War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795

War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795

Author: Peter Lorge

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-03-29

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1134372868

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The first book in English to study this period of Chinese history, this comprehensive survey sets out the major military events in chapters and argues that war was the most important tool used by the Chinese in building and maintaining their empire.


War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795

War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795

Author: Peter Allan Lorge

Publisher: Taylor & Francis US

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9780415316910

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"Using a chronological narrative, War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795 breaks free of the dynastic boundaries that shape much scholarship in this area, focusing instead on the growing power of local elites. This power eventually led to a system of loose central control - to the sacrifice of real, centralized power over local affairs. Ideal for students of military and Asian studies, War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795 is essential reading for anyone interested in the military history of China."--BOOK JACKET.


War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795

War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795

Author: Peter Lorge

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-03-29

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 113437285X

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This comprehensive survey of Chinese military history is the only book in English to span the significant years from 900 – 1795. Peter Lorge questions current theories on China’s relationship to war, and argues that war was the most important tool used by the Chinese in building and maintaining their empire. Emphasizing the relationship between the military and politics, chapters are organised around specific military events and, Lorge argues, the strength of territorial claims and political impact of each dynasty were determined by their military capacity. Ideal as a course adoption text for Asian military studies, this is also valuable for students of Chinese studies, military studies and Chinese history.


Ancient Chinese Warfare

Ancient Chinese Warfare

Author: Ralph D. Sawyer

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 0465023347

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The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty -- indeed, war was the force that formed the first cohesive Chinese empire, setting China on a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity that continues to this day. In Ancient Chinese Warfare, a preeminent expert on Chinese military history uses recently recovered documents and archaeological findings to construct a comprehensive guide to the developing technologies, strategies, and logistics of ancient Chinese militarism. The result is a definitive look at the tools and methods that won wars and shaped culture in ancient China.


Military Culture in Imperial China

Military Culture in Imperial China

Author: Nicola Di Cosmo

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-03-04

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 0674262999

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This volume explores the relationship between culture and the military in Chinese society from early China to the Qing empire, with contributions by eminent scholars aiming to reexamine the relationship between military matters and law, government, historiography, art, philosophy, literature, and politics. The book critically investigates the perception that, due to the influence of Confucianism, Chinese culture has systematically devalued military matters. There was nothing inherently pacifist about the Chinese governments’ views of war, and pragmatic approaches—even aggressive and expansionist projects—often prevailed. Though it has changed in form, a military elite has existed in China from the beginning of its history, and military service included a large proportion of the population at any given time. Popular literature praised the martial ethos of fighting men. Civil officials attended constantly to military matters on the administrative and financial ends. The seven military classics produced in antiquity continued to be read even into the modern period. These original essays explore the ways in which intellectual, civilian, and literary elements helped shape the nature of military institutions, theory, and the culture of war. This important contribution bridges two literatures, military and cultural, that seldom appear together in the study of China, and deepens our understanding of war and society in Chinese history.


Paths of Innovation in Warfare

Paths of Innovation in Warfare

Author: Nicholas Michael Sambaluk

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2018-04-20

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1498551785

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Innovation shapes wars, and twelve studies by former faculty members of West Point’s United States Military Academy examine specific cases of past and present military innovation. The complex, competitive, and dynamic environment that defines war drives combatants to seek solutions to potentially lethal problems. As some solutions prove effective, gain traction, and win emulation, they follow a path of innovation. The chapters address a broad array of innovations, including in weapon technology, strategy, research and development philosophy, organization of the military instrument, and leveraging maps for strategic goals. Geographically, the examples in this volume span four continents and the Mediterranean Sea, and chronologically they proceed from the twelfth century to the twenty first. Collectively, the studies point to the interconnected value of pursuing constructive solutions to challenges, networking interdisciplinary forms of knowledge, appropriately balancing expectations and capabilities, and understanding an innovation as a journey rather than as an episodic event.


Medieval Chinese Warfare 300-900

Medieval Chinese Warfare 300-900

Author: David Graff

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-09-02

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1134553536

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Shortly after 300 AD, barbarian invaders from Inner Asia toppled China's Western Jin dynasty, leaving the country divided and at war for several centuries. Despite this, the empire gradually formed a unified imperial order. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900 explores the military strategies, institutions and wars that reconstructed the Chinese empire that has survived into modern times. Drawing on classical Chinese sources and the best modern scholarship from China and Japan, David A. Graff connects military affairs with political and social developments to show how China's history was shaped by war.


Harmony and War

Harmony and War

Author: Yuan-kang Wang

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2010-12-15

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0231522401

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Confucianism has shaped a certain perception of Chinese security strategy, symbolized by the defensive, nonaggressive Great Wall. Many believe China is antimilitary and reluctant to use force against its enemies. It practices pacifism and refrains from expanding its boundaries, even when nationally strong. In a path-breaking study traversing six centuries of Chinese history, Yuan-kang Wang resoundingly discredits this notion, recasting China as a practitioner of realpolitik and a ruthless purveyor of expansive grand strategies. Leaders of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) prized military force and shrewdly assessed the capabilities of China's adversaries. They adopted defensive strategies when their country was weak and pursued expansive goals, such as territorial acquisition, enemy destruction, and total military victory, when their country was strong. Despite the dominance of an antimilitarist Confucian culture, warfare was not uncommon in the bulk of Chinese history. Grounding his research in primary Chinese sources, Wang outlines a politics of power that are crucial to understanding China's strategies today, especially its policy of "peaceful development," which, he argues, the nation has adopted mainly because of its military, economic, and technological weakness in relation to the United States.


Warfare in Pre-British India – 1500BCE to 1740CE

Warfare in Pre-British India – 1500BCE to 1740CE

Author: Kaushik Roy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-06-03

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1317586921

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This book presents a comprehensive survey of warfare in India up to the point where the British began to dominate the sub-continent. It discusses issues such as how far was the relatively bloodless nature of pre-British Indian warfare the product of stateless Indian society? How far did technology determine the dynamics of warfare in India? Did warfare in this period have a particular Indian nature and was it ritualistic? The book considers land warfare including sieges, naval warfare, the impact of horses, elephants and gunpowder, and the differences made by the arrival of Muslim rulers and by the influx of other foreign influences and techniques. The book concludes by arguing that the presence of standing professional armies supported by centralised bureaucratic states have been underemphasised in the history of India.


Debating War in Chinese History

Debating War in Chinese History

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-03-18

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9004244794

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Chinese rulers and statesmen were naturally concerned about the issue of war, when to wage it, when it was justified, and when to avoid it. Although much has been asserted about how these issues were understood in Chinese culture, this work is the first study actually to focus on the debates themselves. These debates at court proceeded from specific understandings of what constituted evidence, and involved the practical concerns of policy as well as more general cultural values. The result is a decidedly messy portrait of Chinese decision making over two millenia that is neither distinctly Chinese nor entirely generic. Contributors are Parks Coble, Garret Olberding, David Pong, Kenneth Swope, Paul Van Els, David Wright, and Shu-Hui Wu.