The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han, Volume 1In 221 bc the First Emperor of Qin unified the lands that would become the heart of a Chinese empire. Though forged by conquest, this vast domain depended for its political survival on a fundamental reshaping of Chinese culture. With this informative book, we are present at the creation of an ancient imperial order whose major features would endure for two millennia. The Qin and Han constitute the "classical period" of Chinese history--a role played by the Greeks and Romans in the West. Mark Edward Lewis highlights the key challenges faced by the court officials and scholars who set about governing an empire of such scale and diversity of peoples. He traces the drastic measures taken to transcend, without eliminating, these regional differences: the invention of the emperor as the divine embodiment of the state; the establishment of a common script for communication and a state-sponsored canon for the propagation of Confucian ideals; the flourishing of the great families, whose domination of local society rested on wealth, landholding, and elaborate kinship structures; the demilitarization of the interior; and the impact of non-Chinese warrior-nomads in setting the boundaries of an emerging Chinese identity. The first of a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, The Early Chinese Empires illuminates many formative events in China's long history of imperialism--events whose residual influence can still be discerned today. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Shrike58 - LibraryThingSo, while it's true that this is kind of a dry monograph, that's almost a virtue, as the author gives you the schematics of how the Qin dynasty differed from the Zhou and the Warring States that ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - stillatim - LibraryThingI have never felt so much the dirty, smelly Westerner that I am as while I was reading the opening chapters of this book. While my ancestors were eating chestnuts, probably raw, and fighting a rear ... Read full review
Contents
Introduction I | 1 |
A State Organized for War | 30 |
The Paradoxes of Empire | 51 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
armies authority Ban Gu became become building canon capital central century chief China Chinese command common Construction convicts court cult culture customs death described developed divided dynasty early Eastern Emperor empire entire established families figures followed forces frontier Gate Heaven Hou Han shu household idea imperial important indicated jing king labor land late later Lewis lineage linked living major marked Master means military moved nature nomads officials palace peasants period person political population practice punishments Qian Qin's realm received records region relations ritual River rule ruler scholars served Shang Shi ji Sima social spirits status structure term texts tion tomb traditions walls Wang Warring wealth Western women writing Xiongnu Yellow Zhou
References to this book
Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires Walter Scheidel Limited preview - 2009 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han, Volume 1 Volume 1 of History of Imperial China, Dieter Kühn The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han, Mark Edward Lewis |
| Authors | Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Chinese Culture Mark Edward Lewis, Mark Edward Lewis, Dieter Kuhn |
| Editor | Timothy Brook |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint, annotated |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press, 2007 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Sep 9, 2008 |
| ISBN | 067402477X, 9780674024779 |
| Length | 321 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Ancient / General History / Asia / China History / Civilization |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |