The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis, Timothy Brook

The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han



Download The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han




The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han Mark Edward Lewis, Timothy Brook
Language: English
Page: 334
Format: pdf
ISBN: 067402477X, 9780674024779
Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

From

Inaugurating a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, this volume holds that characteristics of the first Chinese empire broadly endured for the succeeding 2,000 years. Structuring the subject topically while integrating chronology in a supporting capacity, Lewis explains the geographical advantages that the Qin enjoyed over its competitors in China's Warring States period (481-221 BCE). Curiously, the Qin empire existed for only two decades--long enough, however, to ordain the emperor as semidivine and to establish other features of state, such as bureaucracy. Describing its moving parts of army and administration, Lewis attends to military campaigns of the Qin and its successor dynasty, the Han. Beyond the statecraft, the author delves into the Confucian culture that informed it, presenting extracts from Chinese literature of the period that instructed officials on correct conduct. Confucianism itself was drawn from deeper cultural wells of family relations and cultic worship, which Lewis brings out in glimpses into everyday life provided by archaeological discoveries. Libraries planning to acquire the entire series mustn't omit Lewis' solid foundation. Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

As the first volume in the History of Imperial China, The Early Chinese Empires sets an authoritative, reliable tone that bodes well for this important new series. The book meets a high standard of historical accuracy and covers an impressively broad range of topics. Accessible to a wide audience, it will appeal to anyone interested in the foundations of the Chinese imperial tradition. --Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania (20080314)Inaugurating a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, this volume holds that characteristics of the first Chinese empire broadly endured for the succeeding 2,000 years...[Those] planning to acquire the entire series mustn't omit Lewis' solid foundation. --Gilbert Taylor (Booklist 20090801)The standard multivolume history of China has long been the magisterial, exhaustive Cambridge History of China. Now Harvard University Press has announced a six-volume series that will cover the rise, development, and decline of dynastic China from the second century B.C.E. through the early 20th century in an up-to-date, compact, and approachable way. This opening volume by Lewis foretells that the series will become the new gold standard, as the author explains in clear and telling detail how the Qin dynasty ruthlessly defeated a succession of rivals to unify briefly what we now call China in 221 B.C.E. We then see how the succeeding Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) combined social engineering and political savvy to institutionalize control and form a 'classical' era parallel to the Greeks and Romans in the West. Han imperial structures, including religion, literature, and law, were quite different from what evolved out of them, but Lewis convincingly argues that later societies cannot be understood without understanding this classical foundation. --Charles W. Hayford (Library Journal (starred review) )Mark Lewis's mind-opening and readable book reminds us of the enduring but changing realities of China. --Jonathan Mirsky (Times Literary Supplement )Early Chinese Empires is a brilliant example of nuanced, responsible popularization. As the first in a series of six volumes that will cover all of Imperial China, it sets a very high standard. --Grant Hardy (The Historian )

MORE EBOOKS:
Shantytown Kid: Le Gone du Chaaba ebook free download
Download El comando tribulacion: El drama continuo de las dejados atras ebook
Download Shadow Princess epub
Download Pragmatism: A Reader ebook







Tags: The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han pdf epub djvu free download
Download The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han free ebook pdf epub
The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han read online free book
The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Mark Edward Lewis, Timothy Brook ebooks and audio books
The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd