The Cambridge Illustrated History of China

by Patricia Buckley Ebrey , Foreword by Kwang-ching Liu

• ISBN13: 9780521435192
• ISBN10: 0521435196
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-06-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

More populous than any other country on earth, China also occupies a unique place in our modern world for the continuity of its history and culture. In this sumptuously illustrated single-volume history, noted historian Patricia Ebrey traces the origins of Chinese culture from prehistoric times to the present. She follows its development from the rise of Confucianism, Buddhism, and the great imperial dynasties to the Mongol, Manchu, and Western intrusions and the modern communist state. Her scope is phenomenal--embracing Chinese arts, culture, economics, society and its treatment of women, foreign policy, emigration, and politics, including the key uprisings of 1919 and 1989 in Tiananmen Square. Both a comprehensive introduction to an extraordinary civilization, and an expert exploration of the continuities and disjunctures of Chinese history, Professor Ebrey's book has become an indispensable guide to China past and present. Patricia Ebrey is Professor of East Asian Studies and History and the author of Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (1993).

Table of Contents

Foreword Kwang-Ching Liu

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. The origins of Chinese civilization: Neolithic period to the western Zhou dynasty (animal and human imagery in bronze vessels)

2. Philosophical foundations: the eastern Zhou period

3. The creation of the bureaucratic empire: the Qin and Han dynasties

4. Buddhism, aristocracy, and alien rulers: the age of division (early Buddhist art)

5. A cosmopolitan empire: the Tang dynasty

6. Shifting south: the Song dynasty (landscape painting)

7. Alien rule: the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties (drama and the performing arts)

8. The limits of autocracy: the Ming dynasty (the kilns at Jingdezhen)

9. Manchus and imperialism: the Qing dynasty (working for a living)

10. Taking action: the early twentieth century (modern Chinese painting)

11. Radical reunification: the People's Republic

Epilogue

Chronology

Picture acknowledgements

Notes

Further reading