Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History

Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History PDF Author: Harriet Zurndorfer
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004482830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
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.

Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History

Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History PDF Author: Harriet Zurndorfer
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004482830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History

The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History PDF Author: Paul Jakov Smith
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 1684173817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 549

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Book Description
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.

How the Past was Used

How the Past was Used PDF Author: Peter Lambert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
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.

China Transformed

China Transformed PDF Author: R. Bin Wong
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501736043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
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.

A Social History of Maoist China

A Social History of Maoist China PDF Author: Felix Wemheuer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107123704
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
This new social history of Maoist China provides an accessible view of the complex and tumultuous period when China came under Communist rule.

Modern China

Modern China PDF Author: Bruce A. Elleman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538103877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 653

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Book Description
Now in a fully updated edition, this accessible text provides a balanced history of modern China in a global context. Through years of living and research in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia, the authors are deeply qualified to understand China’s internal dynamics as well as its foreign relations over centuries. Arguing that modern Chinese history cannot be understood without a deep appreciation of the outside factors that have influenced the country, the authors focus on China’s near neighbors, especially Japan and Russia. They also emphasize the tragic role of almost endless warfare throughout Chinese history. Providing a unique comparative approach, the authors bridge the cultural divide separating Chinese history from Western readers trying to understand it. Specifically geared to the teaching requirements of the semester system, the book is divided into four parts and a total of twenty-eight chapters, corresponding either to two chapters per week in a fourteen-week semester or one chapter per week in a two-semester course.

The Chinese Sky during the Han

The Chinese Sky during the Han PDF Author: Xiaochun Sun
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004488758
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
A reconstruction of the Chinese sky of two thousand years ago, based on analysis of the first star catalogue in China and other sources. Presented in six well-sized star maps for 100 BC, it is especially important for the history of astronomy. The Han sky, with five times more constellations than Ptolemy knew, reflects diverse human activities. The way in which constellations were grouped discloses a systematic cosmology, uniting universe and the state. The work of the three Han schools is comparable to Ptolemy's Almagest. With three detailed Appendices on the constellations of the three schools, well illustrated to demonstrate the relation between sky and human society, this book is valuable not only for astronomy historians and sinologists, but in general for scholars interested in the ancient cultures of Asia.

Chinese Women in the Imperial Past

Chinese Women in the Imperial Past PDF Author: Harriet Zurndorfer
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004490167
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
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.

Clause Combination in Chinese

Clause Combination in Chinese PDF Author: Halvor Eifring
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004101463
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
This is an abundantly documented study of composite sentences in Modern Chinese, their syntactic and semantic properties. It discusses the extent of language variation, the relation between synchrony and diachrony, the nature of grammaticalization, and the non-uniqueness of syntactic analysis.

Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature

Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature PDF Author: Halvor Eifring
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047412311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Do all cultures and historical periods have a concept corresponding to the English word emotion? This collection of essays is concerned with the closest candidate within the Chinese language, namely the term qíng. What is the meaning of this term in different periods and genres? What are the types of discourse in which it is typically found? This volume contains two essays on the notion of qíng in classical sources, two on Chan Buddhist usage, and two on fiction and drama from the Ming and Qing dynasties. An introductory essay discusses the complex historical development of the term. Together, the essays may be read as a first step towards a conceptual history of one of the key terms in traditional Chinese culture.