Chinese Autobiographical Writing: An Anthology of Personal Accounts - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295751231 ISBN 13: 9780295751238

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2023

Synopsis

Step into Chinese history through the accounts of those who lived it Personal accounts help us understand notions of self, interpersonal relations, and historical events. Chinese Autobiographical Writing contains full translations of works by fifty individuals that illuminate the history and conventions of writing about oneself in the Chinese tradition. From poetry, letters, and diaries to statements in legal proceedings, these engaging and readable works draw us into the past and provide vivid details of life as it was lived from the pre-imperial period to the nineteenth century. Some focus on a person’s entire life, others on a specific moment. Some have an element of humor, others are entirely serious. Taken together, these selections offer an intimate view of how Chinese men and women, both famous and obscure, reflected on their experiences as well as their personal struggles and innermost thoughts. With an introduction and list of additional readings for each selection, this volume is ideal for undergraduate courses on Chinese history, literature, religion, and women and family. Read individually, each piece illuminates a person, place, and moment. Read in chronological order, they highlight cultural change over time by showing how people explored new ways to represent themselves in writing. The open access publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.

About this title

About the Authors

Patricia Ebrey is professor emeritus of history at the University of Washington. Among her publications are Emperor Huizong (Harvard University Press, 2014), Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong (University of Washington Press, 2008), The Cambridge History of China (Cambridge University Press, 1996), and The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period (University of California Press, 1993).

Cong Ellen Zhang is associate professor of history at the University of Virginia. She is the author of Transformative Journeys: Travel and Culture in Song (960-1279) China (University of Hawai'i Press, 2011) and coeditor of Chinese Funerary Biographies: An Anthology of Remembered Lives (University of Washington Press, 2019).

Ping Yao is professor of history at California State University, Los Angeles. She is the coauthor of East Asia: A Documentary History (Cognella, 2016), Gendering Chinese Religion: Subject, Identity, and Body (SUNY Press, 2014), and Sharing the World Stage: Biography and Gender in World History (Houghton Mifflin 2007).

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0295751231
• ISBN 13: 9780295751238
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Ebrey Patricia Buckley, Zhang Cong Ellen, Yao Ping