China: Its History and Culture (China: It's History & Culture)

This brilliantly lucid and concise study traces China's history and culture from Neolithic times to the present, working into an integrated and authoritative narrative that covers centuries of politics, warfare and government, science and technology, economics and commerce, religion, philosophy, and the arts. Most valuable of all, Dr. Morton illuminates the essential Chinese design, the underlying mental set of the people and the society. He has given approximately equal treatment to all premodern periods, as each has its importance in the evolving history of the Chinese experience, and has illustrated the work with numerous photographs, maps, paintings and drawings and quotations from the literature.

Newly updated and revised, China: Its History and Culture, Fourth Edition, also carefully examines the crucial social and economic changes that have taken place in China over the last decade.

"A wonderful job! So lucid, beautifully written, with great range and insight. This will set a new standard for short general histories of China."--Michael Gasster, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University

"Simple, concise, factual, and yet comprehensive, penetrating and readable."--Wing-Tsit Chan, Professor of Chinese Philosophy and Culture Emeritus, Dartmouth College

Michael Gasster, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University

Newly updated and revised, China: Its History and Culture, Fourth Edition, incorporates the crucial social and economic changes that have taken place in China over the last decade. Through rich detail and engaging illustrations, the book traces Chinas history from Neolithic times to the present day.

Charlton N. Lewis (Brooklyn, NY) is a professor emeritus of Chinese history at Brooklyn College, CUNY.

List of Illustrations xi

Foreword by Professor Wing-tsit Chan xiii

Preface to the Fourth Edition xvii

Acknowledgments xix

A Note on Spelling and Pronunciation xxi

Introduction 1

1 The Land and the People of China 5

2 Origins and Early History 11

3 The Formative Period 22

Zhou Dynasty: 1027–221 b.c.

4 Religion and Philosophy 29

5 Unification and Expansion 45

Qin Dynasty: 221–206 b.c.

Han Dynasty: 206 b.c.–a.d. 221

6 Outsiders, Generals, and Eccentrics 71

The Six Dynasties Period: a.d. 222–589

7 The Flowering of Chinese Civilization 81

Sui Dynasty: 589–618

Tang Dynasty: 618–907

8 The Chinese Enter on Their Modern Times 98

Five Dynasties: 907–960, North China

Ten Kingdoms: 907–970, South China

Song Dynasty: 960–1126

Jin Dynasty (Jurchen): 1126–1234, North China

Southern Song Dynasty: 1127–1279, South China

9 The Mongol Interruption 115

Yuan Dynasty: 1280–1368

10 The Restoration and Consolidation of Chinese Rule 123

Ming Dynasty: 1368–1644

11 The Manzhou: Summit and Decline of the Empire 137

Qing Dynasty: 1644–1911

12 The Impact of the West in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries 148

13 The Republican Revolution 1900–1949 175

14 The Communist Revolution 1949–1965 201

15 The Cultural Revolution and Its Aftermath 1966–1978 215

16 Deng Xiaoping and the Reform Era 1978–1992 227

17 The Party, Greater China, and the Wider World 1993–2003 242

18 A Changing Society 261

Chronology 287

Selected Bibliography 295

Index 299