Ancient China And Its Enemies

Author : Nicola Di Cosmo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521543828
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient China and Its Enemies written by Nicola Di Cosmo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relations between Inner Asian nomads and Chinese are a continuous theme throughout Chinese history. By investigating the formation of nomadic cultures, by analyzing the evolution of patterns of interaction along China's frontiers, and by exploring how this interaction was recorded in historiography, this looks at the origins of the cultural and political tensions between these two civilizations through the first millennium BC. The main purpose of the book is to analyze ethnic, cultural, and political frontiers between nomads and Chinese in the historical contexts that led to their formation, and to look at cultural perceptions of 'others' as a function of the same historical process. Based on both archaeological and textual sources, this 2002 book also introduces a new methodological approach to Chinese frontier history, which combines extensive factual data with a careful scrutiny of the motives, methods, and general conception of history that informed the Chinese historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien.

Author : Chris Peers
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 1473830117
Total Pages : 146 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Battles of Ancient China written by Chris Peers and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-10-09 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the field of military history as in so many others, the Chinese have often been both admired and seen as something utterly mysterious and inscrutable. Chris Peers illuminates the evolution of the military art in China with reference to ten battles, spanning more than 2,000 years, from the Battle of Mu in 1027BC to the Fall of Chung Tu in 1215 AD. Selected both for their historical importance and for the light which they shed on weapons and tactics, the author uses these examples to discuss the many myths still current in the West about ancient Chinese warfare: for example that the Chinese were an unwarlike people, always preferring subterfuge over the use of force; or that they were essentially defensive minded, relying on works such as the Great Wall. On the other hand, a recent reaction to this dismissive attitude portrays China as technologically far in advance of the West. Battles of Ancient China shows that none of these stereotypes are accurate. Comparison with contemporary Western practice is a major theme of the book which adds a new perspective not developed in the author's previous works on the subject.

Author : Kathleen W. Deady
Publisher : Capstone
ISBN 13 : 1429668296
Total Pages : 18 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient China written by Kathleen W. Deady and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2011-07 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Describes ancient China, including its earliest inhabitants, government structure, major dynasties, and achievements, as well as its lasting influences on the world"--Provided by publisher.

Author : Nicola Di Cosmo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781139431651
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.5X/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient China and its Enemies written by Nicola Di Cosmo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-02-25 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relations between Inner Asian nomads and Chinese are a continuous theme throughout Chinese history. By investigating the formation of nomadic cultures, by analyzing the evolution of patterns of interaction along China's frontiers, and by exploring how this interaction was recorded in historiography, this looks at the origins of the cultural and political tensions between these two civilizations through the first millennium BC. The main purpose of the book is to analyze ethnic, cultural, and political frontiers between nomads and Chinese in the historical contexts that led to their formation, and to look at cultural perceptions of 'others' as a function of the same historical process. Based on both archaeological and textual sources, this 2002 book also introduces a new methodological approach to Chinese frontier history, which combines extensive factual data with a careful scrutiny of the motives, methods, and general conception of history that informed the Chinese historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien.

Author : Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0465023347
Total Pages : 576 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient Chinese Warfare written by Ralph D. Sawyer and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty--indeed, war was the force that formed the first cohesive Chinese empire, setting China on a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity that continues to this day. In Ancient Chinese Warfare, a preeminent expert on Chinese military history uses recently recovered documents and archaeological findings to construct a comprehensive guide to the developing technologies, strategies, and logistics of ancient Chinese militarism. The result is a definitive look at the tools and methods that won wars and shaped culture in ancient China.

Author : Mark Edward Lewis
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791400760
Total Pages : 392 pages
Book Rating : 4.6X/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Sanctioned Violence in Early China written by Mark Edward Lewis and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides new insight into the creation of the Chinese empire by examining the changing forms of permitted violence--warfare, hunting, sacrifice, punishments, and vengeance. It analyzes the interlinked evolution of these violent practices to reveal changes in the nature of political authority, in the basic units of social organization, and in the fundamental commitments of the ruling elite. The work offers a new interpretation of the changes that underlay the transformation of the Chinese polity from a league of city states dominated by aristocratic lineages to a unified, territorial state controlled by a supreme autocrat and his agents. In addition, it shows how a new pattern of violence was rationalized and how the Chinese of the period incorporated their ideas about violence into the myths and proto-scientific theories that provided historical and natural prototypes for the imperial state.

Author : Victoria Tin-bor Hui
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521525763
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe written by Victoria Tin-bor Hui and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-04 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a common belief that the system of sovereign territorial states and the roots of liberal democracy are unique to European civilization and alien to non-Western cultures. The view has generated popular cynicism about democracy promotion in general and China's prospect for democratization in particular. This book demonstrates that China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (656-221 BC) consisted of a system of sovereign territorial states similar to Europe in the early modern period. It examines why China and Europe shared similar processes but experienced opposite outcomes.

Author : Mu-chou Poo
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791483701
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Enemies of Civilization written by Mu-chou Poo and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enemies of Civilization is a work of comparative history and cultural consciousness that discusses how "others" were perceived in three ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. Each civilization was the dominant culture in its part of the world, and each developed a mind-set that regarded itself as culturally superior to its neighbors. Mu-chou Poo compares these societies' attitudes toward other cultures and finds differences and similarities that reveal the self-perceptions of each society. Notably, this work shows that in contrast to modern racism based on biophysical features, such prejudice did not exist in these ancient societies. It was culture rather than biophysical nature that was the most important criterion for distinguishing us from them. By examining how societies conceive their prejudices, this book breaks new ground in the study of ancient history and opens new ways to look at human society, both ancient and modern.

Author : Louise Spilsbury
Publisher : Capstone
ISBN 13 : 1515725251
Total Pages : 33 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient China written by Louise Spilsbury and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2016-08 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the history of ancient China, including the fearsome Terracotta army, ancient inventions, the gods, and the mysterious medicine.

Author : Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher : Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN 13 : 046502145X
Total Pages : 578 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Ancient Chinese Warfare written by Ralph D. Sawyer and published by Basic Books (AZ). This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading historical scholar offers the definitive account of the strategies and technology that shaped the earliest Chinese dynasties--from walled defenses to chariot-driven warriors.