Bates M Searle Edited By (2 results)

Softcover. 191 p.; 18 cm. `Generalizations about traditional Chinese civilization should be made with caution, generalizations about the Chinese people must be made with circumspection. Historically, China has been an extraordinarily complex civilization with a wide variety of subcultures. Yet a dominant feature of the Chinese political tradition has been the internal conviction that "China" constitutes a single entity. Cultural patterns, the common written language, classical texts, the fact that more than 90 percent of the population is ethnically Han Chinese.have combined to buttress the belief of the Chinese people that they constitute a cohesive group distinct from oursiders. Among themselves, however, the Chinese are acutely aware of local differences and patterns of regionalism that have long persisted. Even the casual outsider could see the contrast between the steady, camel-like Northerner and the darting, fish-like Southerner, impetuous and loquacious. The culturally advanced and equable province of Kiangsu, for example, evoked images of the arts of good living. The people of Kiangsi were the Scots of China: clannish, overfrugal, quarrelsome. The son of Shantung was sturdy, reliable and diligent, but unlikely to capture first place in the imperial examinations. The Hunanese were stubborn, tough soldiers and passionate lovers. Fukien faced the sea, and its separate river valleys were subregions of a physical and cultural province that in a sense turned its back on China to become the most sea-conscious section of the country.' (p. 26 f., by Bates) Good in spotted orig. orange wrapper.…

191pp. Leaves marked in pen throughout, inscription and signature front free endpaper, paperback covers worn, a good reading copy.