Publisher Description

This is a comprehensive overview of four thousand years of Chinese history from earliest times up to the present day. China, the third-largest and most populous country in the world, is shown in all its magnitude and diversity through an authoritative and wide-ranging account of the evolution of Chinese cultures, peoples and society. The book will be welcomed by scholars and non-specialist readers alike.

Back Cover

Capturing China's past in all its complexity, this multi-faceted history portrays China in the context of a larger global world and incorporates the narratives of Chinese as well as non-Chinese ethnic groups. The book offers a complete political, economic, social, and cultural history of China, covering the major events and trends. It differs from other histories of the country in presenting China as part of a larger world. Although it emphasizes events within China, it also portrays China in the context of global developments, from its earliest interactions with local neighbors to later relationships with countries across Asia and around the world. At the same time, the book depicts the role of non-Chinese ethnic groups in China, including Tibetans and Uyghurs, and analyzes the role of Mongol and Manchu rulers and their impact on Chinese society. Drawing on the latest scholarship, the author goes beyond traditional accounts of Imperial families and officials to discuss groups such as peasants, women, merchants, and artisans, who have traditionally been left out of the narrative. In doing so, he provides a rich and nuanced history of one of the contemporary world's most dynamic societies.

Author Biography

Morris Rossabi is Distinguished Professor of History atCity University of New York and Adjunct Professor at ColumbiaUniversity. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he received a Ph.D. inChinese and Central Asian History at Columbia University. Heis the author of many books on Asian history, including ModernMongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists (2005),Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (1988 and 2009), andVoyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey fromChina to the West (1992). Formerly Chair of the Arts andCultures Board of the Open Society Institute, he has collaboratedon exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the ClevelandMuseum of Art.

Table of Contents

Series Editor?s Preface xi
Preface xv


Acknowledgments xix


List of Illustrations xxi


List of Maps xxv


A Note on Romanization xxvi


PART I CHINA AMONG ?BARBARIANS? 1


1 Early History, to 1027 bce 3


Land and Settlement 3


Early Mankind 5


Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Era 6


Xia: The First Dynasty? 12


The Shang and the Origins of Chinese Civilization 16


Oracle Bones 17


Ritual Objects as Historical Sources 19


Shang Society 21


Notes 23


Further Reading 24


2 Classical China, 1027?256 bce 25


?Feudalism?? 25


Changes in Social Structure 31


Political Instability in the Eastern Zhou 31


Transformations in the Economy 35


Hundred Schools of Thought 36


Daoism 38


Popular Religions 41


Confucianism 42


Mohism 48


Legalism 50


Book of Odes and Book of Documents 53


Secularization of Arts 56


Notes 57


Further Reading 57


3 The First Chinese Empires, 221 bce?220 ce 59


Development of the Qin State 61


Qin Achievements 63


Failures of the Qin 66


Han and New Institutions 70


Han Foreign Relations 73


Emperor Wu?s Domestic Policies and Their Ramifications
78


Wang Mang: Reformer or Usurper? 81


Restoration of a Weaker Han Dynasty 82


Spiritual and Philosophical Developments in the Han 86


Han Literature and Art 89


Further Reading 96


4 Chaos and Religious and Political Responses, 220?581
97


Three Kingdoms 97


Rise of South China 100


Foreigners and North China 102


Northern Wei 104


Spiritual Developments, Post-Han 109


Buddhism Enters China 110


Literature, Science, and the Arts in a Period of Division
116


Notes 121


Further Reading 121


PART II CHINA AMONG EQUALS 123


5 Restoration of Empire under Sui and Tang, 581?907
125


Sui: First Step in Restoration 127


Disastrous Foreign Campaigns 132


Origins of the Tang 133


Taizong: The Greatest Tang Emperor 135


Tang Expansionism 137


Irregular Successions and the Empress Wu 139


Tang Cosmopolitanism 142


Arrival of Foreign Religions 144


Glorious Tang Arts 151


Decline of the Tang 153


Tang Faces Rebellions 157


Uyghur Empire and Tang 158


Tang?s Continuing Decline 160


Suppression of Buddhism 162


Final Collapse 164


Efflorescence of Tang Culture 166


Notes 171


Further Reading 171


6 Post-Tang Society and the Glorious Song, 907?1279
173


Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 173


Song: A Lesser Empire 177


A New Song Elite 179


Neo-Confucianism: A New Philosophy 182


Attempts at Reform 183


Women and the Song 188


The Khitans and the Liao Dynasty 190


Expansion of Khitan Territory 192


Preservation of Khitan Identity 192


Fall of the Liao 194


Xia and Jin: Two Foreign Dynasties 195


Song Arts 197


Southern Song Economic and Cultural Sophistication and Political
Instability 202


Notes 206


Further Reading 206


PART III CHINA AND THE MONGOL WORLD 209


7 Mongol Rule in China, 1234?1368 211


Rise of Chinggis Khan 213


Legacy of Chinggis Khan 215


Expansion and Early Rule of Empire 215


Sorghaghtani Beki, Moengke, and Khubilai 217


Unification of China 218


Khubilai?s Policies 219


Multiethnic and Multireligious China 220


Khubilai and Chinese Culture 222


Decline of the Yuan 226


Legacy of the Mongols 229


Notes 231


Further Reading 231


8 Ming: Isolationism and Involvement in the World,
1368?1644 233


A More Powerful State 236


Opening to the Outside World 240


A Costly Failure 244


Conspicuous Consumption 245


Arts in the Ming 246


Neo-Confucianism: School of the Mind 251


A Few Unorthodox Thinkers 253


Ming Literature 254


Buddhism: New Developments 258


Social Development and Material Culture 259


Violence in the Sixteenth Century 261


Fall of the Ming Dynasty 263


Further Reading 267


PART IV CHINA IN GLOBAL HISTORY 269


9 Early Qing: A Manchu Dynasty, 1644?1860 271


Preserving Manchu Identity 275


Kangxi and the Height of the Qing 275


Western Arrival 276


Jesuits in China 278


Expansion of China 280


Qing Cultural Developments 284


Qing Faces Economic Problems 287


Stirrings of Discontent 289


The Western Challenge 290


Opium Wars 293


Explanations for the Decline of the Qing 298


Further Reading 299


10 Late Qing, 1860?1911 301


Nian and Other Minor Rebellions 302


Taiping Rebellion 303


Other Rebellions 307


Foreign Threats 311


Differing Court Responses to Challenges 313


Antiforeign Acts and Foreign Reactions 317


Losses in Southwest China 319


Japan Emerges 320


Sino?Japanese Conflict 321


Scramble for Concessions and US Response 323


China Humiliated and the Reformers 324


Boxer Movement 326


Court Reforms 329


Fall of the Qing 331


Notes 332


Further Reading 332


11 The Republican Period, 1911?1949 333


The 1911 Revolution and Its Aftermath 335


Warlords in Power 337


The May Fourth Movement and Intellectuals in the Post-First
World War Period 340


Communist Party 343


Rise of Chiang Kai-shek 346


Guomindang Dominance 349


Communist Party Revival 354


Long March and Aftermath 356


The Sino?Japanese War 358


The Pacific War, the Communists, and the Guomindang 361


Civil War in China 364


Further Reading 366


12 The Communist Era in China, 1949 Onwards 369


Early Pacification of Border Areas 371


Early Foreign Relations 374


Recovery from Wars 376


Cracks in the Communist World 380


Great Leap Forward 382


Return to Pragmatism 385


An Isolated China 386


Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 387


China Reopens Its Doors 390


Dramatic Changes and Modernization 395


Tiananmen Disturbance of 1989 and Its Aftermath 398


The Present Status of China 403


Further Reading 412


Index 413

Long Description

Capturing China s past in all its complexity, this multi-faceted history portrays China in the context of a larger global world and incorporates the narratives of Chinese as well as non-Chinese ethnic groups. The book offers a complete political, economic, social, and cultural history of China, covering the major events and trends. It differs from other histories of the country in presenting China as part of a larger world. Although it emphasizes events within China, it also portrays China in the context of global developments, from its earliest interactions with local neighbors to later relationships with countries across Asia and around the world.

Details