The Emergence of China: From Confucius to the Empire (Ancient China in Context) - Softcover

Brooks, E. Bruce; Brooks, A. Taeko

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936166755 ISBN 13: 9781936166756

Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, 2015

Synopsis

This volume offers a concise overview of the classical period. Between an introductory chapter on the preceding centuries and a concluding chapter on the Chín Dynasty, six topical chapters -- The Economy, The State, The Serving Elite, War and Peace, The People, and Transcendence -- give a multifaceted sense of the classical period proper. Each chapter includes one or more "methodological moments," which suggest how the textual problems have been solved, and 500 translated passages let the period speak with its own voice on topics from law to the mourning period for a parent, revealing both its ethnic and its philosophical diversity.

About this title

About the Author:

E. BRUCE BROOKS is research professor of Chinese and A. TAEKO BROOKS is research associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Review:

“I like the matter-of-fact tone of the book. It is amazing how much there is, and yet the book is easily approachable. (Victoria Tin-bor Hui, University of Notre Dame)

“One bit I enjoyed in the Antiquity chapter was the irrefutable and murderously efficient demonstration that the idea that there was some sort of military or economic restructuring under Chí Hwán-g ng (as in the Gw n Jùng legends) is a historically worthless fantasy.” (Eric Henry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

“Wonderfully rich and informative, lucidly outlined, tightly written, packed with fascinating excerpts, and simply a joy to read. I wish someone would do this for early Greek history, including the focus on methodology and mythography.” (Richard Martin, Stanford University)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1936166755
• ISBN 13: 9781936166756
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256