential version of The forbidden City, Inside the Forbidden City perform a panorama of the Forbidden City with a unique cultural focus, up-to-date manner of story-telling style and smooth narration which lays out the whole procedures the how an imperial palace changed into a national museum. It also uncovers multitudinous unknown stories behind the high wall and shows countless invaluable treasures in the Palace. Moreover, Chinese ancient history and culture are reviewed and re-analyzed via the narration presented by the remarkable Hollywood actress, Joan Chen, who is the well known all over the world. Inside the Forbidden City is not only an essential chronicle of the Palace but also an expected classical audio-visual masterpiece. Part 1: Secrets Part 2: Survival (For this item please quote stock ID 28745) ISBN: 9787799815992

Genghis Khan was not only a dazzling star among military leaders, the proudest hero in the Mongolian nationality, but also an emperor who was very accessible to his subjects. hIS death Is a mystery: was he hit by arrows or lightining, did he die falling from his horse or from illness or was he assassinated? The location of his tomb is equally mysterious. (For this item please quote stock ID 28437) ISBN: 9787883673712

During the 10 years from B.C. 230 to B.C.221, the Qin Dynasty eliminated six rivals one by one and finally achieved China's political unity. Qin Shihuang set up a large unified kingdom based on agriculture, adopting a centralized system with the emperor as the centre. Uniquely he also adopted black as the colour of his rule. His state held unprecedentedly wide territories with great differences in local customs and culture from area to area. Qin Shihuang established and standardized currency, weights, characters, measures and wheel gauges, setting the Qin's influence for many centuries to come. (For this item please quote stock ID 28438) ISBN: 9787883673712

In his bestselling book '1421: The year China Discoverd the World' Gavin Menzies revealed that it was the Chinese that discovered America, not Columbus. Now he presents further astonishing evidence that it was also Chinese advances in science, art and technology that formed the basis of the European Renaissance and our modern world. (For this item please quote stock ID 29239) ISBN: 9780007275861

Imagine that you found dragon bones once used to predict the future; that you wrote a poem in the book of songs; that you played the bronze bells in the orchestra of Marquis Yi; that you heard Confucius advising kings how they should behave; that when digging a well you uncovered the terracotta army guarding the tomb of the First Emperor. Read more about this in Life in Ancient China. (For this item please quote stock ID 29661) ISBN: 9780750947299

Lord Macartney’s mission to China was the first British attempt to establish foreign diplomatic relations with the imperial rulers of the Qing empire (1644-1911). The embassy failed to achieve its official aims, but its participants returned with a rich cargo of information and observation concerning an empire which previously has been courted and spurned, idealised and caricatured, most notably, perhaps, in the fashion for ‘chinoiserie’. These essays assess the reasons for Macartney’s failure and explore the misunderstandings and misconceptions that dogged the mission, particularly the problems raised by established ritual and diplomatic practices. Contributions by leading historians of the mission and of Qing diplomacy offer new readings of the embassy and its reverberations which - as for example in Britain’s negotiations over Hong Kong - can still be felt today. (For this item please quote stock ID 4501) ISBN: 9780948454196

The ancient tea-horse road from Sichuan to Tibet played a crucial role in the history of solidarity and exchanges between the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups in China. It was the most prominent route among all the trade paths between Sichuan and Tibet. Scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have described this ancient trade route in the following, "Along this ancient road have concentrated the best natural and human sights of China." (For this item please quote stock ID 29005) ISBN: 9787119038964

To the modern reader, the Silk Road conjures up images of fabled cities and and exotic lands, of long-gone empires and great conquerors. In this authoritative book, Luce Boulnois explores the encounter between East and West across the vast continental expanse tht seprates the Mediterranean world from the Chinese one. She unravels in a clear and compelling way the complex threads that make up the history of these great overland trade routes, which allowed transmission across the world of ideas and beliefs, techniques and works of art, helping to shape the civilizations that flourished along the way. How did the Romans, following in the footsteps of Greeks, discover these far-flung regions? What did the Chinese know of the European world? How did they manage to keep the secret of silk manufacture safe to centuries? Did Marco Polo really go to China, or was he just a clever impostor? But the importance of Central Asia is not just a thing of the past, and the author discusses its significance in the modern world in cultural and geopolitical terms, including the implications of the most recent events taking place there. (For this item please quote stock ID 22996) ISBN: 9789622177215

Among the ancient monarchs of China, Li Shimin can be regarded as the most glorious. A Buddhist all his life, Li Shimin first received help from a monk in Shaolin Temple while consolidating his forces. When he came to power, he built the Temple of God and worshipped Buddha relics. The Tang Dynasty under Li Shimin's control acheived its greatest prosperity. Taizong took an extremely broad attitude toward all kinds of religions and this attitude remains a hallmark of the cosmopolitan Tang epoch. (For this item please quote stock ID 28439) ISBN: 9787883673712

被历代尊为“文圣”的孔子，是我国古代著名的思想家、伟大的教育家、政治活动家。他的名字蜚声中外，他的思想博大精深，波及中外，对后世产生过很大的影响。为了继承和弘扬中华优秀传统文化，我们应对孔子进行认真研究和正确对待。 本书不同于正史，不同于文学虚构，这是一个具有千年金刚不坏之身，依然活生生地活跃在你、我、他身边的“文圣人”。全书图文并茂，为您深刻讲述一代“文圣”。 (For this item please quote stock ID 36307) ISBN: 9787503420504