Empire and Local Worlds: A Chinese Model for Long-Term Historical Anthropology

by Wang,Mingming

• ISBN13: 9781598744057
• ISBN10: 1598744054
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2009-06-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Mingming Wang, one of the most prolific anthropologists in China, has produced a work both of long-term historical anthropology and of broad social theory. In it, he traces almost a millennium of history of the southern Chinese city of Quangzhou, a major international trading entrepot in the 13th century that declined to a peripheral regional center by the end of the 19th century. But the historical trajectory understates the complex set of interrelationships between local structures and imperial agendas that played out over the course of centuries and dynasties. Using urban structure, documentary analysis, and archaeological artifacts, Wang shows how the study of Quangzhou represents a Chinese template for civilizational studies, one distinctly different from Eurocentric models propounded by such theorists as Sahlins, Wolf, and Elias.

Author Biography

Mingming Wang is Professor of Anthropology at Peking University. He is also director of the National Center for Anthropological and Ethnological Inquiries located at Central Minzu University in Beijing and chief editor of Chinese Review of Anthropology. He has a Ph.D. from University of London and is author of many articles and books on Chinese anthropology, history, and sociology in both Chinese and English. He also writes political comments and travelogues.

Table of Contents

Figures and Tables	p. 9
Foreword	p. 11
Acknowledgments	p. 15
Notes on Transliteration and Bibliography	p. 17
	p. 19
Introduction	p. 41
The Carp: Empire and the Culture of Commerce, 712-1368	p. 63
Casting the Net: Pu and the Foundations of Local Control, 960-1400	p. 93
Pujing and the "Civilizing Process" of the Ming, 1368-1520	p. 111
Heaven on Earth: Pujing and Workship Platforms	p. 133
Local Worlds on the Margin, 1400-1644	p. 163
Unorthodox Cults and the Expulsion of Demons, 1500-1644	p. 177
"Congregations of the Gods," Rule of Division, 1644-1720	p. 209
Pujing Feuds, 1720-1839	p. 233
The Ceremonial Redemption, 1840-1896	p. 251
Conclusion	p. 271
Glossary	p. 305
Bibliography	p. 315
Index	p. 335
About the Author	p. 343
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