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The Cambridge History of China is the largest and most comprehensive history of China in the English language. Planned in the 1960s by the late, distinguished China scholar Professor John K. Fairbank of Harvard, and Denis Twitchett, Professor Emeritus of Princeton, the series covers the grand scale of Chinese history from the 3rd century BC, to the death of Mao Tse-tung. Consisting of fifteen volumes (two of which, Volumes 5 and 9 are to be published in two books), the history embodies both existing scholarship and extensive original research into hitherto neglected subjects and periods. The contributors, all specialists from the international community of Sinologists, cover the main developments in political, social, economic and intellectual life of China in their respective periods. Collectively they present the major events in a long history that encompasses both a very old civilisation and a great modern power. Written not only for students and scholars, but with the general reader in mind, the volumes are designed to be read continuously, or as works of reference. No knowledge of Chinese is necessary; for readers with Chinese, proper names and terms are identified with their characters in the glossary, and full references to Chinese, Japanese, and other works are given in the bibliographies. Numerous maps illustrate the texts. The published volumes have constituted essential reading in Chinese history. See also, The Cambridge History of Ancient China, Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy, eds., a companion to this series covering the period 1500 to 221 BC.

  • General Editors: John K. Fairbank, Denis Twitchett

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16 results in The Cambridge History of China

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 2, The Six Dynasties, 220–589
  • Edited by Albert E. Dien, Keith N. Knapp
  • Published online:
    28 October 2019
    Print publication:
    07 November 2019
  • The Six Dynasties Period (220–589 CE) is one of the most complex in Chinese history. Written by leading scholars from across the globe, the essays in this volume cover nearly every aspect of the period, including politics, foreign relations, warfare, agriculture, gender, art, philosophy, material culture, local society, and music. While acknowledging the era's political chaos, these essays indicate that this was a transformative period when Chinese culture was significantly changed and enriched by foreign peoples and ideas. It was also a time when history and literature became recognized as independent subjects and religion was transformed by the domestication of Buddhism and the formation of organized Daoism. Many of the trends that shaped the rest of imperial China's history have their origins in this era, such as the commercial vibrancy of southern China, the separation of history and literature from classical studies, and the growing importance of women in politics and religion.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 9, The Ch'ing Dynasty to 1800, Part 2
  • Edited by Willard J. Peterson
  • Published online:
    05 April 2016
    Print publication:
    04 April 2016
  • Volume 9, Part 2 of The Cambridge History of China is the second of two volumes which together explore the political, social and economic developments of the Ch'ing Empire during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries prior to the arrival of Western military power. Across fifteen chapters, a team of leading historians explore how the eighteenth century's greatest contiguous empire in terms of geographical size, population, wealth, cultural production, political order and military domination peaked and then began to unravel. The book sheds new light on the changing systems deployed under the Ch'ing dynasty to govern its large, multi-ethnic Empire and surveys the dynasty's complex relations with neighbouring states and Europe. In this compelling and authoritative account of a significant era of early modern Chinese history, the volume illustrates the ever-changing nature of the Ch'ing Empire, and provides context for the unforeseeable challenges that the nineteenth century would bring.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 5, Sung China, 960–1279 AD, Part 2
  • Edited by John W. Chaffee, Denis Twitchett
  • Published online:
    05 March 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
  • This is the second of two volumes on the Sung Dynasty, which together provide a comprehensive history of China from the fall of the T'ang Dynasty in 907 to the Mongol conquest of the Southern Sung in 1279. With contributions from leading historians in the field, Volume 5, Part Two paints a complex portrait of a dynasty beset by problems and contradictions, but one which, despite its military and geopolitical weakness, was nevertheless economically powerful, culturally brilliant, socially fluid and the most populous of any empire in global history to that point. In this much anticipated addition to the series, the authors survey key themes across ten chapters, including government, economy, society, religion, and thought to provide an authoritative and topical treatment of a profound and significant period in Chinese history.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 5, The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors, 907–1279, Part 1
  • Edited by Denis Twitchett, Paul Jakov Smith
  • Published online:
    28 March 2010
    Print publication:
    23 March 2009
  • This first of two volumes on the Sung Dynasty (960–1279) and its Five Dynasties and Southern Kingdoms precursors presents the political history of China from the fall of the T'ang Dynasty in 907 to the Mongol conquest of the Southern Sung in 1279. Its twelve chapters survey the personalities and events that marked the rise, consolidation, and demise of the Sung polity during an era of profound social, economic, and intellectual ferment. The authors place particular emphasis on the emergence of a politically conscious literati class during the Sung, characterized by the increasing importance of the examination system early in the dynasty and on the rise of the tao-hsueh (Neo-Confucian) movement toward the end. In addition, they highlight the destabilizing influence of factionalism and ministerial despotism on Sung political culture and the impact of the powerful steppe empires of the Khitan Liao, Tangut Hsi Hsia, Jurchen Chin, and Mongol Yüan on the shape and tempo of Sung dynastic events.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 14, The People's Republic, Part 1, The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1949–1965
  • Edited by Roderick MacFarquhar, John K. Fairbank
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    26 June 1987
  • This is the first of the two final volumes of The Cambridge History of China, which describe the efforts of the People's Republic of China to grapple with the problems of adaptation to modern times. Volume 14 deals with the achievements of the economic and human disasters of the new regime's first sixteen years (1949–65). Part I chronicles the attempt to adapt the Soviet model of development to China, and Part II covers the subsequent efforts of China's leaders to find native solutions that would provide more rapid and appropriate answers to China's problems. Each of the two parts of the volume analyzes the key issues and developments in the spheres of politics, economics, culture, education, and foreign relations. The contributors, all leading scholars of the period, show the interrelation of Chinese actions in all these spheres, and the describe how, gradually, events led to the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Tse-tung in 1966.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC–AD 220
  • Edited by Denis Twitchett, Michael Loewe
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    26 December 1986
  • This volume begins the historical coverage of The Cambridge History of China with the establishment of the Ch'in empire in 221 BC and ends with the abdication of the last Han emperor in AD 220. Spanning four centuries, this period witnessed major evolutionary changes in almost every aspect of China's development, being particularly notable for the emergence and growth of a centralized administration and imperial government. Leading historians from Asia, Europe, and America have contributed chapters that convey a realistic impression of significant political, economic, intellectual, religious, and social developments, and of the contacts that the Chinese made with other peoples at this time. As the book is intended for the general reader as well as the specialist, technical details are given in both Chinese terms and English equivalents. References lead to primary sources and their translations and to secondary writings in European languages as well as Chinese and Japanese.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 12, Republican China, 1912–1949, Part 1
  • Edited by John K. Fairbank
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    30 September 1983
  • This is the first of two volumes of this authoritative Cambridge history which review the Republican period, between the demise of imperial China and the establishment of the People's Republic. These years from 1912 to 1949 were marked by civil war, revolution and invasion; but also by change and growth in the economic, social, intellectual and cultural spheres. The chapters examine economic trends in the period and the rise of the new middle class. Intellectual trends are surveyed to show the changes in traditional Chinese values and the foreign influences which played a major role in Republican China. Although it is written by specialists, the goals and approach of this Cambridge history are to explain and discuss republican China for an audience which will include scholars, students and general readers who do not have special knowledge of Chinese history. It will be useful both as narrative history and as a reference source on the history and politics of China.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 13, Republican China 1912–1949, Part 2
  • Edited by John K. Fairbank, Albert Feuerwerker
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    24 July 1986
  • This is the second of two volumes of this authoritative history which review the Republican period. The titanic drama of the Chinese Revolution is one of the major world events of modern times. The fifteen authors of this volume are pioneers in its exploration and analysis, and their text is designed to meet the needs of non-specialist readers. After a preliminary overview stressing economic and social history, the History presents a narrative of events in China's foreign relations to 1931, and in the political history of the Nationalist government and its Communist opponents from 1927 to 1937. Subsequent chapters analyse key governmental, educational and literary - offering critical appraisal of the major achievements and problems in each of these areas. Finally, the volume examines China's war of resistance, the civil war to 1949, and the portentous development of the thought of Mao Tse-tung before coming to power.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, Part 2, 1368–1644
  • Denis C. Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    28 January 1998
  • Volumes seven and eight of The Cambridge History of China are devoted to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the only segment of later imperial history during which all of China proper was ruled by a native, or Han, dynasty. These volumes provide the largest and most detailed account of the Ming period in any language. Summarising all modern research, volume eight offers detailed studies of governmental structure, the fiscal and legal systems, international relations, social and economic history, transportation networks, and the history of ideas and religion, incorporating original research on subjects never before described in detail. Although it is written by specialists, this Cambridge History intends to explain and describe the Ming dynasty to general readers who do not have a specialised knowledge of Chinese history, as well as scholars and students. This volume can be utilised as a reference work, or read continuously.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 9, Part 1, The Ch'ing Empire to 1800
  • Edited by Willard J. Peterson
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    16 December 2002
  • This volume of the Cambridge History of China considers the political, military, social, and economic developments of the Ch'ing empire to 1800. The period begins with the end of the resurgent Ming dynasty, covered in volumes 7 and 8, and ends with the beginning of the collapse of the imperial system in the nineteenth century, described in volume 10. Taken together, the ten chapters elucidate the complexities of the dynamic interactions between emperors and their servitors, between Manchus and non-Manchu populations, between various elite groups, between competing regional interests, between merchant networks and agricultural producers, between rural and urban interests, and, at work among all these tensions, between the old and new. This volume presents the changes underway in this period prior to the advent of Western imperialist military power.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 15, The People's Republic, Part 2, Revolutions within the Chinese Revolution, 1966–1982
  • Edited by Roderick MacFarquhar, John K. Fairbank
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    29 November 1991
  • Volume 15 of The Cambridge History of China is the second of two volumes dealing with the People's Republic of China since its birth in 1949. The harbingers of the Cultural Revolution were analyzed in Volume 14 and Volume 15 traces a course of events still only partially understood by most Chinese. It begins by analysing the development of Mao's thought since the Communist seizure of power, and, in doing so, attempts to understand why he launched the movement. The contributors grapple with the conflict of evidence between what was said favourably about the Cultural Revolution at the time and the often diametrically opposed retrospective accounts. Volume 15, together with Volume 14, provides the most comprehensive and clearest account of how revolutionary China has developed in response to the upheavals initiated by Mao and Teng Hsiao-p'ing.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1
  • Edited by Frederick W. Mote, Denis Twitchett
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    26 February 1988
  • This volume in The Cambridge History of China is devoted to the history of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), with some account of the three decades before the dynasty's formal establishment, and for the Ming courts that survived in South China for a generation after 1644. Volume 7 deals primarily with the political developments of the period, but it also incorporates background in social, economic, and cultural history where this is relevant to the course of events. The Ming period is the only segment of later imperial history during which all of China proper was ruled by a native, or Han, dynasty. The volume provides the largest and most detailed account of the Ming period in any language. Summarizing all modern research, both in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages, the authors have gone far beyond a summary of the state of the field, but have incorporated original research on subjects that have never before been described in detail.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368
  • Edited by Herbert Franke, Denis C. Twitchett
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    25 November 1994
  • This volume deals with four non-Chinese regimes: the Khitan dynasty of Liao; the Tangut state of Hsi Hsia; the Jurchen empire of Chin; and the Mongolian Yuan dynasty that eventually engulfed the whole of China. It investigates the historical background from which these regimes emerged and shows how each in its own way set up viable institutions for the control of a multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural population. It discusses these problems not just as a long negative episode in China's history, but shows the ingenuity and adaptability of these states, and their success in achieving political and social stability. The volume presents the fullest chronological account of the period, in which political, institutional, social, and economic changes are integrated as far as possible, and sees the period against a broad background of international relations in Northern and Central Asia.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 10, Late Ch'ing 1800–1911, Part 1
  • Edited by John K. Fairbank
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    05 June 1978
  • This is the first of two volumes in this major Cambridge history dealing with the decline of the Ch'ing empire. It opens with a survey of the Ch'ing empire in China and Inner Asia at its height, in about 1800. Contributors study the complex interplay of foreign invasion, domestic rebellion and Ch'ing decline and restoration. Special reference is made to the Peking administration, the Canton trade and the early treaty system, the Taiping, Nien and other rebellions, and the dynasty's survival in uneasy cooperation with the British, Russian, French, American and other invaders. Each chapter is written by a specialist from the international community of sinological scholars. No knowledge of Chinese is necessary; for readers with Chinese, proper names and terms are identified with their characters in the glossary, and full references to Chinese, Japanese and other works are given in the bibliographies. Numerous maps illustrate the text, and there are a bibliographical essays describing the source materials on which each author's account is based.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 11, Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911, Part 2
  • Edited by John K. Fairbank, Kwang-Ching Liu
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    30 September 1980
  • This is the second of two volumes in this major Cambridge history dealing with the gradual decline of the Ch'ing empire in China (the first was volume 10). Volume 11 surveys the persistence and deterioration of the old order in China during the late nineteenth century, and the profound stirring during that period, which led to China's great twentieth-century revolution. The contributors focus on commercial and technological growth, foreign relations, the stimulation of Chinese intellectual life by the outside world, and military triumphs and disasters. They show that the effects of the accelerating changes were to fragment the old ruling class and the ancient monarchy, finally bringing the Chinese people face to face with the challenges of the new century. For readers with Chinese, proper names and terms are identified with their characters in the glossary, and full references to Chinese, Japanese and other works are given in the bibliographies.

The Cambridge History of China
  • Volume 3, Sui and T'ang China, 589–906 AD, Part One
  • Edited by Denis C. Twitchett
  • Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    27 September 1979
  • The Cambridge History of China is one of the most far-reaching works of international scholarship ever undertaken, exploring the main developments in political, social, economic and intellectual life from the Ch'in empire to the present day. The contributors are specialists from the international community of sinological scholars. Many of the accounts break new ground; all are based on fresh research. The works are written not only with students and scholars but also with the general reader in mind. No knowledge of Chinese is assumed, though for readers of Chinese, proper and other names are identified with their characters in the index. Numerous maps and tables illustrate the text. Volume 3, covers the second great period of unified imperial power, 589–906, when China established herself as the centre of a wider cultural sphere, embracing Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It was an era in which there was a great deal of rapid social and economic change, and in which literature and the arts reached new heights of attainment.