China: A New History, Second Enlarged Edition

John King Fairbank, Merle Goldman

Harvard University Press, Apr 30, 2006 - History - 560 pages

John King Fairbank was the West's doyen on China, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilization. It remains a masterwork without parallel. The distinguished historian Merle Goldman brings the book up to date, covering reforms in the post-Mao period through the early years of the twenty-first century, including the leadership of Hu Jintao. She also provides an epilogue discussing the changes in contemporary China that will shape the nation in the years to come.

Contents

• Approaches to Understanding Chinas History: 1
• The Contrast of North and South: 4
• Humankind in Nature: 14
• Family and Lineage: 17
• The Steppe and the Sown: 23
• Rise and Decline of the Imperial Autocracy: 27
• Origins The Discoveries of Archaeology: 29
• Neolithic China: 31
• Excavation of Shang and Xia: 33
• The Rise of Central Authority: 37
• Western Zhou: 39
• Implications of the New Archaeological Record: 40
• The First Unification Imperial Confucianism: 46
• Princes and Philosophers: 49
• The Confucian Code: 51
• Daoism: 53
• Unification by Qin: 54
• Consolidation and Expansion under the Han: 57
• Imperial Confucianism: 62
• Correlative Cosmology: 64
• Emperor and Scholars: 66
• Reunification in the Buddhist Age: 72
• The Buddhist Teaching: 73
• SuiTang Reunification: 76
• Buddhism and the State: 79
• Decline of the Tang Dynasty: 81
• The TangSong Transition: 83
• Chinas Greatest Age Northern and Southern Song: 88
• Education and the Examination System: 93
• The Creation of NeoConfucianism: 96
• Formation of Gentry Society: 101
• The Paradox of Song China and Inner Asia: 108
• The Rise of NonChinese Rule over China: 112
• China in the Mongol Empire: 119
• Interpreting the Song Era: 126
• Government in the Ming Dynasty: 128
• Fiscal Problems: 132
• China Turns Inward: 137
• Factional Politics: 140
• The Qing Success Story: 143
• Institutional Adaptation: 146
• The Jesuit Interlude: 151
• Growth of Qing Control in Inner Asia: 152
• The Attempted Integration of Polity and Culture: 154
• Late Imperial China 16001911: 163
• The Paradox of Growth without Development: 167
• Diminishing Returns of Farm Labor: 170
• The Subjection of Women: 173
• Domestic Trade and Commercial Organization: 176
• MerchantOfficial Symbiosis: 179
• Limitations of the Law: 183
• Frontier Unrest and the Opening of China: 187
• The White Lotus Rebellion 17961804: 189
• Origins of the Overseas Chinese: 191
• European Trading Companies and the Canton Trade: 195
• Rebellion on the Turkestan Frontier 18261835: 197
• Opium and the Struggle for a New Order at Guangzhou 18341842: 198
• Inauguration of the Treaty Century after 1842: 201
• Rebellion and Restoration: 206
• Civil War: 209
• The Qing Restoration of the 1860s: 212
• Suppression of Other Rebellions: 214
• Early Modernization and the Decline of Qing Power: 217
• The ChristianConfucian Struggle: 221
• The Reform Movement: 224
• The Boxer Rising 18981901: 230
• Demoralization: 232
• The Republican Revolution 19011916: 235
• Suppressing Rebellion by Militarization: 236
• Elite Activism in the Public Sphere: 238
• The Japanese Influence: 240
• The Qing Reform Effort: 241
• Constitutionalism and SelfGovernment: 244
• Insoluble Systemic Problems: 247
• The Revolution of 1911 and Yuan Shikais Dictatorship: 250
• The Republic of China 19121949: 255
• The Quest for a Chinese Civil Society: 257
• The Limits of Christian Reformism: 260
• The Tardy Rise of a Political Press: 262
• Academic Development: 263
• The New Culture Movement: 266
• The May Fourth Movement: 267
• Rise of the Chinese Bourgeoisie: 269
• Origins of the Chinese Communist Party: 275
• The Nationalist Revolution and the Nanjing Government: 279
• The Accession to Power of Jiang Jieshi Chiang Kaishek: 283
• The Nature of the Nanjing Government: 286
• Systemic Weaknesses: 289
• The Second Coming of the Chinese Communist Party: 294
• Rural Reconstruction: 299
• The Rise of Mao Zedong: 301
• The Long March 19341935: 305
• The Role of Zhou Enlai: 307
• The Second United Front: 310
• Chinas War of Resistance 19371945: 312
• Maos Sinification of Marxism: 316
• Mao Zedong Thought: 321
• The Rectification Campaign of 19421944: 323
• American Support of Coalition Government: 326
• The Civil War and the Nationalists on Taiwan: 331
• Nationalist Attack and Communist Counterattack: 334
• Taiwan as a Japanese Colony: 337
• Taiwan as the Republic of China: 339
• The Peoples Republic of China: 343
• Establishing Control of State and Countryside: 345
• Collectivizing Agriculture: 352
• Collective Agriculture in Practice: 354
• Beginning Industrialization: 357
• Education and the Intellectuals: 359
• The AntiRightist Campaign 19571958: 365
• The Great Leap Forward 19581960: 368
• The Disaster of 19591960: 372
• Seizing Control of Industrial Labor: 374
• Party Rectification and Education: 376
• The SinoSoviet Split: 378
• The Great Leap Forward as a Social Movement: 380
• The Cultural Revolution 19661976: 383
• Maos Aims and Resources: 385
• Role of the Peoples Liberation Army: 387
• How the Cultural Revolution Unfolded: 389
• The Red Guards: 392
• The Seizure of Power: 393
• Foreign Affairs: 395
• Decentralization and the Third Front: 397
• The Succession Struggle: 400
• The Cultural Revolution in Retrospect: 401
• Aftermath: 404
• The PostMao Reform Era: 406
• China at the Start of the Twentyfirst Century: 457
• Note on Romanization and Citation: 472
• Suggested Reading: 473
• Publishers Note: 529
• Illustration Credits: 531
• Author Index: 535
• General Index: 545

About the author

John King Fairbank was Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Research Center at Harvard University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: China: A New History, Second Enlarged Edition
• Authors: John King Fairbank, Merle Goldman
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2006
• ISBN: 0674018281, 9780674018280
• Length: 560 pages
• Subjects: History / Asia / China; History / General; History / World; Reference / General; Science / Earth Sciences / Geography