Imperial China 900–1800 - Hardcover

Mote, Frederick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674445155 ISBN 13: 9780674445154

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2000

Synopsis

This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior scholar of this epoch, F. W. Mote highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule. No other work provides a similar synthesis: generational events, personalities, and the spirit of the age combine to yield a comprehensive history of the civilization, not isolated but shaped by its relation to outsiders.This vast panorama of the civilization of the largest society in human history reveals much about Chinese high and low culture, and the influential role of Confucian philosophical and social ideals. Throughout the Liao Empire, the world of the Song, the Mongol rule, and the early Qing through the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, culture, ideas, and personalities are richly woven into the fabric of the political order and institutions. This is a monumental work that will stand among the classic accounts of the nature and vibrancy of Chinese civilization before the modern period.

About this title

Review:

This massive tome crowns the long, distinguished career of Frederick Mote, an influential scholar of Late Imperial China in the United States... He does a wonderful job of reconstructing the history of such historically neglected regimes as Khitan-Liao, Jurchen-Jin, and Tangut-Western Xia, from the perspective of the Other. What I find most praiseworthy is the lucid, elegant expository style of writing...The book is likely to leave a profound and lasting impact on the reader in areas it focuses on, whichwill in turn help him or her better understand a given period of Late Imperial China from a long-term perspective.--Victor Cunrui Xiong "Chinese Historical Review "

Synopsis:

This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. The author highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0674445155
• ISBN 13: 9780674445154
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 1136