The Mongol takeover in the 1270s changed the course of Chinese history. The Confucian empireÑa millennium and a half in the makingÑwas suddenly thrust under foreign occupation. What China had been before its reunification as the Yuan dynasty in 1279 was no longer what it would be in the future. Four centuries later, another wave of steppe invaders would replace the Ming dynasty with yet another foreign occupation. The Troubled Empire explores what happened to China between these two dramatic invasions. If anything defined the complex dynamics of this period, it was changes in the weather. Asia, like Europe, experienced a Little Ice Age, and as temperatures fell in the thirteenth century, Kublai Khan moved south into China. His Yuan dynasty collapsed in less than a century, but Mongol values lived on in Ming institutions. A second blast of cold in the 1630s, combined with drought, was more than the dynasty could stand, and the Ming fell to Manchu invaders. Against this backgroundÑthe first coherent ecological history of China in this periodÑTimothy Brook explores the growth of autocracy, social complexity, and commercialization, paying special attention to ChinaÕs incorporation into the larger South China Sea economy. These changes not only shaped what China would become but contributed to the formation of the early modern world.
A thousand-year history of how China’s obsession with silver influenced the country’s financial well-being, global standing, and political stability This revelatory account of the ways silver shaped Chinese history shows how an obsession with “white metal” held China back from financial modernization. First used as currency during the Song dynasty in around 900 CE, silver gradually became central to China’s economic framework and was officially monetized in the middle of the Ming dynasty during the sixteenth century. However, due to the early adoption of paper money in China, silver was not formed into coins but became a cumbersome “weighing currency,” for which ingots had to be constantly examined for weight and purity—an unwieldy practice that lasted for centuries. While China’s interest in silver spurred new avenues of trade and helped increase the country’s global economic footprint, Jin Xu argues that, in the long run, silver played a key role in the struggles and entanglements that led to the decline of the Chinese empire.
Conquest women combined agency and assertiveness drawn from steppe traditions with selected aspects of Chinese culture such as ethics and literacy. Empress Chengtian led Liao armies to victory against the Song, successfully ran the state for thirty years during her son's reign, and enjoyed a lengthy and public liaison with her prime minister. Empress Yingtian, the wife of the Liao founder and his assistant in military affairs, famously refused to comply with, the steppe custom of following one's husband in death; in stead she cut off her right hand and placed it in the late emperor's coffin as a promise to join him later. These confident and talented women were rarely submissive in matters of sexuality and spouse selection, but they were subject to the restrictions of marriage and the levirate if widowed.
The Twenty-Four Histories (Chinese: 二十四史) are the Chinese official historical books covering a period from 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qian established many of the conventions of the genre. Starting with the Tang dynasty, each dynasty established an official office to write the history of its predecessor using official court records. As fixed and edited in the Qing dynasty, the whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words. It is considered one of the most important sources on Chinese history and culture. The title "Twenty-Four Histories" dates from 1775 which was the 40th year in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. This was when the last volume, the History of Min gwas reworked and a complete set of the histories produced. The Twenty Four Histories include: •Early Four Historiographies (前四史) •Records of the Grand Historian (史記, Shǐ Jì), compiled by Sima Qian 司馬遷 in 91 BC •Book of Han (漢書, Hàn Shū), compiled by Ban Gu 班固 in 82 •Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志, Sānguó Zhì), compiled by Chen Shou 陳壽 in 289 •Book of Later Han (後漢書, Hòuhàn Shū), compiled by Fan Ye 范曄 in 445[2] •Book of Song (simplified Chinese: 宋书; traditional Chinese: 宋書; pinyin: Sòng Shū)—Southern Dynasties, compiled by Shen Yue 沈約 in 488 •Book of Qi (simplified Chinese: 齐书; traditional Chinese: 齊書; pinyin: Qí Shū)—Southern Dynasties, compiled by Xiao Zixian 蕭子顯 in 537 •Book of Wei (simplified Chinese: 魏书; traditional Chinese: 魏書; pinyin: Wèi Shū)—Northern Dynasties, compiled by Wei Shou 魏收 in 554 •Eight Historiographies complied in Tang Dynasty (唐初八史) •Book of Liang (梁書, Liáng Shū)—Southern Dynasties, compiled by Yao Silian 姚思廉 in 636 •Book of Chen (陳書, Chén Shū)—Southern Dynasties, compiled by Yao Silian in 636 •Book of Northern Qi (北齊書, Běi Qí Shū)—Northern Dynasties, compiled by Li Baiyao 李百藥 in 636 •Book of Zhou (周書, Zhōu Shū)—Northern Dynasties, compiled under Linghu Defen 令狐德棻 in 636 •Book of Sui (隋書, Suí Shū), compiled under Wei Zheng 魏徵 in 636 •Book of Jin (晉書, Jìn Shū), compiled under Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 in 648 •History of the Southern Dynasties (南史, Nán Shǐ), compiled by Li Yanshou 李延壽 in 659 •History of the Northern Dynasties (北史, Běi Shǐ), compiled by Li Yanshou in 659 •Old Book of Tang (唐書, Táng Shū), compiled under Liu Xu 劉昫 in 945 •Old History of the Five Dynasties (五代史, Wǔdài Shǐ), compiled under Xue Juzheng 薛居正 in 974 •New History of the Five Dynasties (新五代史, Xīn Wǔdài Shǐ), compiled under Ouyang Xiu 歐陽脩 in 1053 •New Book of Tang (新唐書, Xīn Táng Shū), compiled under Ouyang Xiu in 1060 •Three Historiographies compiled in Yuan Dynasty (元末三史) •History of Liao (遼史, Liáo Shǐ), compiled under Toqto'a 脫脫 in 1343[3] •History of Jin (金史, Jīn Shǐ), compiled under Toqto'a in 1345 •History of Song (宋史, Sòng Shǐ), compiled under Toqto'a in 1345 •History of Yuan (元史, Yuán Shǐ), compiled under Song Lian 宋濂 in 1370 •History of Ming (明史, Míng Shǐ), compiled under Zhang Tingyu 張廷玉 in 1739
“A very readable account of the protracted and ultimately unsuccessful efforts of the Song, Xia, and Jin dynasties to defend China from the Mongols.”—StrategyPage Defending Heaven brings together, for the first time in one volume, the complete histories of the wars the Jin, Song, Xia, and Ming dynasties fought against the Mongols. Lasting nearly two centuries, these wars, fought to defend Chinese civilization against a brutal and unrelenting foe, pitted personal heroics against the inexorable Mongol war machine and involved every part of the Chinese state. The resistance of the Chinese dynasties to the Khans is a complex and rich story of shifting alliances and political scheming, vast armies and navies, bloody battles and an astonishing technological revolution. The great events of China’s Mongol war are described and analyzed, detailing their immediate and later implications for Chinese history. In this excellent new book, James Waterson tackles this fascinating subject with characteristic verve and skill. Setting the Mongol war in the wider context of China’s ancient and almost perpetual conflict with the northern nomads, it sheds light on the evolution of China’s military society and the management, command, and control of the army by the Chinese state. “An excellent contribution not only to the study of the Mongol Empire but also to military history . . . Anyone interested in medieval warfare will find Defending Heaven of interest.”—Professor Timothy May, in De Re Militari
After the collapse of the Han dynasty in the third century CE, China divided along a north-south line. This book traces the changes that both underlay and resulted from this split in a period that saw the geographic redefinition of China, more engagement with the outside world, significant changes to family life, developments in the literary and social arenas, and the introduction of new religions.
The resurgence of modern China has generated much interest, not only in the country’s present day activities, but also in its long history. As the only uninterrupted ancient civilization still alive today, the study of China’s past promises to offer invaluable insights into understanding contemporary China. Providing coverage of the entire Imperial Era (221 BCE–1912 CE), this handbook takes a chronological approach. It includes comprehensive analysis of all major periods, from the powerful Han empire which rivalled Rome, and the crucial transformative period of the Five Dynasties, to the prosperous Ming era and the later dominance of the non-Han peoples. With contributions from a team of international authors, key themes include: Political events and leadership Religion and philosophy Cultural and literary achievements Legal, economic, and military institutions This book transcends the traditional boundaries of historiography, giving special attention to the role of archaeology. As such, the Routledge Handbook of Imperial Chinese History is an indispensable reference work for students and scholars of Chinese, Asian, and World History.
In this history of China for the 900-year span of the late imperial period, Mote highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule. Generational events, personalities, and the spirit of the age combine to yield a comprehensive history of the civilization.
