The Wobbling Pivot, China since 1800 An Interpretive History

by Crossley, Pamela Kyle

• ISBN13: 9781405160797
• ISBN10: 1405160799
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-22
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This comprehensive but concise narrative of China since the eighteenth century builds its story around the delicate relationship between central government and local communities.Rejects the traditional view of China as a wholly harmonious society based on principles of stability - the Unwobbling Pivot of Ezra Pound's translation of the Chinese classic Zhongyong Provides an original interpretation, arguing that developments can be explained through an understanding of China's surprising swings between centralization and decentralization, between local initiative and central authoritarianism Serves as an introduction to the subject, while readers with a background in Chinese history will find the book offers a personal perspective and addresses long-standing interpretive issues Supported by a variety of timelines, maps, illustrations, and extensive notes for further reading Places China's history within the context of global change

Author Biography

Pamela Kyle Crossley teaches Chinese and Inner Asian history at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. Her publications include Orphan Warriors: Three Manchu Generations and the End of the Qing World (1990), The Manchus (Blackwell, 1997), A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Ideology (1999), and What is Global History? (2008). She is a past Guggenheim Fellow and was awarded the Levenson Prize from the Association for Asian Studies in 2001.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
List of Maps	p. viii
Foreword and Acknowledgments	p. ix
Prelude	p. xi
Timeline	p. xv
The Wobbling Pivot	p. 1
Sources of Order Under the Qing Empire	p. 21
Sources of Disorder Under the Qing Empire	p. 44
Essay: Strategic Borders	p. 66
Qing and the World	p. 70
Essay: Rebel Heroines	p. 98
Visionaries	p. 100
Essay: Hunan Takes the Lead	p. 126
Essay: Water	p. 129
Beiyang Ascendancy	p. 133
Cultural Revolution	p. 155
Essay: Manchus as Minorities	p. 177
War	p. 180
The Ubiquitous Center	p. 207
Essay: Minerals	p. 240
Essay: Health Risks	p. 243
Gravity	p. 246
Bibliography	p. 274
Index	p. 295
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