Download or read book Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History written by Harriet Zurndorfer and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-04-25 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines one of the most important problems concerning Chinese civilization - how was the pattern of stability and continuity of Chinese society and economy achieved and maintained from approximately 800 to 1800. It uses the results of detailed, specialized research about the Chinese landholding system, marketing patterns, the role of the extended family therein, taxation and non-elite social groups in one specific locale to answer questions that historians of any civilization ask about the structure and functioning of a given society. The author has investigated the development of the Hui-chou community over a 1,000 year period by concentrating on six grand questions, each answered by one chapter. The answers to these questions, as given in this work, show that 'stability' is a dynamic concept. 'Continuity' in Hui- chou is the result of the 'changes' in population growth, commercialization, and class differentiation acting in concert over the long term.
Download or read book How the Past was Used written by Peter Lambert and published by Proceedings of the British Aca. This book was released on 2017 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how societies put the past to use and how, in the process, they represented it: in short, their historical culture. It brings together anthropologists, historians, and literary scholars to address the means by which societies, groups, and individuals have engaged with the past and expressed their understanding of it. The utility of the past has proven almost as infinitely variable as the modes of its representation. It might be a matter of learning lessons from experience, or about the legitimacy of a cause or regime, or the reputation of an individual. Rival versions and interpretations reflected, but also helped to create and sustain, divergent communities and world views. With so much at stake, manipulations, distortions, and myths proliferated. But given also that evidence of past societies was fragmentary, fragile, and fraught with difficulties for those who sought to make sense of it, imaginative leaps and creativity necessarily came into the equation. Paradoxically, the very idea that the past was indeed useful was generally bound up with an image of history as inherently truthful. But then notions of truth proved malleable, even within one society, culture, or period. Concerned with what engagements with the past can reveal about the wider intellectual and cultural frameworks they took place within, this book is of relevance to anyone interested in how societies, communities, and individuals have acted on their historical consciousness.
Download or read book The Song Yuan Ming Transition in Chinese History written by Paul Jakov Smith and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-23 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 book 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 twelfth through the late fifteenth 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.
Download or read book China Transformed written by R. Bin Wong and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The assumption still made in much social science research that Europe provides a universal model of development is fundamentally mistaken, according to R. Bin Wong. The solution is not, however, simply to reject Eurocentric norms but to build complementary perspectives, such as a Sinocentric one, to evaluate current understandings of European developments. A genuinely comparative perspective, he argues, will free China from wrong expectations and will allow those working on European problems to recognize the distinct character of Western development.
Download or read book A Social History of Maoist China written by Felix Wemheuer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new social history of Maoist China provides an accessible view of the complex and tumultuous period when China came under Communist rule.
Download or read book Contemporary Chinese Societies written by and published by . This book was released on 2001-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For students, businesspeople, or anyone planning to travel to China, here is a multimedia presentation of the diversity of modern China in the context of its traditional roots. As both an integrated curriculum and "virtual" introduction, this new CD-ROM combines imagery, music, and the spoken language with text and narrative that are grounded in the latest scholarship. Minimum System Requirements: PC: Windows95 Pentium 100, 32 MB RAM, 16-bit color display, 2X CD-ROM Macintosh: System 7.5 68040 processor, 32 MB RAM, 16-bit color display, 2X CD-ROM
Download or read book AJi an Literati and the Local in Song Yuan Ming China written by Anne Gerritsen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2007 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on largely local sources, including local gazetteers and literati inscriptions for religious sites, this book offers a comprehensive examination of what it means to be 'local' during the Southern Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties in Ji'an prefecture (Jiangxi). It argues that 'belonging locally' was important to Ji'an literati throughout this period. How they achieved that, however, changed significantly. Southern Song and Yuan literati wrote about religious sites from within their local communities, but their early Ming counterparts wrote about local temples from their posts at the capital, seeking to transform local sites from a distance. By the late Ming, temples had been superseded by other sites of local activism, including community compacts, lineage prefaces, and community covenants.
Download or read book The Retreat of the Elephants written by Mark Elvin and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004-03-10 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eminent China scholar delivers a landmark study of Chinese culture’s relationship to the natural environment across thousands of years of history. Spanning the three millennia for which there are written records, The Retreat of the Elephants is the first comprehensive environmental history of China. It is also a treasure trove of literary, political, aesthetic, scientific, and religious sources, which allow the reader direct access to the views and feelings of Chinese people toward their environment and their landscape. China scholar and historian Mark Elvin chronicles the spread of the Chinese style of farming that eliminated elephant habitats; the destruction of most of the forests; the impacts of war on the landscape; and the re-engineering of the countryside through gigantic water-control systems. He documents the histories of three contrasting localities within China to show how ecological dynamics defined the lives of the inhabitants. And he shows that China in the eighteenth century was probably more environmentally degraded than northwestern Europe around this time. Indispensable for its new perspective on long-term Chinese history and its explanation of the roots of China’s present-day environmental crisis, this book opens a door into the Chinese past.
Download or read book Modern China written by Bruce A. Elleman and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-01-29 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in a fully updated edition, this accessible text provides a balanced history of modern China in a global context. The authors focus especially on China’s culture, warfare, and immediate neighbors and provide a unique comparative approach to bridge the cultural divide separating Chinese history from Western readers trying to understand it.
Download or read book China in World History written by Paul S. Ropp and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-09 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a fascinating compact history of Chinese political, economic, and cultural life, ranging from the origins of civilization in China to the beginning of the 21st century. Historian Paul Ropp combines vivid story-telling with astute analysis to shed light on some of the larger questions of Chinese history. What is distinctive about China in comparison with other civilizations? What have been the major changes and continuities in Chinese life over the past four millennia? Offering a global perspective, the book shows how China's nomadic neighbors to the north and west influenced much of the political, military, and even cultural history of China. Ropp also examines Sino-Indian relations, highlighting the impact of the thriving trade between India and China as well as the profound effect of Indian Buddhism on Chinese life. Finally, the author discusses the humiliation of China at the hands of Western powers and Japan, explaining how these recent events have shaped China's quest for wealth, power and respect today, and have colored China's perception of its own place in world history.
Download or read book Modern China A Very Short Introduction written by Rana Mitter and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-02-28 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China today is never out of the news: from human rights controversies and the continued legacy of Tiananmen Square, to global coverage of the Beijing Olympics, and the Chinese 'economic miracle'. It seems a country of contradictions: a peasant society with some of the world's most futuristic cities, heir to an ancient civilization that is still trying to find a modern identity. This Very Short Introduction offers the reader with no previous knowledge of China a variety of ways to understand the world's most populous nation, giving a short, integrated picture of modern Chinese society, culture, economy, politics and art. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book Interpreting China s Grand Strategy written by Michael D. Swaine and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2000-03-22 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China's continuing rapid economic growth and expanding involvement in global affairs pose major implications for the power structure of the international system. To more accurately and fully assess the significance of China's emergence for the United States and the global community, it is necessary to gain a more complete understanding of Chinese security thought and behavior. This study addresses such questions as: What are China's most fundamental national security objectives? How has the Chinese state employed force and diplomacy in the pursuit of these objectives over the centuries? What security strategy does China pursue today and how will it evolve in the future? The study asserts that Chinese history, the behavior of earlier rising powers, and the basic structure and logic of international power relations all suggest that, although a strong China will likely become more assertive globally, this possibility is unlikely to emerge before 2015-2020 at the earliest. To handle this situation, the study argues that the United States should adopt a policy of realistic engagement with China that combines efforts to pursue cooperation whenever possible; to prevent, if necessary, the acquisition by China of capabilities that would threaten America's core national security interests; and to remain prepared to cope with the consequences of a more assertive China.
Download or read book Chinese Women in the Imperial Past written by Harriet Zurndorfer and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-08-22 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume is the result of a Leiden University workshop on women in imperial China by a group of international scholars. In recent years Chinese women and gender studies have attracted more and more attention, and this book is one of the first efforts to focus on major aspects of this subject. It covers a wide range of topics and disciplines, including bibliography, demography, history, legal studies, literature, history of medicine, and philosophy. Chinese Women in the Imperial Past can rightly be seen as connected with the new Brill journal NAN NÜ, Men, Women and Gender in Early and Imperial China, which was founded to provide the scholarly community with a lasting forum in which the subject of Chinese women and gender can be dealt with in its own right.
Download or read book Lineage Society on the Southeastern Coast of China written by and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cultural Centrality and Political Change in Chinese History written by Roger V. Des Forges and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ming period of Chinese history is often depicted as one of cultural aridity, political despotism, and social stasis. Recent studies have shown that the arts continued to flourish, government remained effective, people enjoyed considerable mobility, and China served as a center of the global economy. This study goes further to argue that China’s perennial quest for cultural centrality resulted in periodic political changes that permitted the Chinese people to retain control over social and economic developments. The study focuses on two and a half million people in three prefectures of northeast Henan, the central province in the heart of the "central plain”--a common synecdoche for China. The author argues that this population may have been more representative of the Chinese people at large than were the residents of more prosperous regions. Many diverse individuals in northeast Henan invoked historical models to deal with the present and shape the future. Though they differed in the lessons they drew, they shared the view that the Han dynasty was particularly relevant to their own time. Han and Ming politics were integral parts of a pattern of Chinese historical development that has lasted to the present.
Download or read book Changes in China written by Shao Chuan Leng and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 1989 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under Deng Xiaoping's dynamic leadership, the People's Republic of China has embarked on a highly significant and ambitious modernization drive resulting in various political, economic, and social changes. It is to the nature and extent of the reform program that the book addresses itself. There is general consensus among the authors that important changes are taking place in Deng's China that affect various segments of the society. Most authors seem to believe that although beset with problems and difficulties, current reforms and changes are likely to be continued and expanded in the years ahead. Contents: include: The Modernization of China: 19th and 20th Century Comparisons and Contrasts; Does the CCP have a "Line"?; Reform, Succession, and the Resurgence of China's Old Guard; China's Future Leaders: The Third-Echelon Cadres; Students, Intellectuals, and Political Reform in Mainland China; Habits of the Heart: Intellectual Assumptions Reflected by Chinese Reformers fr Tuo to Fang Lizhi; China's Economic Reform at the Crossroads; The Limits of Economic Change: Lessons from Mainland China; Changing Status of Women in the PRC; New Trends in Marriage and Family in Mainland China: Impacts from the Four Modernizations Campaign; Military Modernization and Defense Policy in the People's Republic of China; Deng Xiaoping and Modernization of the Chinese Military; Change and Continuity in Contemporary PRC Foreign Policy: Implications for the United States; and Recent Legal Issues Between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Co-published with the Miller Center for Public Affairs.
Download or read book Huizhou written by Qitao Guo and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction -- Cheng Minzheng and the rise of Huizhou consciousness -- A land of prominent lineages -- Wang Daokun and the promotion of mercantile lineage culture -- "A Confucian heartland of women" -- The local religious order -- Conclusion.
