The Heritage of Chinese Civilization

by Craig, Albert M.

• ISBN13: 9780131346109
• ISBN10: 0131346105
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

For Introduction to Chinese History and Introduction to East Asia courses. A clear and manageable single volume narrative covering all the major periods of Chinese history. The text is presented chronologically and features brief principle interpretations to provide an accessible introductory overview of an expansive subject area.

Table of Contents

Maps	ix
Documents	x
Preface	xi
CHAPTER ONE
Early China	1	(1)
Origins: The Old and New Stone Ages	2	(2)
Early Bronze Age: The Shang	4	(5)
Later Bronze Age: The Western Zhou	9	(2)
Iron Age: The Eastern Zhou	11	(3)
Iron Age: The Birth of Chinese Philosophy	14	(13)
Confucianism	16	(3)
Daoism	19	(2)
Legalism	21	(6)
CHAPTER TWO China's First Empire (221 B.C.-220 A.D.) and Its Aftermath (220-589 A.D.)	27	(30)
Qin Unification of China	28	(4)
Former Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-8 A.D.)	32	(8)
The Dynastic Cycle	32	(1)
Early Years of the Former Han Dynasty	32	(1)
Han Wudi	33	(1)
Xiongnu	33	(2)
Government During the Former Han	35	(3)
The Silk Road	38	(1)
Decline and Usurpation	39	(1)
Later Han (25-220 A.D.) and Its Aftermath (220-589 A.D.)	40	(3)
First Century	40	(1)
Decline During the Second Century	41	(1)
Aftermath of Empire	41	(2)
Han Thought and Religion	43	(10)
Han Confucianism	44	(1)
History	45	(1)
Neo-Daoism	45	(5)
Buddhism	50	(3)
China's First Empire in Historical Perspective	53	(4)
CHAPTER THREE High Imperial China (589-1368)	57	(44)
REESTABLISHMENT OF EMPIRE: SUI (589-618) AND TANG (618-907) DYNASTIES	58	(16)
The Sui Dynasty	59	(1)
The Tang Dynasty	59	(15)
Government	59	(4)
The Empress Wu	63	(1)
The Chang'an of Emperor Xuan Zong 712-756)	63	(1)
The law Empire	64	(3)
Rebellion and Decline	67	(3)
Tang Culture	70	(4)
TRANSITION TO LATE IMPERIAL CHINA: THE SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)	74	(13)
Agricultural Revolution of the Song: From Serfs to Free Farmers	75	(1)
Commercial Revolution of the Song	76	(3)
Emergence of the Yangzi Basin	77	(1)
New Technology	77	(1)
Rise of a Money Economy	77	(1)
Trade	77	(2)
Government: From Aristocracy to Autocracy	79	(2)
Song Culture	81	(6)
Philosophy	82	(2)
Poetry	84	(2)
Painting	86	(1)
CHINA IN THE MONGOL WORLD EMPIRE: THE YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)	87	(8)
Rise of the Mongol Empire	88	(1)
Mongol Rule in China	89	(4)
Foreign Contacts and Chinese Culture	93	(1)
Last Years of the Yuan	94	(1)
IMPERIAL CHINA IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE	95	(6)
CHAPTER FOUR Late Imperial China: The Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties	101	(30)
Economic Regions	103	(2)
People	105	(1)
China's Third Commercial Revolution	106	(3)
Women and the Commercial Revolution 107
Government	109	(7)
Confucianism	109	(1)
Emperor	110	(1)
Bureaucracy	111	(2)
Gentry	113	(1)
The Pattern of Manchu Rule	114	(2)
Foreign Relations	116	(6)
Ming	116	(3)
Qing	119	(1)
Contacts with the West	120	(2)
Culture	122	(4)
Late Imperial China in Historical Perspective	126	(5)
CHAPTER FIVE Modern China (1839-1949)	131	(32)
The Close of Manchu Rule	133	(10)
The Opium War and Its Aftermath	133	(2)
Rebellions Against the Manchus	135	(3)
Self-Strengthening and Decline (1874-1895)	138	(3)
The Borderlands	141	(2)
From Dynasty to Warlordism (1895-1926)	143	(4)
Cultural and Ideological Ferment: The May Fourth Movement	147	(4)
Nationalist China	151	(8)
The Guomindang Unification of China and the Nanjing Decade (1927-1937)	151	(3)
War and Revolution (1937-1949)	154	(5)
Modern China in Historical Perspective	159	(4)
CHAPTER SIX China, the Last Half Century	163	(28)
Mao's China	164	(6)
Consolidation	164	(2)
The Soviet Model	166	(1)
The Great Leap Forward	166	(2)
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1965-1976)	168	(2)
China after Mao	170	(13)
Politics	170	(3)
The Economy	173	(3)
Social Change	176	(4)
China and the World	180	(3)
Taiwan	183	(3)
China, the Outlook	186	(5)
Index	191