China: A HistoryEminently accessible, yet rigorous, this engaging introduction to the political, social, and cultural development of Chinese civilization tells the story of China—from its beginnings to the present day—in a way that goes beyond simple, misleading accounts of a glorious civilization falling victim to Western and Japanese imperialism or of a supposedly isolated country only recently and reluctantly opening to the outside world. Woven into the narrative are the striking stories of heroes and villains, of women and men, of tragedy and comedy, of high culture and coarse humor, of extremes of wealth and poverty, of feast and famine, and of exquisite art and terrible suffering. Characteristic of Harold Tanner's presentation is the development and carefully balanced recounting of important themes--such as the ethnic diversity of the early empires, interaction with other civilizations, and the challenge of transforming a multi-ethnic empire into a modern nation-state--that other histories of China omit entirely or discuss only minimally. Includes a chronology, suggested further readings, illustrations, maps, and an index. |
Contents
THE LAY OF THE LAND AND THE ORIGINS | 3 |
BUILDING INSTITUTIONS | 31 |
The Age of Fighting and Philosophy | 59 |
From Feudal States to Bureaucratic Empire | 83 |
The Decline and Fall of Eastern Civilization | 109 |
CULTURAL INTERACTION | 133 |
A MultiEthnic Empire | 167 |
The Song and Its Neighbors | 201 |
A NEW CONFUCIAN EMPIRE 13681911 | 279 |
The Mid and Late Ming | 310 |
The Qing Dynasty to 1799 | 340 |
THE ROAD TO WEALTH AND POWER 1911Present | 417 |
The Mao Era | 501 |
FURTHER READINGS | 584 |
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION CREDITS | 594 |
The Yuan Dynasty | 239 |
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Common terms and phrases
agricultural areas armies Asia Asian Beijing Buddhist campaigns Cao Cao capital Central Plains century Chang'an China Proper Chinggis cities civil clan Communist Party Confucian Confucius court culture Daoist Deng dynasty Eastern economic elite emperor Empire Empress farmers forces foreign grain Guangzhou Guomindang Han Chinese Han dynasty History of China Hongwu emperor Ibid imperial government Japan Japanese Jurchen Khitan King kingdom land leaders Liao Longshan Luoyang Manchu Manchuria Mao Zedong merchants military Ming Ming dynasty modern Mongol Mongolia moral Nanjing nese northern officials opium painting period policies political population provinces Qing Qubilai rebellions reform Revolution ritual River role rulers rural scholars Shaanxi Shandong Shang Shanghai social Southern Song Soviet Taiwan Tang territory thousand Tibetan trade University Press Wang warlords Western women Xinjiang Xiongnu Yangzi Valley Yongle emperor Yuan Zhang Zhou