Asian history Books

Book SynopsisVarying in length from paragraphs to pages, these works also provide moving descriptions of snowy landscapes, foggy London, Ueno Park’s famous cherry blossoms, and the appeal of rainy vistas, and relate the joys and troubles of everyone from desperate samurai to filial children and ailing cats.Trade ReviewThe focused ramble of the traditional Japanese essay format called zuihitsu (literally, 'following the brush') has appealed to writers of both genders, all ages, and every class in Japanese society. Highly personal, these essays contain dollops of philosophy, odd anecdotes, quiet reflection, and pronouncements on taste. In running alongside the main tracks of Japanese literature, this broad collection of zuihitsu brims with idiosyncratic interest. -- Liza Dalby, author of The Tale of Murasaki and East Wind Melts the Ice: A Memoir Through the Seasons Savor a copy of The Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essays, and take a contemplative walk through the Japanese mind, full of poetic turns and pithy longings, ribald humor and lofty aspirations. -- Kris Kosaka The Japan Times Rich and highly enjoyable... This evocative selection serves both as an excellent introduction to the genre for the English-speaking world and as a reminder that, no matter how distant or seemingly different the society, people's individual struggles, aspirations and aesthetics transcend their own times. -- Morgan Giles Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part I. Beginnings 1. The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon 2. Essays in Idleness, by Yoshida no Kenko Part II. The Late Medieval Era 3. Conversations with Shotetsu, by Shotetsu 4. "To Unify the Nation and Restore Civil Society", by Ichijo Kaneyoshi 5. "Cottage of Dreams" and "Three Loves", by Shohaku 6. A Tenbun Miscellany, by The Fujiwara Lay Monk Part III. The Edo Period 7. Laughs to Keep You Awake, by Anrakuan Sakuden 8. "On Ohara", by Kinoshita Choshoshi 9. Haikai Prose, by Matsuo Basho 10. Amusements, by Amenomori Hoshu 11. Window Musings, by Matsuzaki Kanran 12. A Miscellany of Stories, by Morita Morimasa 13. Chats with Myself, by Dazai Shundai 14. Jeweled Comb Basket, by Motoori Norinaga 15. Idle Chats Beneath a Northern Window, by Tachibana Nankei 16. Blossoms and the Moon, by Matsudaira Sadanobu 17. Year by Year: A Miscellany, by Ishiwara Masaakira 18. Behind the Koto, by Murata Harumi 19. Shunparo's Jottings, by Shiba Kokan 20. Unusual People of the Modern Age and Kanden's Crop of Jottings, by Ban Kokei 21. Hoary Stories, by Tadano Makuzu 22. Haikai Prose, by Natsume Seibi 23. Clouds of Floating Grasses Part IV. The Modern Period 24. Autumn Ensemble, by Higuchi Ichiyo 25. Short Works from Long Days, by Natsume Soseki 26. "Snow", by Tokutomi Roka 27. "Desk", by Tayama Katai 28. "Fireworks", by Nagai Kafu 29. "Laughter", by Terada Torahiko 30. "Various Thoughts on the Great Kanto Earthquake" and "My Moral Precepts for Everyday Life", by Kikuchi Kan 31. "Master Hyakken's Idle Fantasies," "Bumpy Road," and "A Long Fence", by Uchida Hyakken 32. "The Image of an Author", by Dazai Osamu 33. "Baby Sparrow," "Turtledoves," and "Morning Glories", by Shiga Naoya 34. Esprit and Humor, by Kawamori Yoshizo 35. "Sleepless Nights" and "A Bed for My Books", by Osaragi Jiro 36. "On Being Down with a Cold", by Kawakami Tetsutaro 37. "The Road", by Shono Junzo 38. "Kitchen," "Raindrops," and "A Memento of the Season", by Koda Aya 39. "On Surgery" and "Rainy Day", by Kono Taeko 40. "Looking for Gloves", by Mukoda Kuniko 41. One, We Count, Then ... , by Takenishi Hiroko 42. Sunday Musings, by Hiraiwa Yumie 43. Not Much of a Book, but Please... and Just Be Sure You're Not a Bother to Anyone, by Dekune Tatsuro 44. "Myna Bird", by Kizaki Satoko 45. "Concerning the Order of Culture", by Shiroyama Saburo 46. "On Zuihitsu", by Sakai Junko

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLiving Karma is a study of the way the inner world of a leading Buddhist monk was shaped by his belief in karma, focusing on Ouyi Zhixu, perhaps the most important Chinese monk of the seventeenth century and certainly one of the most interesting, known for his contributions to Buddhist commentary, ritual exegesis, bibliography, and autobiography. -- John Kieschnick, Stanford University An ingeniously conceived and deeply researched study of one of the four great Buddhist masters of the late Ming dynasty. The book reveals Ouyi Zhixu to be a far more interesting and intellectually complex person than we knew. By giving primacy to the theme of karma, McGuire finds a unity to Ouyi's conduct and textual practice that has gone unremarked until now. -- Timothy Brook, University of British Columbia This important new book is doubly valuable. In offering the first Western language monograph devoted to the teachings of Ouyi Zhixu, Beverley Foulks McGuire has employed the best tools of sinology and Buddhist studies to rescue a major Chinese Buddhist teacher not only from the obscurity of scholarly neglect but also from the doldrums of conventional intellectual history. McGuire demonstrates the value of applying to the study of religious ethics the insights and methods of anthropology and the study of religious narrative. This book is 'must reading' for scholars of Chinese religions, especially Buddhism, and deserves serious attention in the wider field of religious studies. -- Robert M. Gimello, The University of Notre Dame In this thoughtful and astute study, McGuire shows how a fundamental Buddhist doctrine--karma--shaped the practice life of a major Chinese Buddhist thinker whose ideas remain significant for the tradition today. Her sensitive readings of Ouyi Zhixiu's ritual texts and personal writings provide an intimate perspective on this monk's ideas and his intense bodily practices such as 'filial slicing,' burning of his arms and head, and the writing of texts in his own blood. -- James A. Benn, McMaster University An eminently readable and interesting book...this is a scholarly book based on a great deal of specialised research, but it's surprisingly accessible to anyone with an interest in Buddhism and its development in China. Asian Review of Books Living Karma is an invaluable study that not only rescues from scholarly oblivion one of the most influential Buddhist figures of Ming-dynasty China, but also sheds light on the complexity and coherence of his inner world and ritual practices by showing how they were shaped by his understanding of karma. -- Daniela Campo H-Buddhism An important study and contribution to Buddhist studies that should be welcomed by students of Chinese Buddhism and culture. Review of Religion and Chinese Society In admirably concise and lucid writing, McGuire offers us a rare glimpse into the inner life of the great Ming dynasty Buddhist master Ouyi Zhixu. Journal of Chinese Religion This is a very strong entry from an emerging scholar in Chinese Buddhism... I recommend this volume without qualification. It is a well-defined and focused elucidation of an interesting topic. -- Charles B. Jones Harvard Journal of Asiatic StudiesTable of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Karma as a Narrative Device in Ouyi's Autobiography 2. Divination as a Karmic Diagnostic 3. Repentance Rituals for Eliminating Karma 4. Vowing to Assume the Karma of Others 5. Slicing, Burning, and Blood Writing: Karmic Transformations of Bodies Conclusion Appendix 1. A Translation of Ouyi's Autobiography Appendix 2. A Map of Ouyi's Life Notes Glossary of Terms, People, Places, and Titles of Texts Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn epic tale of globalized cultural exchange by means of our first “fast food.”Trade ReviewWell organized and breathtakingly broad in its geographic scope, Chop Suey, USA is an utterly original and significant contribution to the field. Yong Chen has done a superb job. No one has attempted anything like this. -- Hasia Diner, New York University A thoroughly researched, highly readable account of the development of Chinese American food, this book fills important gaps in the literature of ethnic and food studies, while incorporating an appealing personal memoir into the narrative. -- Jeffrey Pilcher, University of Toronto Food is not just about sustenance and taste. It is also about culture, economics, race, and identity. This is made abundantly clear in this fascinating account of the history of Chinese food in America. Chop Suey, USA is a wonderful American story, and a tasty one at that! -- Gordon H. Chang, Stanford University A perceptive view of an America built on abundance and consumption... Well-researched... Kirkus Reading Yong Chen's new book... is an education. In some ways, it seems more like an encyclopedia or a peak into the brain of a man who has read and retained an almost overwhelming number of books... Readers can learn much from Chen's in depth analysis and framing. 8Asians This well-researched book comes with seventy-eight pages of notes and a thirty-one page bibliography. It is seasoned with interested recipes, most of them chosen for their personal significance... An exciting intellectual endeavor. H-Environment Chop Suey is an engaging combination of research and food writing blended into a unified read. CHOICE Sophisticated... Groundbreaking... Yong Chen has published an ambitious and important work that has made a curcial contribution not only to the historical understanding of Chinese cuisine in the United States but also to the study of food in general. Journal of Chinese Overseas Chop Suey, USA was meticulously researched with a very extensive bibliography, the content is well organized with linking points and arguments, and the text is written with clarity and purpose. -- Alfred Yee Journal of American History A compelling and provocative contribution to the burgeoning field of American food studies. Journal of American Ethnic History Chen's study provides a sharp critique and rebuke to the degraded status accorded to Chinese American food and its creators. American QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface: The Genesis of the Book Acknowledgments Introduction: Chop Suey, the Big Mac of the Pre-McDonald's Era 1. Why Is Chinese Food So Popular? 2. The Empire and Empire Food 3. Chinese Cooks as Stewards of Empire 4. The Cradle of Chinese Food 5. The Rise of Chinese Restaurants 6. The Makers of American Chinese Food 7. "Chinese-American Cuisine" and the Authenticity of Chop Suey 8. The Chinese Brillat-Savarin Conclusion: The Home of No Return Afterword: Why Study Food? Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAmerican diners began to flock to Chinese restaurants more than a century ago, making Chinese food the first mass-consumed cuisine in the United States. Chop Suey, USA offers a comprehensive chronicle of the rise of Chinese food, revealing the forces that made it ubiquitous in the American gastronomic landscape.Trade ReviewWell organized and breathtakingly broad in its geographic scope, Chop Suey, USA is an utterly original and significant contribution to the field. Yong Chen has done a superb job. No one has attempted anything like this. -- Hasia Diner, New York UniversityA thoroughly researched, highly readable account of the development of Chinese American food, this book fills important gaps in the literature of ethnic and food studies, while incorporating an appealing personal memoir into the narrative. -- Jeffrey Pilcher, University of TorontoFood is not just about sustenance and taste. It is also about culture, economics, race, and identity. This is made abundantly clear in this fascinating account of the history of Chinese food in America. Chop Suey, USA is a wonderful American story, and a tasty one at that! -- Gordon H. Chang, Stanford UniversityA perceptive view of an America built on abundance and consumption... Well-researched... * Kirkus *A compelling and provocative contribution to the burgeoning field of American food studies. * Journal of American Ethnic History *Significantly contribute[s] to our understanding of the global history and importance of Chinese foodways. . . . Especially significant in examining the transmission of food habits across cultures and considering how the processes of empire building and globalization influence culinary traditions around the world. * American Historical Review *Groundbreaking. . . . [This] ambitious and important work [makes] a crucial contribution not only to the historical understanding of Chinese cuisine in the United States but also to the study of food in general. * Journal of Chinese Overseas *Chop Suey, USA was meticulously researched with a very extensive bibliography, the content is well organized with linking points and arguments, and the text is written with clarity and purpose. -- Alfred Yee * Journal of American History *Chen's study provides a sharp critique and rebuke to the degraded status accorded to Chinese American food and its creators. * American Quarterly *A critical reflection on the history of Chinese bodies and food in the ongoing story of U.S. expansion. * Gastronomica *Reading Yong Chen's new book… is an education. In some ways, it seems more like an encyclopedia or a peak into the brain of a man who has read and retained an almost overwhelming number of books… Readers can learn much from Chen's in depth analysis and framing. * 8Asians *This well-researched book comes with seventy-eight pages of notes and a thirty-one page bibliography. It is seasoned with interested recipes, most of them chosen for their personal significance… An exciting intellectual endeavor. * H-Environment *Chop Suey is an engaging combination of research and food writing blended into a unified read. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsPreface: The Genesis of the BookAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Chop Suey, the Big Mac of the Pre-McDonald's Era1. Why Is Chinese Food So Popular?2. The Empire and Empire Food3. Chinese Cooks as Stewards of Empire4. The Cradle of Chinese Food5. The Rise of Chinese Restaurants6. The Makers of American Chinese Food7. "Chinese-American Cuisine" and the Authenticity of Chop Suey8. The Chinese Brillat-SavarinConclusion: The Home of No ReturnAfterword: Why Study Food?NotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisWu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China as emperor. How did she ascend the dragon throne? This multifaceted history suggests that China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women played an integral part in the construction of Wu Zhao's sovereignty.Trade ReviewThis is a fascinating study of the only female emperor in the whole of Chinese history. By delving deeply into the religious underpinnings of Wu Zetian's power in a way that not even the most dedicated approach to her utilization of Buddhist scriptures and doctrines alone could manage, this investigation illuminates the unique quality of Wu Zetian's reign far more effectively than previous studies. Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers is a solid piece of well-documented scholarship, yet it is vibrant and entertaining throughout. -- Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania Wu Zhao is one of world history's most fascinating figures and the most powerful woman in China's long past. N. Harry Rothschild sheds new light on the ideological underpinnings of Wu Zhao's rise to power and unprecedented female dynasty. The Buddhist prophecies justifying her rule are well known, but Rothschild uncovers a more complex story that includes wise mothers and potent goddesses drawn from the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions. In lively prose, Rothschild reveals an ever-evolving pantheon of female paragons that Wu Zhao deployed strategically before and after claiming the throne. -- Jonathan Karam Skaff, author of Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors With painstaking research, unerring insights, rich prose, and a sense of humor, Rothschild lavishly illustrates the political genius of Wu Zhao, China's only female emperor. Indicating her keen political instincts and expansive knowledge of China's cultural traditions, Rothschild adeptly delineates how, over the span of her fifty-year rule, Wu Zhao selectively made use of different goddesses and heroines to match the specific circumstances of her career's twists and turns. -- Keith N. Knapp, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina This book is a tour de force of textual analysis and historical detective work that leaves previous sensationalistic accounts of Wu Zhao's rise to power in the dust. -- Suzanne Cahill, University of California, San Diego Exhaustively researched... Tricycle What an original and remarkable story N. Harry Rothschild tells-of ancestors, power, and leadership. How a woman in an ancient, male-dominated culture employed art and poetry, history and mythology, and ritual and violence to create an ancestral line that consolidated her own gender-bending authority; the story of how Empress Wu invented herself as China's sole female ruler, the Emperor Wu Zhao. -- Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism A lively and captivating narrative that is sure to please both specialist and student alike... Rothschild deserves tremendous applause. Studies in Chinese Religions Highly revealing... The amount of material that has been drawn upon to achieve this result is impressive. International Journal of Asian Studies [An] informative and entertaining excursion into the religio-political machinations of perhaps the most (in)famous woman in Chinese history. -- Stuart H. Young Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Dynasties and Rulers Through the Mid-Tang Wu Zhao's Titles at Different Stages of Her Career Reign Eras from 655 to 705 Acknowledgments Introduction: Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Female Political Ancestors I. Goddesses of Antiquity 1. Wu Zhao as the Late Seventh-Century Avatar of Primordial Goddess Nuwa 2. Sanctifying Luoyang: The Luo River Goddess and Wu Zhao 3. First Ladies of Sericulture: Wu Zhao and Leizu II. Dynastic Mothers, Exemplary Mothers 4. The Mother of Qi and Wu Zhao: Connecting to Antiquity, Elevating Mount Song 5. Ur-Mothers Birthing the Zhou Line: Jiang Yuan and Wu Zhao 6. Wenmu and Wu Zhao: Two Mothers of Zhou 7. Four Exemplary Women in Wu Zhao's Regulations for Ministers III. Drawing the Numinous Energies of Female Daoist Divinities 8. The Queen Mother of the West and Wu Zhao 9. The Mother of Laozi and Wu Zhao: From One Grand Dowager to Another 10. Rejected from the Pantheon: The Ill-Timed Rise of the Cult of Wei Huacun IV. Buddhist Devis and Goddesses 11. Dharma Echoes of Mother Maya in Wu Zhao 12. Bodhisattva with a Female Body: Wu Zhao and Devi Jingguang Conclusions Appendix: Wu Zhao's Pantheon of Female Political Ancestors Glossary of Chinese Places, Names, and Terms Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China as emperor. How did she ascend the dragon throne? This multifaceted history suggests that China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women played an integral part in the construction of Wu Zhao's sovereignty.Trade ReviewThis is a fascinating study of the only female emperor in the whole of Chinese history. By delving deeply into the religious underpinnings of Wu Zetian's power in a way that not even the most dedicated approach to her utilization of Buddhist scriptures and doctrines alone could manage, this investigation illuminates the unique quality of Wu Zetian's reign far more effectively than previous studies. Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers is a solid piece of well-documented scholarship, yet it is vibrant and entertaining throughout. -- Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania Wu Zhao is one of world history's most fascinating figures and the most powerful woman in China's long past. N. Harry Rothschild sheds new light on the ideological underpinnings of Wu Zhao's rise to power and unprecedented female dynasty. The Buddhist prophecies justifying her rule are well known, but Rothschild uncovers a more complex story that includes wise mothers and potent goddesses drawn from the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions. In lively prose, Rothschild reveals an ever-evolving pantheon of female paragons that Wu Zhao deployed strategically before and after claiming the throne. -- Jonathan Karam Skaff, author of Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors With painstaking research, unerring insights, rich prose, and a sense of humor, Rothschild lavishly illustrates the political genius of Wu Zhao, China's only female emperor. Indicating her keen political instincts and expansive knowledge of China's cultural traditions, Rothschild adeptly delineates how, over the span of her fifty-year rule, Wu Zhao selectively made use of different goddesses and heroines to match the specific circumstances of her career's twists and turns. -- Keith N. Knapp, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina This book is a tour de force of textual analysis and historical detective work that leaves previous sensationalistic accounts of Wu Zhao's rise to power in the dust. -- Suzanne Cahill, University of California, San Diego Exhaustively researched... Tricycle What an original and remarkable story N. Harry Rothschild tells-of ancestors, power, and leadership. How a woman in an ancient, male-dominated culture employed art and poetry, history and mythology, and ritual and violence to create an ancestral line that consolidated her own gender-bending authority; the story of how Empress Wu invented herself as China's sole female ruler, the Emperor Wu Zhao. -- Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism A lively and captivating narrative that is sure to please both specialist and student alike... Rothschild deserves tremendous applause. Studies in Chinese Religions Highly revealing... The amount of material that has been drawn upon to achieve this result is impressive. International Journal of Asian Studies [An] informative and entertaining excursion into the religio-political machinations of perhaps the most (in)famous woman in Chinese history. -- Stuart H. Young Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Dynasties and Rulers Through the Mid-Tang Wu Zhao's Titles at Different Stages of Her Career Reign Eras from 655 to 705 Acknowledgments Introduction: Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Female Political Ancestors I. Goddesses of Antiquity 1. Wu Zhao as the Late Seventh-Century Avatar of Primordial Goddess Nuwa 2. Sanctifying Luoyang: The Luo River Goddess and Wu Zhao 3. First Ladies of Sericulture: Wu Zhao and Leizu II. Dynastic Mothers, Exemplary Mothers 4. The Mother of Qi and Wu Zhao: Connecting to Antiquity, Elevating Mount Song 5. Ur-Mothers Birthing the Zhou Line: Jiang Yuan and Wu Zhao 6. Wenmu and Wu Zhao: Two Mothers of Zhou 7. Four Exemplary Women in Wu Zhao's Regulations for Ministers III. Drawing the Numinous Energies of Female Daoist Divinities 8. The Queen Mother of the West and Wu Zhao 9. The Mother of Laozi and Wu Zhao: From One Grand Dowager to Another 10. Rejected from the Pantheon: The Ill-Timed Rise of the Cult of Wei Huacun IV. Buddhist Devis and Goddesses 11. Dharma Echoes of Mother Maya in Wu Zhao 12. Bodhisattva with a Female Body: Wu Zhao and Devi Jingguang Conclusions Appendix: Wu Zhao's Pantheon of Female Political Ancestors Glossary of Chinese Places, Names, and Terms Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA scholar’s intellectual awakening set against the backdrop of two disciplines and many journeys.Trade ReviewA unique and compelling volume with a great deal of fascinating material and provocative observations. Nicholas B. Dirks's essays will be extremely influential for the large and growing public interested in India. -- David Szanton, University of California, Berkeley, and editor of The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines Using the conceit of an autobiography, this book dazzles with luminous reflections on the archive of knowledge on India. As a leading scholar of India in the American academy, Nicholas B. Dirks offers original insights on the history and politics of scholarship, on empire and its entailment in the production of knowledge, and on the career of history and anthropology as disciplines. Autobiography of an Archive showcases Dirks at his best as a scholar and cultural critic. -- Gyan Prakash, author of Mumbai Fables Nicholas B. Dirks has taken to heart the disciplinary alliance between Anthropology and History that Keith Thomas so fruitfully articulated in theory (and then pursued in practice) a half century ago. In these essays he artfully pursues it himself via an autobiographical unfolding of his own archival path of discovery as a scholar of India. The essays will be greatly admired not only for their knowledgeable, distinctive, and acute grasp of the difficult and well-mined phenomena of kingship and caste and colonialism but also for the sustained and detailed angle of sympathy and regard they present on those oppressed by that phenomena. -- Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University Autobiography of an Archive is a compelling synthesis of his extraordinary career as a scholar, teacher, and institution builder. Nicholas B. Dirks's account of the interconnections between anthropology and history and his commitment to the internationalization of liberal learning make his book a vital contribution to contemporary discussions of globalization and education. -- Michael S. Roth, president, Wesleyan University Nicholas B. Dirks, with his consummate clarity and stylistic finesse, takes the reader on an autobiographical and historical journey to show both how history and culture are imbricated in the making of these fields and more generally to why history so matters to the future visions of the vitality and the openness we must embrace to understand our world today. -- Ann Laura Stoler, New School for Social Research An incredible book, a work that needs to be relished slowly... Anthropology News Taut, clear language, which, at times, becomes almost lyrical. H-NetTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Passage to India Part I. Autobiography 1. Annals of the Archive: Ethnographic Notes on the Sources of History 2. Autobiography of an Archive 3. Preface to the Second Edition of The Hollow Crown Part II. History and Anthropology 4. Castes of Mind 5. Ritual and Resistance: Subversion as a Social Fact 6. The Policing of Tradition: Colonialism and Anthropology in Southern India Part III. Empire 7. Imperial Sovereignty 8. Bringing the Company Back In: The Scandal of Early Global Capitalism 9. The Idea of Empire Part IV. The Politics of Knowledge 10. In Near Ruins: Cultural Theory at the End of the Century 11. G. S. Ghurye and the Politics of Sociological Knowledge 12. South Asian Studies: Futures Past Part V. University 13. Franz Boas and the American University: A Personal Account 14. Scholars and Spies: Worldly Knowledge and the Predicament of the University 15. The Opening of the American Mind Notes Permissions Index

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe unification of North and South Korea is globally volatile, but Hyun Ok Park argues capital has already unified Korea in a transnational form. The capitalist unconscious drives the current unification, imagining the capitalist integration of the Korean peninsula and the Korean diaspora as a new democratic moment.Trade ReviewA stunningly original and significant contribution to a field that seems mired in a Cold War long passed. Not only does Hyun Ok Park seek to untie the knotted problem of the two Koreas, but she also persuasively provides an exemplary guide to how best unveil the interacting entanglements of history and the contemporary moment. -- Harry Harootunian, Columbia University One of the most provocative works on North Korea to emerge in years, Hyun Ok Park's The Capitalist Unconscious offers a fresh look at the past twenty years of political and socioeconomic changes in Northeast Asia. Her focus is on labor moving across borders-how it moves, generates wealth, and transforms every place it travels. The two Koreas, we learn, might not be so divided after all. -- Andre Schmid, University of Toronto Combining broad theoretical insights into Korea's rapidly changing political economy with vivid ethnographic details of migrant workers' experiences, Hyun Ok Park's The Capitalist Unconscious challenges us to reimagine the region's present, as well as its future. It will provoke lively debates about the construction of 'transnational Korea' in the twenty-first century. -- Gay Seidman, University of Wisconsin-Madison Provocative and engaging. Korean Quarterly A deeply moving, warm personal tale. Korea.net A much-needed examination of North Korea and its relationship to South Korea, China, and global capitalism writ large. -- Patrick Chung Journal of American-East Asian Relations Park's book fundamentally challenges existing understandings of Korean unification and will surely redefine debates about the meaning of a transnational Korea. American Journal of SociologyTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Part I: Crisis 1. The Capitalist Unconscious: The Korea Question 2. The Aesthetics of Democratic Politics: Labor, Violence, and Repetition Part II: Reparation 3. Reparation: On Colonial Returnee 4. Socialist Reparation: On Living Labor 5. Chinese Revolution in Repetition: The Minority Question Part III: Peace and Human Rights 6. Korean Unification as Capitalist Hegemony 7. North Korean Revolution in Repetition: Crisis and Value 8. Spectacle of T'albuk: Freedom and Free Labor Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisJaHyun Kim Haboush offers a compelling counternarrative to Western historiography, which ties Korea's idea of nation to the imported ideologies of modern colonialism. This book instead elevates the formative role of the conflicts that defined the second half of the Chosôn Dynasty.Trade ReviewAs the first work to thoroughly examine the formation of the Korean nation before the modern era, The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation is an enormous contribution to scholarship on Korean and East Asian history and to the study of nations and nationalism throughout the world. It is certain to cement JaHyun Kim Haboush's legacy as one of the most brilliant scholars of her era. -- Jungwon Kim, Columbia University, co-translator of Wrongful Death: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth Century Korea This singular book can be savored on many levels. The lover of fiction will find high dramas of alien invasions and sacked homes, replete with blood and valor worthy of Hollywood. The scholar-of East Asia or elsewhere-will be challenged to rethink the relationship between the nation, language, and modernity. It saddens me that there will be no more books by the incomparable JaHyun Kim Haboush after this one. -- Dorothy Ko, Barnard College, coeditor of The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory A welcome addition to recent scholarship... Haboush's manuscript leaves readers with much to ponder about the Imjin War, literature, and nationhood in the premodern world... Highly recommended. Choice Required reading for anyone interested in the discourse of a nation more generally and in this particular war. The Sixteenth Century Journal A welcome contribution to the study of Choson Korea. -- Nam-Lin Hur Journal of Asian StudiesTable of ContentsForeword, by William J. Haboush Introduction 1. The Volunteer Army and the Discourse of Nation 2. The Volunteer Army and the Emergence of Imagined Community 3. War of Words: The Changing Nature of Literary Chinese in the Japanese Occupation 4. Language Strategy: The Emergence of a Vernacular National Space 5. The Aftermath: Dream Journeys and the Culture of Commemoration Publications by JaHyun Kim Haboush Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisJaHyun Kim Haboush offers a compelling counternarrative to Western historiography, which ties Korea's idea of nation to the imported ideologies of modern colonialism. This book instead elevates the formative role of the conflicts that defined the second half of the Chosôn Dynasty.Trade ReviewAs the first work to thoroughly examine the formation of the Korean nation before the modern era, The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation is an enormous contribution to scholarship on Korean and East Asian history and to the study of nations and nationalism throughout the world. It is certain to cement JaHyun Kim Haboush's legacy as one of the most brilliant scholars of her era. -- Jungwon Kim, Columbia University, co-translator of Wrongful Death: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth Century KoreaThis singular book can be savored on many levels. The lover of fiction will find high dramas of alien invasions and sacked homes, replete with blood and valor worthy of Hollywood. The scholar—of East Asia or elsewhere—will be challenged to rethink the relationship between the nation, language, and modernity. It saddens me that there will be no more books by the incomparable JaHyun Kim Haboush after this one. -- Dorothy Ko, Barnard College, coeditor of The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational TheoryHaboush’s innovative research shows how Korea emerged as one of the first imagined communities, and one of the most enduring. * Foreign Affairs *A welcome contribution to the study of Chosŏn Korea. -- Nam-Lin Hur * Journal of Asian Studies *A provocative re-examination of an important period of East Asian history. * Journal of Early Modern History *Required reading for anyone interested in the discourse of a nation more generally and in this particular war. * The Sixteenth Century Journal *This provocative book reminds us of [Haboush’s] signal contributions to the history of early modern Korea. * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *A welcome addition to recent scholarship.... Haboush's manuscript leaves readers with much to ponder about the Imjin War, literature, and nationhood in the premodern world.... Highly recommended. * Choice *For her service, Haboush deserves our praise, and I am glad that her widower, her students, and her friends brought these unfinished notes to light. We have a significant contribution in this slim volume. * Monumenta Nipponica 72:1 *Table of ContentsForeword, by William J. HaboushIntroduction1. The Volunteer Army and the Discourse of Nation2. The Volunteer Army and the Emergence of Imagined Community3. War of Words: The Changing Nature of Literary Chinese in the Japanese Occupation4. Language Strategy: The Emergence of a Vernacular National Space5. The Aftermath: Dream Journeys and the Culture of CommemorationPublications by JaHyun Kim HaboushNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocusing on the power dynamics of Sino-Western relations during the century before the First Opium War, Li Chen highlights the centrality of law to modern imperial ideology and politics and brings new insight to the origins of comparative Chinese law in the West and foreign extraterritoriality in China.Trade ReviewJust when we thought no one could offer any new approach to the subject of the Sino-Western encounter during the early modern period, this book pulls us back in. Li Chen sets a new standard for any future study on this topic. -- Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, New York UniversityLi Chen makes a gift of his expertise in legal history to readers of every level. He not only reinterprets monumental historical episodes in the relations between China and Europe but also builds on this platform a cultural history of European perceptions of punishment, justice, and state prerogative in China. Anybody considering legal history an arcane or marginal element of late Qing history and its international relations will have to reconsider. -- Pamela Kyle Crossley, Dartmouth CollegeChinese Law in Imperial Eyes is a landmark contribution to the emerging field of Chinese law and cultural studies. Li Chen's sophisticated analyses and wide-ranging archive illuminate the complex and fascinating encounter between Chinese and European legal traditions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. -- Teemu Ruskola, Emory University School of LawThe discussion of the conceptual differences between Chinese and Western legal orders, public and private, codified and non-codified law is so fascinating and fundamental that it stands as one of the signal contributions of the volume. . . . Sets a very high bar for new studies, and will be a standard for many years to come. * American Historical Review *Extensively researched and well-written.... The aspiration of the author to restore the centrality of legal matters to Sino-Western interactions is clearly achieved. * H-Empire *Engages different discursive levels and reveals the evolution and diffusion of knowledge of the Chinese law, from rational to sentimental perspectives. * Frontiers of History in China *Chen's Chinese Law in Imperial Eyes, not only provides a much needed and significant contribution, but could be regarded as quite the masterpiece, outlining the importance of legal discourses to Sino-Western encounters from the eighteenth century onwards. * Chinese Historical Review *Li Chen has delivered a carefully crafted and highly articulate study that will soon be required reading for students of comparative law, imperialism, and Sino-western relations in general. * Journal of Chinese History *A confident exemplar of a now-flourishing field. * English Historical Review *Enriches discourses on legal, intellectual, and political dimensions of modern Sino-Western relations. * Choice *In this nuanced and convincing study, Li Chen not only probes why and how oversimplified, reductive culturalist interpretations of Sino-Western legal collisions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries became dominant, but also pushes past the discourses of Euro-Americentric hegemonic creep typically found in revisionist scholarship. * Journal of East Asian Studies *This is a critical book for understanding a mutually influential relationship, as both Chinese and Western empires struggled to create their own legal identities and forge stable international practices. . . . With this book, Li Chen has equipped historians with an essential vision of the origins of longstanding presumptions about Chinese law. * Frontier of Literary Studies in China *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Imperial Archives and Historiography of Western Extraterritoriality in China2. Translation of the Qing Code and Colonial Origins of Comparative Chinese Law3. Chinese Law in the Formation of European Modernity4. Sentimental Imperialism and the Global Spectacle of Chinese Punishments5. Law and Empire in the Making of the First Opium WarConclusionList of AbbreviationsNotesGlossaryBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume is a comprehensive sourcebook of newly translated texts from the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires of the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries, accompanied by scholarly essays, that aims to provide a new model for the study and teaching of the early modern history of the Near East and India.Trade ReviewThe Empires of the Near East and India provides, really for the first time, a body of early modern primary sources from the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal contexts in translation. A variety of types of text are provided, from poetry to judicial rulings, and the translations are readable while maintaining the flavor of the original Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman Turkish. This will prove a valuable resource for those of us who teach any or all of these imperial histories. -- Michael Talbot, University of GreenwichThis is the first accessible, high quality, English language sourcebook on medieval and post-classical Islamic empires. Thirty-three original commentaries and translations enrich our understanding of life under the most powerful global empires of the day: The Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals. The book tells the story of diverse peoples: poets and painters, kings and conquerors, scientists and Sufis, and more. For students of world literature and history, this is an indispensable resource. -- Emran El-Badawi, University of HoustonThe Empires of the Near East and India is a treasure trove of carefully selected, freshly translated, and accurately contextualized primary sources from the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal worlds. Covering a rich array of themes that range from political culture and religiosities to scientific writing and artistic production, this one-of-a-kind collection will become standard reading for students of early modern (Muslim) empires. -- A. Tunç Şen, Columbia UniversityThis volume is a laudable effort to compile a handy and well-edited volume with expert contributions on a wide range of topics of interest to historians studying and teaching the pasts of these three empires, their global histories and their encounters with other political and social protagonists of the early modern period. * H-Soz-Kult *This is an invaluable book for anyone studying, teaching, and/or researching the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires and will definitely find its way onto many university reading lists as a core text. * H-History and Theory *Table of ContentsEditor’s Note Editor’s Acknowledgments Introduction, by Hani Khafipour Part I. The Religious Landscape 1. Converts, Apostates, and PolytheistsI. Confessions of an Armenian Convert: The I‘tirafnama of Abkar (‘Ali Akbar) Armani, by Rudi Matthee II. Conversion, Apostasy, and Relations Between Muslims and Non-Muslims: Fatwas of the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islams, by Nikolay Antov III. The Night Debates at Jahangir’s Court’Abd al-Sattar’s Majalis-i Jahangiri, by Corinne Lefèvre 2. Heretics, Polytheists, and the Path of the RighteousI. The Shi’a Path of the Righteous: The Strength of Akhbarism in Safavid Iran, by Maryam MoazzenII. Ottoman Religious Rulings Concerning The Safavids: Ebussuud Efendi’s Fatwas, by Abdurrahman AtçılIII. A Mughal Debate About Jain Asceticism, by Audrey Truschke3. The Zealot, the Sufi, and the Quest for Spiritual TranscendenceI. Opposition to Sufism in Safavid Iran: A Debate Between Mulla Muhammad-Tahir Qummi and Mulla Muhammad-Taqi Majlisi, by Ata AnzaliII. The Worldview of a Sufi in the Ottoman Realm: Hakiki and His Book of Guidance, by F. Betul YavuzIII. Sufism and the Divine Law: Ahmad Sirhindi’s Ruminations, by Arthur F. Buehler Part II. Political Culture4. Conceptions of Sovereignty: The Poet, the Scholar, and the Court SufiI. The Safavid Claim to Sovereignty According to a Court Bureaucrat, by Hani KhafipourII. Kingship and Legitimacy in the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Empire, by Huseyin YılmazIII. The Millennial and Saintly Sovereignty of Emperor Shah Jahan According to a Court Sufi, by A. Azfar Moin5. The King’s Deathbed: Coronation, Execution, and FratricideI. In the Shadow of Shah ‘Abbas: The Succession of Shah Safi (r. 1629–1642), by Sholeh A. QuinnII. The Ottoman Conception of Sovereignty and Succession: Mustafa Ali’s Essence of History (Kunh al-Akhbar), by Zahit AtçılIII. The Way of Tradition and the Path of Innovation: Aurangzeb and Dara Shukuh’s Struggle for the Mughal Throne, by Jane Mikkelson6. A Tale of Three Cities: Diplomacy and ConquestI. Imperial Geopolitics and the Otiose Quest for Qandahar, by Hani KhafipourII. The Ottoman Conquest of Buda(pest): Sultan Suleiman’s Imperial Letter of Victory, by Zahit AtçılIII. The Mughal Conquest of Chittor: Study of Akbar’s Letter of Victory, Taymiya R. Zaman Part III. Philosophical Inquiries7. Philosophy as a Way of LifeI. The Many Faces of Philosophy in the Safavid Age, by Sajjad RizviII. Philosophia Ottomanica: Jalal al-Din Davani on Establishing the Existence of the Necessary Being, by Ahab BdaiwiIII. Philosophy and Legal Theory: The Musallam al-thubut of Muhibballah al-Bihari and Its Commentary by ‘Abd al-’Ali Bahr al-’Ulum, by Asad Q. Ahmad8. Lettrists, Alchemists, and Astrologers: The Occult SciencesI. The Occult Sciences in Safavid Iran, by Matthew Melvin-KoushkiII. A Commentary on The Secret of Ta-Ha by the Pseudo-Eşrefoǧlu Rumi, by Tuna ArtunIII. The Occult Sciences at the Mughal Court During the Sixteenth Century, by Eva Orthmann Part IV. Literature and the Arts9. Three Poets and the Three Literary ClimesI. Selections from the Poetry of Muhtasham Kashani, by Paul LosenskyII. The Poet ‘Azmizade Haleti and the Transformation of Ottoman Literature in the Seventeenth Century, by Berat AcilIII. Mughal Sanskrit Literature: The Book of War and the Treasury of Compassion, by Audrey Truschke10. Royal Patronage: A College, Poets, and the Making of an Imperial SecretaryI. The Leading Religious College in Early Modern Iran: Madrasa-yi Sultani and Its Endowment, by Maryam MoazzenII. Imperial Patronage of Literature in the Ottoman World, 1400–1600, by Murat Umut InanIII. A Letter of Advice from a Mughal Gentleman to His Son, by Rajeev Kinra11. Painters, Calligraphers, and CollectorsI. Reading a Painting: Sultan-Muhammad’s The Court of Gayumars, by Sheila BlairII. The Making of a Legendary Calligrapher: Textual Portraits of Sheikh Hamdullah, by Esra Akın-KıvançIII. Deccani Seals and Scribal Notations: Sources for the Study of Indo-Persian Book Arts and Collecting (c. 1400–1680), by Keelan Overton and Jake BensonBibliographyList of ContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn acclaimed political thinker traces the intimate experiences of history in the formal experiments of modern literature.Trade ReviewSudipta Kaviraj is one of the foremost scholars anywhere in the world working on South Asia. A master of the essay form, his writings on political theory and Indian politics show him to be a scholar of vast erudition, subtle analytical skill, and brilliant humor. -- Partha Chatterjee, Columbia UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Literature as the Mirror of Modernity 1. On the Advantages of Being a Barbarian 2. Literature and the Moral Imaginations of Modernity 3. The Two Histories of Literary Culture in Bengal 4. A Strange Love of Abstractions: The Making of a Language of Patriotism in Modern Bengali 5. Tagore and Transformations in the Ideals of Love 6. The Poetry of Interiority: The Creation of a Language of Modern Subjectivity in Tagore's Poetry 7. Laughter and Subjectivity: The Self-Ironical Tradition in Bengali Literature 8. Reading a Song of the City: Images of the City in Literature and Films 9. The Art of Despair: The Sense of the City in Modern Bengali Poetry 10. The Invention of Private Life: A Reading of Sibnath Sastri's Autobiography 11. The Second Mahabharata Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn acclaimed political thinker traces the intimate experiences of history in the formal experiments of modern literature.Trade ReviewSudipta Kaviraj is one of the foremost scholars anywhere in the world working on South Asia. A master of the essay form, his writings on political theory and Indian politics show him to be a scholar of vast erudition, subtle analytical skill, and brilliant humor. -- Partha Chatterjee, Columbia UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Literature as the Mirror of Modernity 1. On the Advantages of Being a Barbarian 2. Literature and the Moral Imaginations of Modernity 3. The Two Histories of Literary Culture in Bengal 4. A Strange Love of Abstractions: The Making of a Language of Patriotism in Modern Bengali 5. Tagore and Transformations in the Ideals of Love 6. The Poetry of Interiority: The Creation of a Language of Modern Subjectivity in Tagore's Poetry 7. Laughter and Subjectivity: The Self-Ironical Tradition in Bengali Literature 8. Reading a Song of the City: Images of the City in Literature and Films 9. The Art of Despair: The Sense of the City in Modern Bengali Poetry 10. The Invention of Private Life: A Reading of Sibnath Sastri's Autobiography 11. The Second Mahabharata Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explains the ideas and practice of Chinese medicine from its beginnings in antiquity to today. Paul U. Unschuld describes medicine’s close connection with politics and society, bringing together texts, techniques, and worldviews to understand changing Chinese attitudes toward healing and the significance of traditional medicine today.Trade ReviewThis small volume by one of the most distinguished living historians of traditional Chinese medicine is a tour de force of specialist knowledge. -- Victor H. Mair, University of PennsylvaniaTable of ContentsPreface to the English EditionIntroductionPart I: The Historical Foundations1. Origins and Characteristics of Chinese Medicine2. The Lack of Existential Autonomy3. The Longing for Existential Autonomy4. Quotations from the Medical Classics5. The Banality of Violence6. The Mawangdui Texts7. Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology in the New Medicine8. Deficiencies in the Credibility of the New Medicine9. The Alternative Model: The View from Illness10. Radical Healing: Life as a Form of Disease11. Between Antiquity and the Modern Age12. Two Medical Authors of the Ming and Qing DynastiesPart II: Modern and Contemporary Times13. The Confrontation with the Western Way of Life14. The Persuasiveness of Western Medicine15. The Opinions of Intellectuals and Politicians16. The Selection17. The Surprise18. The Creative Reception of Chinese Medicine in the West19. The Objectification of the Discussion: Opportunity and ChallengeEpilogueNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThese fragments outline a rudimentary theory of political order modeled on the natural world that recognizes the role of human self-interest in maintaining stable rule. Casting the natural world as an independent, amoral system, Shen Dao situates the source of moral judgment firmly within the human sphere.Trade ReviewWith imagination and philosophical acumen, Eirik Lang Harris has shown Shen Dao to be an ancient political philosopher worth contending with. He shows Shen Dao to have a balanced and realistic philosophy, occupying a position between Confucianism and Mohism. His translation, accompanied by the Chinese text, will serve philosophers for decades to come. -- Al Martinich, Roy Allison Vaughan Centennial Professor in Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin Harris's new translation and commentary on the surviving fragments of Shen Dao's writings is a significant contribution to Sinology. He skillfully explains Shen Dao's political philosophy in terms that are readily comprehensible to contemporary thinkers. This is an excellent overview of ancient Chinese philosophy for both specialists and nonspecialists. -- Bryan Van Norden, author of Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy Harris provides an excellent translation and study of the Shenzi Fragments and does a beautiful job of demonstrating the significance of the fragments for our understanding of early Chinese political philosophy. This work will play a crucial role in bringing scholarly attention back to these important yet often neglected materials. -- Michael Puett, coauthor of The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good LifeTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Conventions and Abbreviations Introduction Part I: A Philosophical Study of the Shenzi Fragments Shen Dao's Political Philosophy Shen Dao in the Early Chinese Intellectual Milieu Part II: A Translation of the Shenzi Fragments Appendix: Conversion and Finding Chart Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisCasts lexicographers as key figures in the political realignment of South Asia under British rule and in the years after independence. Their dictionaries document how a single, mutually intelligible language evolved into two competing registers—Urdu and Hindi—and became associated with contrasting religious and nationalist goalsTrade ReviewA monumental work. Its eloquence is sublime, the stories are tantalizing, and the illustrations are gripping. -- Syed Akbar Hyder, author of Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory South Asianists have needed a pioneering book that takes seriously the ideological underpinnings of dictionary production and meaning-making across a range of linguistic, cultural, and class boundaries and shows how dynamic such exchanges often are. Negotiating Languages is a major contribution to the study of South Asia. -- Christi Merrill, author of Riddles of Belonging: India in Translation and Other Tales of Possession Who knew that lexicographical analysis could be so historically revelatory, culturally astute, and rich in anecdotes? Hakala's book is not only a source to be mined for information but also a joy to read. Everyone with an interest in South Asian language history will find it both a treasure and a pleasure. -- Frances Pritchett, author of Nets of Awareness: Urdu Poetry and Its Critics A pioneering study of Hindi/Urdu lexicography, Hakala's book is an equally significant contribution to the sociology of Urdu's premodern literature. His meticulous analyses of four lexicons, dating from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, bring revealing insights to the issues that much concerned not only the lexicographers but also all the creative writers of those times, as well as issues of linguistic authority and authenticity and gender and class identities. -- C. M. Naim, author of Urdu Texts and Contexts A brilliant contribution to the story of how Hindustani emerged as a standardized, comprehensive language, and in the end diverged into Urdu and Hindi as languages of cultural and national identity. With great originality, Hakala shows how dictionaries change over time in their sources, format, claims to authenticity, and the populations they at once reflect and create. We will never look at the Fallon, Platts, and Farhang that sit on our desks in the same way again. -- Barbara D. Metcalf, author of Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860-1900Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Chronology 1. A Plot Discovered 2. 1700: Between Microhistory and Macrostructures 3. 1800: Through the Veil of Poetry 4. 1900: Lexicography and the Self 5. 1900: Grasping at Straws Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamining the moral, ethical, legal, and political issues surrounding the Allied prosecution project, from the first investigations during the war to the final release of prisoners in 1958, Japanese War Criminals shows how a simple effort to punish the guilty evolved into a struggle that muddied the assignment of responsibility for war crimes.Trade ReviewThis exemplary work of collaborative scholarship represents a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of the processes behind, and consequences of, Allied efforts to prosecute Japanese war crimes in the aftermath of the Second World War. Drawing on archival sources gathered from all corners of the globe, it not only provides an impressive overview of the thousands of individual trials conducted by the Allies across the Asia-Pacific region, but also details the complex tangle of considerations that resulted in the release of all remaining prisoners by the end of 1958. Rejecting the simple opposition between politics and justice that has so often been used to frame discussions of the trials, it instead offers a deeply compelling account of the moral, legal and practical dilemmas that haunt every episode in this profoundly important history. -- Daniel Botsman, Yale University I cannot think of a similar work with such a broad scope...This book is a product of an enormous, novel, research effort and it shows. The authors illustrate the development of an Inter-Allied system of legal assistance for purposes ranging from the transfer of evidence to suspects and prisoners developed from 1946 and which worked until 1959. It makes for a fascinating account of international cooperation. -- Neil Boister, University of Waikato The Allied authorities meted out retributive justice to thousands of Japanese war criminals in the immediate aftermath of World War II. However, "the sentences were only the start of a new phase in applying justice to war criminals," so this book warns us, and compels us to consider the implications of the complex interplay of domestic politics and diplomacy that led to the eventual release of all convicted war criminals -- Yuma Totani, University of HawaiiTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Names, Spelling, and Terminology List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Defining War Crimes and Creating Courts 2. Investigation and Arrest 3. In Court: Indictment, Trial, and Sentencing 4. Dilemmas of Detention and the First Misgivings 5. Shifting Mood, Shifting Location 6. Peace and Article 11 7. Japanese Pressure Mounts 8. Finding a Formula for Release 9. The Race to Clear Sugamo Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a history that spans the eighteenth century to the present, Michael J. Green follows the development of U.S. strategic thinking toward East Asia. Green finds one overarching concern: that a rival power might use the Pacific to isolate and threaten the U.S. and prevent the ocean from becoming a conduit for the westward flow of trade and values.Trade ReviewMichael Green's magisterial study is a timely and insightful reminder of the deep and long-standing ties between East Asia and the United States, and the complex interplay between our economic and security interests, and our values, a dynamic which has shaped US policy for two and a half centuries. It is an indispensable point of reference for students and policy makers seeking to understand a critical region where history casts a long shadow, notwithstanding the extraordinary changes of recent years. -- James Steinberg, Syracuse University and former deputy secretary of state With impeccable research and lucid prose, Michael Green provides a first-rate account of the deep historical roots of American grand strategy toward Asia. It is essential for understanding American policy toward a crucial region. -- Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University, and author of Is the American Century Over? Already a renowned Japan expert, Green combines his regional knowledge with a capacious strategic mind and historical sensibility. This is one of the most impressive books I have ever read. It is consistently original, providing on every page fresh insights immersed in a compelling narrative arc, and it is destined to be a lodestar among scholarship on history, strategy, and statecraft. -- William Inboden, Chair, Clements Center for National Security, The University of Texas, Austin Important and comprehensive study of America's relations with the region. -- Gordon G. Chang New York Times Book Review Green set about filling [a] gap in the literature and he has succeeded triumphantly. His book is likely to become the standard work on the subject. -- Gideon Rachman Financial TimesTable of ContentsNote on Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Terms Acknowledgments Introduction I. The Rise of the United States 1. "A Theatre for the Exercise of the Most Ambitious Intellect": Seeds of Strategy, 1784-1860 2. "How Sublime the Pacific Part Assigned to Us": Precursors to Expansion, 1861-1898 3. "I Wish to See the United States the Dominant Power on the Shores of the Pacific": Grand Strategy in the Era of Theodore Roosevelt II. The Rise of Japan 4. "Leave the Door Open, Rehabilitate China, and Satisfy Japan": Defining the Open Door, 1909-1927 5. "Between Non-resistance and Coercion": The Open Door Closes, 1928-1941 6. "We Have Got to Dominate the Pacific": Grand Strategy and the War Against Japan III. The Rise of the Soviets 7. "The Overall Effect Is to Enlarge Our Strategic Frontier": Defining Containment in the Pacific, 1945-1960 8. "Anyone Who Isn't Confused Really Doesn't Understand the Situation": Asia Strategy and Escalation in Vietnam, 1961-1968 9. "An Even Balance": Nixon and Kissinger's Redefinition of Containment in Asia, 1969-1975 10. "The President Cannot Make Any Weak Moves": Jimmy Carter and the Return of the China Card, 1977-1980 11. "To Contain and Over Time Reverse": Ronald Reagan, 1980-1989 IV. The Rise of China 12. "The Key to Our Security and Our Prosperity Lies in the Vitality of Those Relationships": George H. W. Bush and the Unipolar Moment, 1989-1992 13. "Engage and Balance": Bill Clinton and the Unexpected Return of Great-Power Politics 14. "A Balance of Power That Favors Freedom": Strategic Surprise and the Asia Policy of George W. Bush 15. "The Pivot": Barack Obama and the Struggle to Rebalance Asia Conclusion: The Historical Case for Asia Strategy Notes Index Illustrations

Read more less

Book SynopsisLove Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tare Lhamo (1938–2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944–2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary set of letters between a man and woman lie at the heart of this study of love, religious transcendence, and cultural trauma in post-Cultural Revolution Tibet. I know of no body of material that gives a more intricate picture of how Tibetan Tantric Buddhism could penetrate and transform worldly troubles and politics into the sublime aspirations of tantric vision. Gayley offers us an unparalleled view of 20th century Tibetan religion as it touched every aspect of human life. Plus an astonishing account of a female master whose romance with another master elevated them both into heroes for Eastern Tibet during most challenging times. -- Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University Holly Gayley has that rarest of gifts, a scholar's eye and a story-teller's ear. Her book is filled with nuance and insight about the power of Tibetan cultural narratives of gendered spiritual prowess and the navigation of coded relationships. Never merely theoretical, Gayley grounds every observation in dynamic detail and a story-line compelling as any novel. -- Anne C. Klein, Professor Rice University and co-Founder, Dawn Mountain Author of Meeting the Great Bliss Queen, translator of Khetsun Sangpo's Strand of Jewels Gayley weaves together life writing, ethnography, and letters in an unprecedented fashion, and it pays off: her treatment of difficult primary sources - translated here for the first time - is inviting and engaging. Love Letters from Golok addresses issues of real and abiding concern in contemporary China. -- Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia and Chair of the Religious Studies departmentTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translation Introduction: Journey to Golok 1. Daughter of Golok: Tare Lhamo's Life and Context 2. Local Heroine: The Hagiography of Cultural Trauma 3. Inseparable Companions: A Buddhist Courtship and Correspondence 4. Emissaries of Padmasambhava: Tibetan Treasures and Healing Trauma 5. A Tantric Couple: The Hagiography of Cultural Revitalization Epilogue: The Legacy of a Tantric Couple Appendix A: Catalogue of the Letters of Namtrul Rinpoche Appendix B: Catalogue of the Letters of Tare Lhamo Abbreviations Notes Glossary of Tibetan Names Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1816, an anonymous samurai produced a scathing critique of Edo society. Writing as BuyÅ Inshi, he expressed a profound despair with the state of the realm. Although he saw decay wherever he turned, BuyÅ also provided a vivid, wide-ranging picture of Edo life. This abridged edition streamlines the original translation for classroom use.Trade ReviewThis is not the familiar Edo-period Japan you've studied in class. It is instead a cynical, critical, no-holds-barred account of all that an observant samurai found wrong with his society. Corruption, degeneration, destitution, monks on the make: it is a world in decline that he depicts, and the superb introduction puts it all in context. Things may not have been quite as he says, but this is firsthand testimony from somebody who was there and it lays barethe mentalities of the age. -- Peter Kornicki, University of Cambridge What better way to explore the riches of Japanese society before its "opening" to the West than through this masterful translation of one of the most colorful social commentaries of the time? Student and scholar alike will treasure this volume. -- Daniel Botsman, Yale UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Measures Currencies Maps Part 1: Buyo Inshi and His Times Part 2: Matters of the World: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard, by Buyo Inshi Prologue 1. Introduction. Warriors 2. Farmers 3. Temple and Shrine Priests 4. The Blind. Lawsuits 5. Townspeople. Lower Townspeople 6. Pleasure Districts and Prostitutes. Kabuki 7. Pariahs and Outcasts. On Japan Being Called a Divine Land. The Land, People, and Ruler Editions and References Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisHidden Atrocities reveals the American obstruction that denied justice to Japan’s WWII victims at the postwar Tokyo Trial. Jeanne Guillemin explains how U.S. national security goals led to the failure to prosecute imperial Japanese leaders for the war crimes of Unit 731, Japan’s secret germ-warfare program.Trade ReviewGuillemin is a recognized, well-published leading authority on the history of biological warfare in the United States. No other book delves this deeply into the behind-the-scenes machinations of US military intelligence in Japan and the inner circle of presidential advisors in Washington to keep Unit 731 and its horrendous acts from being exposed to the light of justice in the Tokyo Trials. -- Walter E. Grunden, Bowling Green State UniversityTable of ContentsPrologue: General Ishii and Germ WarfareIntroduction: Lasting Peace and the Protection of Civilians1. MacArthur in Japan: “Punish the War Criminals”2. Spoils of War: Secret Japanese Biological Science3. International Prosecution Section: Toward the “Swift and Simple Trial”4. The Investigation for Evidence in China5. The Best Witnesses6. Tokyo: The Rush to Trial7. The Trial Begins8. The Atrocities9. The Soviet Division Versus US Military Intelligence10. National Security Versus Medical Ethics11. Open and Closed TrialsEpilogue: The FalloutAcknowledgmentsSource NotesAcronymsPrincipal CharactersNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Qing law mandated that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for authenticating reincarnations.Trade Review[Oidtmann’s] work is marked by an exemplary scholarly discipline. . . . What he brings to the table is an extensive insight into the thinking and debates over the Golden Urn’s introduction among the Manchu authorities, and most particularly those of the aging Qianlong emperor (1711–99) himself. -- Martin A. Mills * Journal of Asian Studies *An absorbing read for non-specialists. * Asian Review of Books *Sheds a thoroughly new light on Sino-Tibetan relations against the backdrop of Qing colonialism. * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *Max Oidtmann’s tour de force is in introducing the reader to the mysteries of both Manchu and Tibetan powers. [He] offers a remarkable and finely crafted study. * Inner Asia *Meticulously researched and skillfully argued. * Journal of Chinese History *Oidtmann’s eloquent and learned book is thus essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Qing political order. -- Joseph Lawson * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *[Forging the Golden Urn] serves as an outstanding model for how to avoid the anachronisms that tend to haunt the historical study of matters mired in contemporary polemics. -- James Gentry, University of Virginia * Journal of Chinese Religions *It is not insignificant that Oidtmann’s story brings together the disparate literary and cultural studies of Tibet and Qing China in an accessible and tidy monograph. -- J. Arya Moallem, Harvard University * Religious Studies Review *The most comprehensive examination of the Golden Urn question to-date. -- Massimo Introvigne * Bitter Winter *Not only does Max Oidtmann do an excellent job providing a captivating account of a famed religious implement in an imperial context, he also opens a valuable window on how Tibet existed as part of an empire during that time. * Reading Religion *The relationship between Qing China and Tibetan elites is explored in this fascinating work based on Manchu, Tibetan, and Chinese sources. * Choice *The book is a must-read for anyone interested in Qing-Tibet relations -- Lei Lin, Harvard University * Saksaha *An excellent and much-needed contribution to our knowledge of the politics of the Qing empire in Tibet. . . . A must-read not only for the historian of Tibet, but for anyone who wants to better understand the current Tibet-China conflict. * Chinese Historical Review *Max Oidtmann explores the impact of the golden urn ritual that the Qianlong emperor introduced in the early 1790s in order to—as he claimed—make the recognition of reincarnated lamas legitimate. The impact of this ritual innovation and its introduction into Tibet had profound consequences, not least regarding how it was subsequently interpreted by the Chinese on one side and the Tibetans and their Western supporters on the other. Oidtmann’s work steps deftly into this binary historiographical struggle and brilliantly shows that everything was not only far more complicated than either side claims, but also far more interesting. In doing so, Forging the Golden Urn queries the actual nature of Qing rule in Tibet. -- Johan Elverskog, Southern Methodist UniversityUsing new source material, Max Oidtmann’s Forging the Golden Urn opens a window to a better understanding of the dynamics that resulted in Tibet’s increasing incorporation into the Qing empire. Framing these imperial efforts as a legal enterprise first and foremost, Oidtmann provides a fresh approach to examine the Qing’s strategy for expanding and justifying its sovereignty. This excellent book—obviously a result of sound and careful research—is a major achievement. -- Peter Schwieger, University of BonnOidtmann’s book opens up new perspectives on the intricate relationship that existed toward the end of the eighteenth century between Lhasa and the Qing court. The presence of reincarnate lamas is a defining feature of Tibetan Buddhism; Oidtmann brilliantly details its political dimension and the way the Qianlong emperor and his court decided to introduce the golden urn as a means to control the process by which reincarnate lamas were selected. Forging the Golden Urn is a tour de force and should be required reading for anyone interested in the history of Tibet, Qing history, and the history of Inner Asia. -- Leonard van der Kuijp, Harvard UniversityAn immensely valuable work in the studies of Qing imperialism in Tibet. * China Review International *A deeply researched account of the politics of reincarnation...all nicely framed by an introduction and conclusion that draw out the larger significance of the politics of the urn in Inner Asia and beyond. * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book seek to understand modern China and India through an unprecedented comparative analysis of their long histories. Using new sources, making new connections, and reexamining old assumptions, noted scholars of China and India pair up in each chapter to tackle major questions by combining their expertise.Trade ReviewIn one stroke, What China and India Once Were opens up a new realm of knowledge. This bold experiment in comparative history not only exposes many contemporary ideas and assumptions about India and China as parochial. It equips anyone interested in political economy, gender relations, religion, art, and literature with intellectual tools of remarkable subtlety and precision—the means to a profound and holistic understanding of two major countries that would decisively shape the world’s future. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of AsiaLeading historians of early modern India and China come together in this volume to offer a series of wonderfully imaginative and sharply analytical studies of key aspects of these two large imperial formations. The result is a path-breaking volume which will be required reading for those interested in debates about ‘early modernity’ and their implications for understanding the origins of our own globalized world. -- Rosalind O'Hanlon, St. Cross CollegeWhat China and India Once Were makes an admirably far-ranging effort to compare the thought, political creativity, and institutions and social practices of these two great civilizations, which are now reentering the ranks of global powers. This insightful book could not be more timely. -- Alexander Woodside, University of British ColumbiaThis fascinating volume is the indispensable starting point for long range India-China comparisons. It is methodologically sophisticated, unfailingly intelligent in the historical insights it provides, broad in its coverage and generous in the range of its cultural sympathies. The distinguished group of contributors are all in top form. They draw on deep reservoirs of scholarship but wear their learning lightly and accessibly. It is a measure of the success of the volume that not only will India and China specialists learn about each other's area of scholarship, they will also learn much that is new about their own. It is a comparative history that is both acutely self aware of the challenges of the genre, but also restores a sense of enchantment to the enterprise. -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Ashoka UniversityA useful counter to the tendency to project from one case to the universal...Many readers, furthermore, will probably come to this book with a greater knowledge of one place than the other, the side-by-side analysis puts the lesser-known of the two countries in a more familiar context. * Asian Review of Books *Table of ContentsPrefaceMapsIntroduction, by Benjamin Elman and Sheldon PollockPart I1. Life and Energy, by Kenneth Pomeranz and Sumit Guha2. Conquest, Rulership, and the State, by Pamela Crossley and Richard M. Eaton3. Gender Systems: The Exotic Asian and Other Fallacies, by Beverly Bossler and Ruby LalPart II4. Relating the Past: Writing (and Rewriting) History, by Cynthia Brokaw and Allison Busch5. Sorting Out Babel: Literature and Its Changing Languages, by Stephen Owen and Sheldon PollockPart III6. Big Science: Classicism and Conquest, by Benjamin Elman and Christopher Minkowski7. Pilgrims in Search of Religion, by Zvi Ben-Dor Benite and Richard H. Davis8. Art and Vision: Varieties of World Making, by Eugene Wang and Molly AitkenAfterword: The Act of Comparing (Both Sides, Now), by Haun Saussy and Dipesh ChakrabartyChronologyChinese and Indian TermsList of ContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisHeroes and Toilers offers an unprecedented account of life and labor in postwar North Korea that looks at both governance and popular resistance. Cheehyung Harrison Kim traces the state’s pursuit of progress through industrialism and examines how ordinary people challenged the state every step of the way.Trade ReviewNorth Korea really comes alive in this book as a place inhabited by real human beings with the same problems we all have—a rare achievement in the literature. The author is objective in the best sense—he gives North Korea its due, unlike most authors, but also reserves a serious critique. Heroes and Toilers is by far the best recent book on North Korea and is one of the best books ever written on contemporary Korea. -- Bruce Cumings, University of ChicagoWith poetic fierceness, Kim tackles the knotted relationship between capital, nation, and state during North Korea’s nation-building years. His exhaustive archival research illuminates both the unique and universal aspects of North Korea’s industrial development. Kim’s sensitivity to language and image and his attentiveness to lived experience make for an intimate portrait of work and everyday life as embedded in politics and economics in a time of tremendous transformation. -- Dafna Zur, Stanford UniversityA pioneering exploration of post-Korean War industrial work in the DPRK, Heroes and Toilers greatly enriches our understanding of a crucial period and topic in North Korea’s history before the Juche era. Combining robust conceptual formulations with deft source analyses, the author illuminates the variegated ways in which ordinary North Koreans performed labor and pursued individual and collective goals, as reflective and willful humans in tune with the specific opportunities and constraints of their day. This superb book provides ample food for thought in its highly compelling placement of postwar North Korean industrialism and society within the core processes and trends of modern global history. -- Charles R. Kim, University of Wisconsin-MadisonAn outstanding study. * Choice *Heroes and Toilers is the first academic monograph in English devoted specifically to the formation of North Korea's industrial labor force and the living conditions of workers, rather than describing the process of industrialization from the perspective of an economist. As such, it is an important contribution to scholarship. * Cross-Currents *By employing the concepts of work and everyday life as his theoretical and analytical focus, Kim successfully demonstrates how dominance and resistance in everyday life translated into the dual outcomes of socialist industrial transformation and the consolidation of state hegemony in early North Korea. . . . Kim’s book provides insightful understanding for students and scholars of North Korean studies, socialism, and labor history. * Journal of Asian Studies *Kim makes skillful use of a variety of materials to argue that state power and planning were incomplete and, indeed, relied on individual spontaneity and efforts to function at all. * Journal of Korean Studies *Heroes and Toilers presents a counterargument to the claims that North Korea is an unknowable black box in the form of a cogent, balanced, and rigorously researched narrative that will resonate with historians, social scientists, and scholars of Korean studies. * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Postwar North Korea, the Era of Work1. The Historical Concept of Work2. Work as State Practice3. Producing the Everyday Life of Work4. The Rhythm of Everyday Work, in Six Parts5. Vinalon City: Industrialism as Socialist Everyday LifeConclusion: The Negation of Work and Other Everyday ManeuversNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisMargaret Mih Tillman offers a novel perspective on the political and scientific dimensions of experiments with early childhood education. Raising China’s Revolutionaries is an important work of institutional and transnational history that illuminates the evolution of modern concepts of childhood in twentieth-century China.Trade ReviewMargaret Tillman has written an excellent book. Raising China's Revolutionaries demonstrates how policies regarding childcare and child welfare were central to the formation of the modern Chinese state, and suggests how the mobilization and deployment of aid and care facilitated elite professionalization and formation of a range of social institutions that had lasting relevance. The book promises to intervene with great impact in a number of different historiographical debates in the China field and global history more broadly. -- Robert Culp, Bard CollegeInformative, instructive, inspiring. Margaret Mih Tillman's book is an important contribution to the research of childhood socialization in modern China. -- Thomas O. Höllmann, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichSince the late Qing there had been a general belief among Chinese revolutionaries and reformers that China’s modernization must begin with the construction of a modern childhood. As a result, a great variety of ideas and institutions were proposed and developed in the realm of child education from the 1930s to the 1950s. This book, Raising China’s Revolutionaries, is a rigorous and vivid account of this important historical development based on the author’s comprehensive and penetrating study of the numerous archival and other primary sources as well as her personal experiences as a visiting preschooler in the Chinese system. -- Ying-shih Yu, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, co-winner of the John W. Kluge Prize and the inaugural winner of the Tang PrizeTillman writes for her peers, and she displays incredible command of the historiography on which she draws. Her rich and deft incorporation of insights from the wider field shows that research on childhood is intimately connected to all the other concerns within the field of Chinese history. -- Melissa A. Brzycki * Journal of Asian Studies *Based on solid archival research, this book models careful historical analysis and argumentation. It is highly accessible and will be useful to readers who are interested in understanding the modern development of early childhood education in China, but also to those who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of state-society relations during China's modern trajectory. * Historian *Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations in TextIntroductionPart I: The Science of Sentiment1. Child Study in Chinese Kindergartens: Chen Heqin’s Approach to “Family Education”2. Cherishing Children: The National Child Welfare Association in the Nanjing Decade, 1928–19373. The Calculus of Child Welfare: The Democratization of Fundraising for Shanghai, 1937–1942Part II: Child Experts and the Chinese State4. Wartime Paternalisms: Mobilizing Child Advocacy for the State5. Contested Service: Building a National Social Welfare Program in the Civil War, 1945–19496. The Reeducation of Child Experts: Chen Heqin as a Model of Self-Criticism7. Women’s Mobilization and Childcare for the Masses: Collective Childcare in the 1950sConclusionCharacter ListNotesReferencesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn late Qing and early Republican China, new opportunities emerged for Chinese women. Xia Shi unearths the history of how married nonprofessional women without modern educations moved out of their sequestered domestic life, engaged in charitable, philanthropic, and religious activities, and repositioned themselves as public actors.Trade ReviewWhile there are many formidable works of history focused upon iconoclastic and progressively educated 'new women,' there are far fewer that address the political and progressive lives of so-called 'home' women such as those featured in Xia Shi's work. By situating individual figures within their broader social and familial contexts, and in shifting contexts of work and leisure, Shi masterfully reveals the complex economic, social, and political webs that defined these women's progressive activities. -- Thomas Mullaney, Stanford UniversityWhether singing and dancing by female government students while selling handicrafts to support flood relief in late Qing Beijing or moving exhortations by Zhu Qihui (a.k.a. Mme Xiong Xiling) that extracted large sums of money from warlords and skeptical literati for the Mass Education Movement, philanthropic work by Chinese women in early twentieth-century China captured the public imagination, challenged gender ideals, and delivered charity to those in need. Xia Shi demonstrates in compelling detail that female philanthropists embraced contemporary social needs to expand their moral purview and the realm of their licit social space beyond the personal and family to encompass the nation and society as a whole. In so doing, they expanded notions of citizenship and its obligations for women and men alike. -- Peter Carroll, Northwestern UniversityThis book brings the stories of a number of fascinating women to light and highlights their connections to broader developments in modern Chinese history. Xia Shi adds nuance and layers of understanding to our existing sense of the late Qing and Republican periods. -- Joan Judge, York UniversityA pioneering work on Chinese jiating funü with a particular focus on their involvement in charities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. -- Hanchao Lu * The China Quarterly *A valuable contribution to women's history. * Choice *Xia Shi’s study is a timely reminder to gender historians of modern China that it was not only modern educated ‘new women’ or female reformers and revolutionaries who began to make their presence felt in the urban public sphere during the early decades of the twentieth century, and that a focus on the unheralded domain of philanthropy and charity brings to light the contributions made by older, domestically-oriented married women at this time to cultural and social transformations. * Nan Nü *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I. Elite Women and Charity1. Beyond a Personal Virtue2. Being Female PhilanthropistsPart II. The YWCA in China and “Women in the Home”3. Reaching Out to Women in the Home4. Women Interacting with the YWCAPart III. Women in the School of the Way5. Redefining Confucian Gender Doctrines6. Women, Superstition, and the Reorientation Toward CharityEpilogueNotesGlossaryWorks CitedIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisChina’s dismantling of the Mao-era commune system under Deng Xiaoping has been seen as a successful turn away from a misguided social experiment. Joshua Eisenman marshals previously inaccessible data to overturn this narrative, showing that the commune modernized agriculture, increased productivity, and laid the foundation for future rapid growth.Trade ReviewIn this thought-provoking volume, Eisenman offers a unique analysis of China's most important local institution in Mao's time: the people's commune. * Choice *Mr. Eisenman calls for readers to look anew at one of the darker periods of human history. It's a worthy intellectual exercise and a useful check on lazy approaches to China's modern history. * Wall Street Journal *Joshua Eisenman brings a refreshing perspective to the field because his book challenges the mainstream evaluation – both inside and outside China – of the era of Mao Zedong. -- Mobo Gao * China Information *The book is well researched, drawing on careful readings of government documents, newspapers and other materials from the period. -- Li Zhang * Journal of Asian Studies *Incredibly well-researched . . . Red China’s Green Revolution is a fascinating book. -- Fabio Lanza * Asia Maior *This book is unquestionably well-researched. -- Brian DeMare * Journal of Chinese History *Exceptionally written. -- John A. Donaldson * Journal of Chinese Political Science *Red China’s Green Revolution is a great book. It develops an innovative and contrarian interpretation of China’s rural communes, describing a technological revolution that occurred in China’s countryside in the 1970s. What makes this book truly outstanding is that Eisenman provides new perspectives on the importance of commune organization and incentive structures, as well as a reassessment of what Maoism meant in the lives of ordinary rural people. One after another, he drags into the sunshine topics that have been overshadowed in recent years by over-simplification and myth-making. The book concludes with a compelling new narrative of elite politics in the late 1970s that explains why the commune was ultimately abolished. -- Barry Naughton, Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs, University of California, San DiegoThis is a truly important book. Eisenman shows how the People’s Communes created contemporary China, both through what they built and through what they destroyed. His work is of enormous significance for anyone trying to understand China’s road from revolution to reform. -- Odd Arne Westad, S. T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard UniversityRed China’s Green Revolution revolutionizes our understanding of the Maoist period and history's biggest experiment with collective agriculture. It challenges the widely held view that the commune was a failure that required privatization, and thus calls into question the very basis by which structural reforms have been legitimated and propagated to shape economic development, not just in China, but around the globe. Everyone who studies contemporary China—and, indeed, the entire neo-liberal project—must confront this book. -- Marc Blecher, James Monroe Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies, Oberlin CollegeRed China’s Green Revolution totally remakes our understanding of Chinese economic development on the eve of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. This carefully documented study shows that rather than being a total failure on the verge of collapse, the commune system introduced under Mao actually resulted in considerable increases in agricultural productivity, which provided a positive foundation for Deng’s economic reforms. Joshua Eisenman opens the way for an important reconsideration of how political motivations, rather than economic concerns, were a main driver behind Deng’s reforms. -- Edward A. McCord, George Washington UniversityJoshua Eisenman questions the conventional wisdom that China’s communes, which were failing institutions in the Great Leap Forward of 1958, continued to be so. Eisenman offers hard data to refute the conventional, quasi-official story that before 1978 China’s rural economy was in dire straits, requiring neoliberal efficiencies to fix it. -- Lynn T. White, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and IllustrationForeword, by Lynn T. White IIIPrologue: China’s Missing Institution1. Introduction: Assessing Commune Productivity Part I: Creating China’s Green Revolution2. Institutional Origins & Evolution 3. China’s Green Revolution Part II: Sources of Commune Productivity 4. Economics: Super-Optimal Investment 5. Politics: Maoism 6. Organization: Size and Structure 7. Burying the Commune 8. Conclusion Appendix A. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983Appendix B. National and Provincial Agricultural Production Data, 1949–1979Appendix C. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983NotesBibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisFew scholars have done more than Harry Harootunian to shape the study of modern Japan. Uneven Moments presents a selection of Harootunian’s essays on Japan’s intellectual and cultural history from the late Tokugawa period to the present that span the many phases of his distinguished career and point to new directions for Japanese studies.Trade ReviewHarry Harootunian is both a pioneer American scholar of modern Japanese history and a probing critic of mainstream analyses of Japan's turbulent past. This book is a brilliant summing up of his prolific career. -- Bruce Cumings, University of ChicagoTo read forty years of Harry Harootunian’s bristling reflections on Japanese history and thought is to come face to face with the most fundamental questions of our own conditions of thinking about history and theory and also about the intellectual life writ large. Each of the essays in this volume demands that we contend with a fierce, exacting, and passionate mind. -- Alan Tansman, author of The Aesthetics of Japanese FascismHarry Harootunian is a leading voice in Japanese intellectual history. It is no exaggeration to say that his work has shaped the field for the past forty years. These essays collectively provide an extended reflection on the intellectual and philosophical concerns that run through Harootunian’s oeuvre, including the relationship between culture and politics; the problem of temporality, history, and modernity; and the intertwined projects of critical theory and critical area studies. This book will become a classic. -- Louise Young, University of Wisconsin-MadisonThe impact that Harootunian’s imaginative and critical rereading of early modern and modern Japan has had on Japan studies in the United States and elsewhere is unfathomably deep. Each and every essay contained in this volume is a landmark work and remains essential for our understanding of the long and precarious process of Japan’s metamorphosis into a modern society. -- Katsuya Hirano, author of The Politics of Dialogic Imagination: Power and Popular Culture in Early Modern JapanFor readers interested in the complex relationship between culture and politics in Japan and elsewhere, this is essential reading. * Japan Times *Harootunian's scholarly essays operate on an elevated intellectual plain, but they're immensely rewarding for those who work through them. Rooted in the historical, the lessons they offer are more vital than ever in today's world. * PopMatters *The text is a must read for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars working in Japanese or Asian history; Harootunian's ideas have aged well. * Choice *Uneven Moments deserves to be read by any serious student and scholar interested in the formation of the modern world and Japan as world history * International Journal of Asian Studies *Like Harootunian's many other works, Uneven Moments is undoubtedly destined to provoke lively debate and to inspire a large following both among and beyond the ranks of history and Japanese studies scholars. * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Uneven Moments from Japan’s Modern HistoryPart I. Imminent Criticism and Academic Discourse: Area Studies1. Tracking the Dinosaur: Area Studies in a Time of “Globalism”2. “Memories of Underdevelopment” After Area StudiesPart II. Cultural Form and Political Withdrawal: Tokugawa Japan3. Cultural Politics in Tokugawa Japan4. Late Tokugawa Culture and ThoughtPart III. Pathways to Modernity’s Present and the Enduring Everyday5. Shadowing History: National Narratives and the Persistence of the Everyday6. Overcome by Modernity: Fantasizing Everyday Life and the Discourse on the Social in Interwar Japan7. Time, Everydayness, and the Specter of Fascism: Tosaka Jun and Philosophy’s New Vocation8. Allegorizing History: Marxism, Hani Gorō, and the Demands of the Present9. Philosophy and Answerability: The Kyoto School and the Epiphanic Moment of World History10. Reflections from Fukushima: History, Memory, and the Crisis of ContemporaneityPart IV. Ideological Formation: Colluding with the Past11. Visible Discourses/Invisible Ideologies12. The Presence of Archaism/The Persistence of FascismPreviously Published MaterialsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisFew scholars have done more than Harry Harootunian to shape the study of modern Japan. Uneven Moments presents a selection of Harootunian’s essays on Japan’s intellectual and cultural history from the late Tokugawa period to the present that span the many phases of his distinguished career and point to new directions for Japanese studies.Trade ReviewHarry Harootunian is both a pioneer American scholar of modern Japanese history and a probing critic of mainstream analyses of Japan's turbulent past. This book is a brilliant summing up of his prolific career. -- Bruce Cumings, University of ChicagoTo read forty years of Harry Harootunian’s bristling reflections on Japanese history and thought is to come face to face with the most fundamental questions of our own conditions of thinking about history and theory and also about the intellectual life writ large. Each of the essays in this volume demands that we contend with a fierce, exacting, and passionate mind. -- Alan Tansman, author of The Aesthetics of Japanese FascismHarry Harootunian is a leading voice in Japanese intellectual history. It is no exaggeration to say that his work has shaped the field for the past forty years. These essays collectively provide an extended reflection on the intellectual and philosophical concerns that run through Harootunian’s oeuvre, including the relationship between culture and politics; the problem of temporality, history, and modernity; and the intertwined projects of critical theory and critical area studies. This book will become a classic. -- Louise Young, University of Wisconsin-MadisonThe impact that Harootunian’s imaginative and critical rereading of early modern and modern Japan has had on Japan studies in the United States and elsewhere is unfathomably deep. Each and every essay contained in this volume is a landmark work and remains essential for our understanding of the long and precarious process of Japan’s metamorphosis into a modern society. -- Katsuya Hirano, author of The Politics of Dialogic Imagination: Power and Popular Culture in Early Modern JapanFor readers interested in the complex relationship between culture and politics in Japan and elsewhere, this is essential reading. * Japan Times *Harootunian's scholarly essays operate on an elevated intellectual plain, but they're immensely rewarding for those who work through them. Rooted in the historical, the lessons they offer are more vital than ever in today's world. * PopMatters *The text is a must read for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars working in Japanese or Asian history; Harootunian's ideas have aged well. * Choice *Uneven Moments deserves to be read by any serious student and scholar interested in the formation of the modern world and Japan as world history * International Journal of Asian Studies *Like Harootunian's many other works, Uneven Moments is undoubtedly destined to provoke lively debate and to inspire a large following both among and beyond the ranks of history and Japanese studies scholars. * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Uneven Moments from Japan’s Modern HistoryPart I. Imminent Criticism and Academic Discourse: Area Studies1. Tracking the Dinosaur: Area Studies in a Time of “Globalism”2. “Memories of Underdevelopment” After Area StudiesPart II. Cultural Form and Political Withdrawal: Tokugawa Japan3. Cultural Politics in Tokugawa Japan4. Late Tokugawa Culture and ThoughtPart III. Pathways to Modernity’s Present and the Enduring Everyday5. Shadowing History: National Narratives and the Persistence of the Everyday6. Overcome by Modernity: Fantasizing Everyday Life and the Discourse on the Social in Interwar Japan7. Time, Everydayness, and the Specter of Fascism: Tosaka Jun and Philosophy’s New Vocation8. Allegorizing History: Marxism, Hani Gorō, and the Demands of the Present9. Philosophy and Answerability: The Kyoto School and the Epiphanic Moment of World History10. Reflections from Fukushima: History, Memory, and the Crisis of ContemporaneityPart IV. Ideological Formation: Colluding with the Past11. Visible Discourses/Invisible Ideologies12. The Presence of Archaism/The Persistence of FascismPreviously Published MaterialsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisAmerica’s Response to China has long been the standard resource for a succinct, historically grounded assessment of an increasingly complicated relationship. For this sixth edition, Warren I. Cohen adds an analysis of the policies of Barack Obama and the complications of the presidency of Donald Trump.Trade ReviewCohen . . . [is] the leading historian of Sino-American relations of his generation. This book has much to offer both newcomers to its subject as well as those who have been studying relations between these two countries nearly as long as its author. * American Diplomacy *A fresh new look at the history of United States diplomacy toward China . . . The subject will never be the same again. -- John King Fairbank * American Political Science Review *Careful, well-documented. * Political Science Quarterly *Lucid and concise . . . a model of its kind, thoughtful, even-tempered, and extremely well-written. * Pacific Historical Review *Provocative and perceptive. * China Quarterly *A venerable work. -- Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom * The Daily Beast *Table of ContentsPreface to the Sixth EditionAcknowledgments to the Sixth EditionRomanization TablePrologue: The Barbarians and the Tribute System1. The Development of the Treaty System2. The United States as a Power in East Asia3. In the Light of the Rising Sun4. The Response to Chinese Nationalism5. China as an Abstraction—the Conflict with Japan6. Communism in China7. The Great Aberration8. Rapprochement—at Last9. In the Shadow of Tiananmen10. America in the Age of Chinese PowerConcluding ThoughtsNotesBibliographical EssayIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisNicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz reconnects the Philippine Revolution to the histories of Southeast and East Asia through an innovative consideration of its transnational political setting and regional intellectual foundations. She charts turn-of-the-twentieth-century Filipino thinkers’ and revolutionaries’ political organizing and proto-national thought.Trade ReviewIn restoring the intellectual history of the Philippine Revolution, at long last, to its pan-Asian context, Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz offers a startling new perspective not only on the history of the Philippines in that era but on the evolution of anticolonial modernity in Asia writ large. -- Erez Manela, Harvard UniversityBy merging a rich national historiography with novel transnational trends, CuUnjieng Aboitiz accomplishes a provocative new interpretation of the Philippine revolution of 1896. Through a masterly juxtaposition of the rooted particulars of “place” with an evolving Pan-Asian sensibility, she reveals the revolution’s deep yet long overlooked Asian resonances. In a deftly paradoxical twist, her innovative international focus illuminates this seminal event’s profound import for the Philippine nation. -- Alfred W. McCoy, author of Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and Rise of the Surveillance StateDislodging the Philippine Revolution and Japan-centric Pan-Asianism from the familiar frames of national history and East-West relations, CuUnjieng Aboitiz examines the transnational affinities and networks connecting the Philippines to Japan, Vietnam, and the region and foregrounds the vital work of non-Western thinkers in creating the modern nation-state in Asia. This is a fresh, keenly intelligent contribution to Asian intellectual history. -- Resil B. Mojares, author of Brains of the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de Los Reyes and the Production of Modern KnowledgeThe volume will become an important point of reference for specialists and generalists alike. It would be suitable for adoption in courses on intellectual history, Asian history, Southeast Asian history, nationalism, anti-colonialism, the Philippines, imperial Japan, or World War II. * Global Intellectual History *Aboitiz's book allows us to see the Filipino nation as an Asian place, integral to its developments. It is a salutary achievement. * SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia *An impressive work of global intellectual history...an important addition to graduate courses, and of interest to any scholar of global history, nationalism, and Pan-Asianism. * H-Diplo *I would recommend the inclusion of this text to history AP, honors, undergraduate, and graduate level classes that study the Philippines, Asia, Asian nationalisms, and the Third World. * The Middle Ground Journal *Carefully researched and finely argued...an important intervention into our understanding of where the Philippines are in world history, a wide range of educators would benefit from working her conclusions into their courses. -- Michael G. Vann, California State University * World History Connected *Overall an incisive and illuminating depiction of the Philippine revolution’s Asian dimensions. * Pacific Affairs *One of the potential benefits that Asian Place, Filipino Nation might bring is a revision of the way the history of the 1898 revolution is taught for young Filipino students. * LSE Southeast Asia Blog *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1. A Transnational Turn of the Century in Southeast Asia 2. Constructing Asia and the Malay Race, 1887–1895: Early Attempts to Transnationalize Pan-Asianism3. The Philippine Revolution Mobilizes Asia, 1892–1898: Spanish Imperial Anxieties, the Vietnamese Đông Du Movement, and a Coming Race War 4. The First Philippine Republic’s Pan-Asian Emissary, 1898–1912: Transnational Cooperation, Affective Relations, and the Pacific Empires 5. The Afterlife of the Philippine Revolution: Reverberations from China to India to Third Worldist Futures NotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisNicholas Hoover Wilson develops a new account of the changing category of corruption by examining the English East India Company and its transformation from a largely commercial enterprise to a militarized offshoot of British empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Trade ReviewA brilliant dovetailing of theory and history, Modernity's Corruption is also a deeply generative work for social scientists who work in a broad range of areas—moralities of power, states and societies, and the politics of administration—pertinent to the present day. -- Julia Adams, author of The Familial State: Ruling Families and Merchant Capitalism in Early Modern EuropeThis welcome study of corruption reflects on fundamental distinctions between public and private, abstract and particular, and on how standards of appropriateness emerge. Wilson grounds his analysis in careful research about the English East India Company, that famous organization from the early modern global economy. There is much here to think about. -- Bruce G. Carruthers, author of The Economy of Promises: Trust, Power, and Credit in AmericaWhat is 'corruption'? And what does it have to do with 'modernity'? In this carefully constructed and rigorously argued new book, Nicholas Hoover Wilson traces the historical genesis of modern-day understandings to internecine battles within the shapeshifting architectures of the British East India Company. An exemplary work of social science history. -- Philip Gorski, Frederick and Laura Goff Professor, Yale UniversityThis book will generate a good deal of interest from historians as well as sociologists. It offers a perceptive study of the East India Company when it was frequently under fire for corruption. It persuasively argues that shock at self-interested behavior helped to promote a more 'modern,' public duty-centered ideal for officials. -- Mark Knights, author of Trust and Distrust: Corruption in Office in Britain and its Empire, 1600-1850Modernity's Corruption is model work of historical sociology. Wilson asks a wonderfully rich and puzzling question: Why were notions of corruption transformed from situational ones to more abstract and universal concepts? By focusing on the case of England's East India Company in the late eighteenth century, Wilson advances the claim that the transformation had everything to do with imperial governance, and the fact that ruling at a distance necessitated the implementation of more abstract and political economic standards. What makes Wilson's work so compelling is that these broad theoretical claims, claims that have implications for how we understand the development of moral claims more generally, are so carefully situated in a deep engagement with the archival and pamphlet literature of the era. Empire, in Wilson's hands, becomes a central engine of modernity. -- Steve Pincus, author of 1688: The First Modern RevolutionAn exemplary work of historical sociology. * Sociology of Race and Ethnicity *Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Modernity’s Corruption and the Art of Separation1. Corruption and Moral Orders in Eighteenth-Century Britain and India2. Shifting Grounds: The Transformation of the East India Company3. Consequential Reforms and Changing Corruption4. Modern Selves5. Modern Moral SpacesConclusionNotesReferencesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy examining the manufacturing, commercial, and cultural activities of the maverick industrialist Chen Diexian (18791940), Eugenia Lean illustrates how lettered men of early-twentieth-century China engaged in vernacular industrialism, the pursuit of industry and science outside of conventional venues.Trade ReviewThoroughly researched and elegantly crafted . . . [this book] sheds fresh light on early twentieth-century China at a time when the nation was just entering global capitalism. * Journal of Chinese History *Lean’s volume is an important contribution to our knowledge of Chinese industry’s progress in the first half of the twentieth century. * Technology and Culture *Vernacular Industrialism in China is an astonishingly rich and original microhistory. In telling the fascinating story of Chen Diexian, Lean challenges us to rethink large swaths of modern Chinese history. An outstanding achievement of wit, erudition, and insight. -- Fa-ti Fan, author of British Naturalists in Qing China: Science, Empire, and Cultural EncounterThis pathbreaking book conclusively demonstrates that the values and habits of classically trained Chinese literati, so scorned by May Fourth modernizers, were fully reconcilable with modern science and technology. Eugenia Lean's “vernacular industrialism” will be a touchstone for all future work on the history of science and technology in China. -- Sigrid Schmalzer, author of Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist ChinaEugenia Lean has written an engrossing study of how popular industrialism arose in early twentieth-century China. Chen Diexian emerges from its pages as both representative and remarkable: an amateur scientist and literary celebrity turned serial entrepreneur, consumer products magnate, and do-it-yourself modernist. Through Chen’s career, Vernacular Industrialism in China traces a fascinating history of everyday innovations. -- Christopher Rea, author of The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in ChinaOne of the great pleasures of reading Lean’s study is how she brings together Chen Diexian’s full range of literaryand entrepreneurial achievements for this portrait. She completes it with new analytical approaches to the social history of modern science and small-scale manufacturing in twentieth-century China. * Technology and Culture *This is a highly learned book. Lean reads her sources closely and effectively situates her observations within a deeper Chinese past and across multiple thematic fields. . . [H]er observations shed much new light on the workings of the wider industrial modern world, and her concept of vernacular industrialism will find purchase in contexts far beyond cuttlefish bone–strewn Chinese shores. * Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society *This book, with its focus on light industry and consumer goods, is altogether a welcome addition to the fields of business and economic history of modern China. * East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine *A riveting microhistory with broader historiographical ambitions . . . Lean’s decision to focus on an individual entrepreneur makes this book highly readable for students of modern Chinese history and general readers who are interested in business history, knowledge production, science, and industry. * Business History Review *Lean’s study contributes a deeply researched argument regarding an identifiable social fraction she calls 'vernacular industrialists.' * H-Net Reviews *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: Gentlemanly Experimentation in Turn-of-the-Century Hangzhou1. Utility of the UselessPart II: Manufacturing Knowledge, 1914–19272. One Part Cow Fat, Two Parts Soda: Recipes for the Inner Chambers, 1914–19153. An Enterprise of Common Knowledge: Fire Extinguishers, 1916–1935Part III: Manufacturing Objects, 1913–19424. Chinese Cuttlefish and Global Circuits: The Association of Household Industries5. What’s in a Name? From Studio Appellation to Commercial Trademark6. Compiling the Industrial Modern, 1930–1941ConclusionGlossaryNotesReferencesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisStating the Sacred offers a novel approach to nation-state formation, arguing that its most critical element is how the state sacralizes the nation. Focusing primarily on China, Michael J. Walsh argues that the foundational role of the sacred makes all nation-states religious states.Trade ReviewAs an anatomy of sacralization, territorialization, and violence, Stating the Sacred illuminates state formation in China through brilliant exposition, dwelling in vivid details, historical depths, and current controversies, but also through uncovering brutal truths of state formation in the modern world. This book is a major contribution to our understanding of how the sacred works in the modern and how the modern works the sacred. -- David Chidester, author of Empire of Religion: Imperialism and Comparative ReligionIn Stating the Sacred, Michael J. Walsh parses what China's postcoloniality and South African apartheid have in common: the sacredness of violence. Drawing upon a wealth of theoretical insight from Schmidt on political theology, Bataille on sacrifice, to Agamban on profanation, and Barthes on myth, Walsh is especially insightful on how the Chinese avowedly atheist party-state adroitly rules through its stringent and energetic containment of religion, channeling those energies into policies on territorial sovereignty and citizenship itself. These tactics range beyond patriotic Christian organizations and registering all the clergy everywhere, to policing reincarnation among the Tibetan Buddhist and reeducation of Uyghur Muslims in camps. For Walsh, this sense of 'religion,' shared by China with many other places, becomes the modern repository of violence and mythos that he finds fundamental to any nation-state formation. -- Angela Zito, coeditor of DV-Made China: Digital Subjects and Social Transformations after Independent FilmRecommended. * Choice *[A] brilliant analysis of contemporary China. * Reading Religion *This is an innovative study that gives particular consideration to the role of the sacred in the formation of the PRC state, and to nation-states more generally. * Journal of Church and the State *Table of ContentsPreface1. Territory2. Constitution3. Religion4. Reincarnation5. Contact6. NativityGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisErik J. Hammerstrom recasts the history of twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism by examining how Huayan Buddhism was imagined, taught, and practiced during a period of profound political and social change. He traces the influence of Huayan University, the first Buddhist monastic school founded after the fall of the imperial system in China.Trade Review[This book] is a rich and rewarding exploration of a crucially important aspect of modern East Asian Buddhism. -- Gregory Adam Scott * Journal of Buddhist Ethics *Meticulously researched and analytically sophisticated...the book will therefore be of great interest to scholars and students interested in East Asian Buddhism in general, as well as those interested in the history of monastic education. * H-Buddhism *This volume would prove invaluable to those with an interest in Republican- era as well as modern- day Buddhism in China. More broadly, those with an interest in monastic education as well as the general field of Buddhism and education have much to gain from this volume. -- Joseph Chadwin, University of Vienna * Religious Studies Review *Hammerstrom carves a new trail through twentieth-century Chinese Buddhist worlds and reveals a clear and fresh view of this complex terrain. His pioneering study draws from a broad range of primary sources to provide a richly detailed, multidimensional portrait of interconnected individuals, institutions and academies, texts, concepts, and meditative practices. A fundamentally important and much appreciated exploration. -- Raoul Birnbaum, University of California, Santa CruzHuayan Buddhism offers a unique view into the realm of mutually interrelated worldly and transcendental phenomena, which was realized by Buddha in his enlightenment according to one of the most voluminous Mahāyāna sūtra, the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, and was taught by the Huayan school in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907). Hammerstrom’s valuable book sheds light on the importance of Huayan tradition in modern Chinese Buddhism through the establishment of Huayan Universities to provide nonsectarian, traditional, and modern education for monastics. -- Imre Hamar, Eötvös Loránd University, BudapestHuayan Buddhism is one of the most distinctively East Asian forms of Buddhism, and recent Buddhist scholarship in English has not paid it deserved attention. Erik Hammerstrom’s book remedies the gap, offering a detailed discussion of its evolution in modern times in mainland China and Taiwan. Clearly written and well-researched, this book presents the reader with a pleasant and enlightening surprise regarding the liveliness of the tradition in our time. -- Jin Y. Park, author of Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim IryopThe Huayan University Network is not just the history of a lineage; Erik Hammerstrom presents a remarkable, comprehensive narrative that analyzes people, places, reception history of doctrines and texts, education curricula for monks, financial sponsorship, and political background. This excellent monograph highlights how the Huayan school expanded from Republican China into East Asia, Taiwan, and the West and defines a model for future scholarship. -- Stefania Travagnin, editor of Religion and Media in China: Insights and Case Studies from the Mainland, Taiwan and Hong KongTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionPart I1. Huayan as a School of Chinese Buddhism2. The Huayan Universities3. Second- and Third-Generation Programs4. The Huayan University Network After 1949Part II5. Huayan Doctrine in Republican China6. A Common CurriculumConclusionList of Chinese CharactersNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisPeter B. Lavelle uses the life and career of the statesman Zuo Zongtang as a lens to explore the environmental history of nineteenth-century China. The Profits of Nature offers a new approach to understanding the dynamic relationship between imperial crisis, natural resources, and colonial development during a critical juncture in Chinese history.Trade ReviewIn China's impoverished northwest, farmers eked out a living on exhausted soils afflicted by drought and famine. Yet it was here, in this unlikely place, that the powerful Qing official Zuo Zongtang launched his most ambitious schemes to make China prosper. Lavelle makes a dramatic story out of Zuo's dedication to economic development. Deeply grounded in ecological and global perspectives, Lavelle's study gives us a compelling explanation of how Chinese officials have pursued wealth and power over the past 150 years. -- Peter C. Perdue, author of China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central EurasiaLavelle's extensively researched and skillfully crafted study is notable for its mastery of a wide range of late Qing sources and its ability to combine environmental, economic, political, and intellectual dimensions of China's tumultuous nineteenth-century history into a coherent and compelling narrative. The book also extends the implications of its argument beyond China by situating the subject matter within a broader global dynamic of colonial development. -- Micah Muscolino, author of The Ecology of War in China: Henan Province, the Yellow River, and Beyond, 1938–1950Profits of Nature is an outstanding work that sheds new light on nineteenth century Chinese efforts to manage both manmade and natural disasters through the adoption of new technologies in agriculture, forestry, and industry, in the process transforming the heartland and borderlands of the empire. Lavelle’s groundbreaking book is a welcome contribution for Qing historians, historians of science and technology, and environmental studies. -- Shellen X. Wu, author of Empires of Coal: Fueling China's Entry Into the Modern World OrderAn eminently readable book that should be of interest to students and scholars in any of those fields. Its short length and biographical approach also make it easy to recommend for advanced undergraduate audiences. * Agricultural History *Table of ContentsConventions and MeasuresIntroduction1. Agriculture in an Era of Crisis2. Geography in a Growing Empire3. Reclaiming the Land4. Promoting Profitable Crops5. Water in a Fertile Frontier6. Sericulture in a Colonial BorderlandConclusionAcknowledgmentsChinese TermsAbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisVoices from the Chinese Century brings together a selection of essays from representative leading thinkers that open a window into public debate in China today on fundamental questions of China and the worldpast, present, and future. The voices in this volume include figures from each of China's main intellectual clusters.Trade ReviewThis volume offers readers a valuable chance to hear from a diverse group of twenty-first-century Chinese public intellectuals articulating the 'China Dream,' in their own voice. * China Review International *Highly recommended. * Choice *A joint effort by scholars with stellar track records, this collection is a valuable and timely contribution to the literature on Chinese thought and politics. It allows readers outside the country a unique chance to eavesdrop on and appreciate the stakes in the spirited debates that continue among Chinese intellectuals. -- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, coauthor of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to KnowVoices from the Chinese Century is an immensely important and incredibly timely book, broadly relevant beyond the field of China studies. The translations are exemplary; these translators have pulled it off beautifully. -- Aminda Smith, Michigan State UniversityThis splendid anthology features intellectual voices of different ideological camps in contemporary China. The masterfully selected and translated texts represent both academic writings and popular internet genres. Extremely timely and important for understanding China’s changing social and political trends. A treasure trove for teaching and research. -- Guobin Yang, University of PennsylvaniaFew countries will do more to shape the twenty-first century than China. But who will shape China? This is a necessary book introducing us to key ideas for the future of Chinese politics and society. Many of the voices translated in this volume not only affect the debates going on in China today but will influence what issues the Chinese consider important tomorrow. -- Peter Zarrow, University of ConnecticutStriking and controversial...gives a taste of the range of intellectual life in China. -- Tom Hancock * Financial Times *[an] ambitious effort. * New York Review of Books *Anyone who wants to understand the major questions that shape public intellectual debate in contemporary China will find a trustworthy companion in this outstanding and most timely anthology. -- Els van Dongen Nanyang Technological University * The China Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Thinking China in the Age of Xi JinpingPart I: The Challenge1. “Unifying the Three Traditions” in the New Era (selection) (2005), by Gan YangPart II: Liberal Voices2. Liberalism in the Chinese Context (2004), by Liu Qing3. A China Bereft of Thought (2013), by Rong Jian4. Original Intentions Start with the People (2017), by Guo Yuhua5. “The Shadow of Communist Civilization”: A Gongshi Wang (Consensus Net) Interview (2013), by Guo Yuhua6. Advancing Constitutional Democracy Should Be the Mission of the Chinese Communist Party (2013), by Cai Xia7. “I Am a Child of the Nineteenth Century”: The Last Twenty Years of Wang Yuanhua’s Life (2008), by Xu JilinPart III: Left Voices8. Mao Zedong and His Era (2012), by Qian Liqun9. From Authoritarian Government to Constitutional Democracy (2012), by Xiao Gongqin10. Liberalism: For the Aristocrats or for the People? (1999), by Gan Yang11. Representative Democracy and Representational Democracy (2014), by Wang Shaoguang12. The Significance of Borders (2017), by Sun GePart IV: New Confucian Voices13. Kang Youwei and Institutional Confucianism (2014), by Chen Ming, Gan Yang, Tang Wenming, Yao Zhongqiu, and Zhang Xiang14. A Century of Confucianism (2014), by Chen Lai15. Only Confucians Can Make a Place for Modern Women (2015), by Jiang QingGlossary of Names and TermsList of Essays Translated in This Volume, with Original TitlesContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisVoices from the Chinese Century brings together a selection of essays from representative leading thinkers that open a window into public debate in China today on fundamental questions of China and the world—past, present, and future. The voices in this volume include figures from each of China’s main intellectual clusters.Trade ReviewThis volume offers readers a valuable chance to hear from a diverse group of twenty-first-century Chinese public intellectuals articulating the 'China Dream,' in their own voice. * China Review International *Highly recommended. * Choice *A joint effort by scholars with stellar track records, this collection is a valuable and timely contribution to the literature on Chinese thought and politics. It allows readers outside the country a unique chance to eavesdrop on and appreciate the stakes in the spirited debates that continue among Chinese intellectuals. -- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, coauthor of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to KnowVoices from the Chinese Century is an immensely important and incredibly timely book, broadly relevant beyond the field of China studies. The translations are exemplary; these translators have pulled it off beautifully. -- Aminda Smith, Michigan State UniversityThis splendid anthology features intellectual voices of different ideological camps in contemporary China. The masterfully selected and translated texts represent both academic writings and popular internet genres. Extremely timely and important for understanding China’s changing social and political trends. A treasure trove for teaching and research. -- Guobin Yang, University of PennsylvaniaFew countries will do more to shape the twenty-first century than China. But who will shape China? This is a necessary book introducing us to key ideas for the future of Chinese politics and society. Many of the voices translated in this volume not only affect the debates going on in China today but will influence what issues the Chinese consider important tomorrow. -- Peter Zarrow, University of ConnecticutStriking and controversial...gives a taste of the range of intellectual life in China. -- Tom Hancock * Financial Times *[an] ambitious effort. * New York Review of Books *Anyone who wants to understand the major questions that shape public intellectual debate in contemporary China will find a trustworthy companion in this outstanding and most timely anthology. -- Els van Dongen Nanyang Technological University * The China Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Thinking China in the Age of Xi JinpingPart I: The Challenge1. “Unifying the Three Traditions” in the New Era (selection) (2005), by Gan YangPart II: Liberal Voices2. Liberalism in the Chinese Context (2004), by Liu Qing3. A China Bereft of Thought (2013), by Rong Jian4. Original Intentions Start with the People (2017), by Guo Yuhua5. “The Shadow of Communist Civilization”: A Gongshi Wang (Consensus Net) Interview (2013), by Guo Yuhua6. Advancing Constitutional Democracy Should Be the Mission of the Chinese Communist Party (2013), by Cai Xia7. “I Am a Child of the Nineteenth Century”: The Last Twenty Years of Wang Yuanhua’s Life (2008), by Xu JilinPart III: Left Voices8. Mao Zedong and His Era (2012), by Qian Liqun9. From Authoritarian Government to Constitutional Democracy (2012), by Xiao Gongqin10. Liberalism: For the Aristocrats or for the People? (1999), by Gan Yang11. Representative Democracy and Representational Democracy (2014), by Wang Shaoguang12. The Significance of Borders (2017), by Sun GePart IV: New Confucian Voices13. Kang Youwei and Institutional Confucianism (2014), by Chen Ming, Gan Yang, Tang Wenming, Yao Zhongqiu, and Zhang Xiang14. A Century of Confucianism (2014), by Chen Lai15. Only Confucians Can Make a Place for Modern Women (2015), by Jiang QingGlossary of Names and TermsList of Essays Translated in This Volume, with Original TitlesContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe status of Tibet is one of the most controversial and complex issues in the history of modern China. In To the End of Revolution, Xiaoyuan Liu draws on unprecedented access to the archives of the Chinese Communist Party to offer a groundbreaking account of Beijing's evolving Tibet policy during the critical first decade of the People's Republic.Trade ReviewLiu Xiaoyuan tells in exquisite detail, based on new archival sources, the dramatic story of how the PRC took over Tibet. Embracing multiple scales of time and space, he gives us a close-up view of how the PRC eliminated the autonomy of Tibet, and a wide-ranging exploration of its implications for global geopolitics. A must-read for students of China’s rise to world power. -- Peter C. Perdue, author of China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central EurasiaAn outstanding history of how the Chinese Communists turned Tibet into a problem of their own creation. Nobody will be able to understand current Chinese decision-making on Tibet without grasping how concepts of borders and territoriality were remade in the wake of the Chinese revolution. -- Odd Arne Westad, author of Restless Empire: China and the World since 1750Perhaps no issue has been more controversial and damaging to China’s international image than its policies in Tibet. Why did the “New China” of the Communist Party move so quickly from accommodation to occupation in Tibet? How were its policies shaped by political tensions abroad and at home? What can this tragic history tell us about continuities in Chinese strategies toward religious and ethnic minorities over time and space? Xiaoyuan Liu is a master historian who has pursued masterly research in Chinese and international archives. This book will be read and cited by scholars of Chinese politics and history. It is required reading for any who seek to understand the origins of Tibet’s modern misfortune. -- William C. Kirby, Harvard UniversityMr. Liu...mines official documents—from speeches by top leaders to minutes of committee meetings—to reveal the debates and divides that shaped the story of Tibet. -- Jeffrey Wasserstrom * Wall Street Journal *Table of ContentsPrefaceNomenclature and TransliterationIntroduction1. A Protracted Agenda2. The “Dalai Line”3. A Time to Change4. A New Phase5. A Waiting Game6. The ShowdownEpilogue: Tibet and the World, According to BeijingNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrian R. Dott explores how the non-native chile went from obscurity to ubiquity in China, influencing not just cuisine but also medicine, language, and cultural identity. The Chile Pepper in China sheds new light on the piquant cultural impact of a potent plant and raises broader questions regarding notions of authenticity in cuisine.Trade ReviewExtensive source materials in both Chinese and English form the bedrock for this impressive study into how a relatively unassuming American import so radically changed one country’s cuisines and traditional pharmacopoeia. The history of the humble chile in China is a fascinating one, especially as viewed through Brian R. Dott’s affectionate yet scholarly lens. -- Carolyn Phillips, author of All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of ChinaA learned as well as lively book with many surprises. How chile peppers came to China from the New World just starts a story involving taste, regionalism, adaptation, and folklore. Chiles were key to Chinese cuisine’s subtlety and variety, and not just in Sichuan and Hunan either. -- Paul Freedman, author of Food: The History of Taste and Ten Restaurants That Changed AmericaThis is an absolutely wonderful book. It combines scholarship and good food writing—the enormous amount of effort in compiling the databases is duly and modestly cloaked in good prose. -- Eugene Anderson, author of The Food of ChinaA valuable resource for anyone interested in Chinese culinary culture or the global history of the chilli as symbol — ‘vitamin, vegetable, preservative and spice’. Dott’s research is extensive, while his writing is entertaining, digestible and peppered with much fascinating information. -- Fuchsia Dunlop * Spectator *It reminds us to look for culinary innovation not only where we often do, in the flashy kitchens of professional chefs, but also in the long-term historical processes of everyday life, the contributions to which, like the chile in China, may be ‘found everywhere.’ * Gastronomica *A book that can be easily understood and enjoyed by casual readers, something not all academic non-fiction books can say. -- Jason Flatt * But Why Tho? *There is much to praise about the book: its painstaking research, its sensitivity to the diversities of regional and historical contexts within China, and the top-notch storytelling. On the last point, Dott deserves special mention. The Chile Pepper in China will be one of the few books that will be read and savored by academics and civilians alike. * Twentieth-Century China *With its lucid, lively style, copious illustrations, and recipes this book could be a model for studies of the assimilation of other New World ingredients, especially in India and China. It will be of great value to students and academics and anyone with an interest [in] Chinese cuisine and culture. * Food, Culture, and Society *A satisfying history to [chiles] origins as well as their cultural significance in China. * Asian Review of Books *The definitive English-language study of how the pepper arrived in China, how it became part of local cuisine and medical practice, and how it even established itself as a core part of identity formation in southwest China. But one of its most provocative contributions has little to do with China and everything do with the chili pepper's unique relationship to globalization. * The Cleaver and the Butterfly *It all adds up to a compelling case for how a foreign plant became a national spice. * Economic Times *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsChinese Dynasties and RegimesIntroduction1. Names and Places: How the Chile Found Its Way “Home” to China2. Spicing Up the Palate3. Spicing Up the Pharmacopeia4. Too Hot for Words: Elite Reticence Toward Chile Peppers 5. Chiles as Beautiful Objects and Literary Emblems6. Mao’s Little Red Spice: Chiles and Regional Identity ConclusionAppendix A. Late Imperial Recipe CollectionsAppendix B. Medical Texts ConsultedNotesBibliographyIndexColor Plates

Read more less

Book SynopsisSi Nae Park examines how the culture of Chosŏn Seoul gave rise to a new vernacular literary form (yadam), anonymously and unofficially circulating tales. She focuses on the collection Repeatedly Recited Stories of the East, which was written in a new medium in which Literary Sinitic is hybridized with the vernacular realities of Chosŏn society.Trade ReviewPark’s research into No’s linguistic-literary experimentation opens a new path for understanding the multilayered diglossia in Chosŏn literature. It also helps us reflect on issues in Korea today, such as Seoul-centrism, social mobility, and wealth and status. I feel that this, the first monographic work on yadam in a Western language, will appeal not only to specialists of premodern Korea, but to a wide range of readers as well. -- Jeongsoo Shin * Journal of Asian Studies *Si Nae Park’s The Korean Vernacular Story: Telling Tales of Contemporary Choson in Sinographic Writing offers a new look at the intriguing classical literary genre of yadam. Her thorough study of the late eighteenth-century collection known as Dongpae naksong, or Repeatedly Recited Stories of the East, compiled by No Myeongheum, casts light on the formation and significance of the yadam genre in the literary history of the Joseon period. -- Charles La Shure * Seoul Journal of Korean Studies *[An] impressively-researched book . . . The Korean Vernacular Story will not only appeal to scholars (there is much here that is analytical and scholarly) but to anyone interested in finding out about Asian writing which is not Chinese or Japanese. * Asian Review of Books *In The Korean Vernacular Story, Park unfurls a sparkling canvas of eighteenth-century Chosŏn Korea, where new forms of the written vernacular, social mobility, literary sociability—both Seoul- and Beijing-centered metageographies—and vernacular temporalities intersect. A remarkable intervention in Korean studies with crucial implications for the study of East Asia’s Sinographic literatures. -- Wiebke Denecke, author of Classical World Literatures: Sino-Japanese and Greco-Roman ComparisonsThe major project in Korean cultural history is to recapture Korea’s hidden vernacular past in the forest of “Chinese” writing by Koreans. Si Nae Park’s reading of the hitherto neglected yadam genre does exactly this, bringing these voices from Chosŏn Korea to life in their original earthy splendor. -- John Whitman, author of Korean: A Linguistic IntroductionIn this valuable study of yadam, Si Nae Park deftly handles the tensions between the oral and contemporary origins of the tales and the Sinitic script in which they are inscribed. Park has made a subtle, significant, and lasting contribution to an emerging but important field—the study of vernacularization in East Asia. -- Peter Kornicki, University of CambridgeThe Korean Vernacular Story is a meticulous and compelling reassessment of the emergence of yadam, elaborated through No Myŏnghŭm’s compilation of real-world stories in highly vernacularized Sinitic. This insightful study demonstrates how premodern Korea, its culture increasing influenced by women, came to appreciate and readily circulate stories about itself. -- Sunglim Kim, author of Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets:The Culture of Objects in Late Chosŏn Korean ArtThe first full-length examination of the yadam genre, The Korean Vernacular Story examines the literary and social milieu in late Chosŏn Seoul. Using meticulous research, Park forms arguments that will certainly serve as the foundation for further research. -- Michael J. Pettid, coeditor of Premodern Korean Literary ProseA rethinking of vernacularity in late Chosŏn, free from modernist assumptions about the relationship between language and text. -- Sixiang Wang * Journal of Korean Studies *Park’s achievement does not lie merely in her nuanced historicization of the rise of the literary vernacular in eighteenth-century Chosŏn Korea. Her book also powerfully foregrounds the intricacy of the cosmopolitan-vernacular dynamics in a larger sinographic world. . . This is a must-read book for anyone who is interested in Chosŏn literary history and manuscript culture, early modern East Asian literature, and literary Sinitic and local vernaculars in the sinographic world. -- Suyoung Son * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *The Korean Vernacular Story is indispensable for all scholars dealing with questions of Korean language, literature, or pre-modern societal structures. Furthermore, this book about the telling of stories is itself a wonderful story and, in fact, a delightful read. -- Vladimir Glomb * Acta Koreana *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsA Note to the ReaderIntroduction1. The Compiler: A Marginalized Yangban at the Center of the Chosŏn Cultural Scene2. The Narrative World: A Window Into the Zeitgeist of Contemporary Chosŏn at Large3. The Language: Articulating in the Language of the Here and Now4. The Text in Motion: The Circulation of the Tongp’ae naksong and the Rise of Yadam in the Chosŏn Manuscript ContextCodaAppendix A: The Original Text and Translation of “The Biography of No, the Clumsy Old Man”Appendix B: A Translation of “The Story of a Slave Girl from Chirye”NotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisB. R. Ambedkar spent his life battling Untouchability and instigating the end of the caste system. In his 1948 book The Untouchables, he sought to trace the origin of Untouchability. Beef, Brahmins, and Broken Men is an annotated selection from this work, produced in a time when the oppression of and discrimination against Dalits remains pervasive.Trade ReviewBeef, Brahmins, and Broken Men is that rare achievement, a work that combines meticulous historical scholarship (taking account of books like D. N. Jha’s The Myth of the Holy Cow, but sharply challenging many of their conclusions) with a passionate, persuasive call to action. It argues how the onus is now on non-Dalits to take a historical view of the consumption of beef and express solidarity with Dalits and other beef eaters in India today. The editors’ selections from B. R. Ambedkar’s 1948 work The Untouchables, along with the painstaking annotations, show to us the pressing relevance of this work to contemporary India. The brilliant introduction by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd reveals, among many eye-opening points, how Ambedkar already understood the forces that led to incidents like the suicide of Rohith Vermula in 2016. The essay by Alex George and S. Anand on Ambedkar’s theory of “The Broken Men” persuasively supports his ideas about the origins of the Untouchable caste. This is an important book that will give valuable ammunition to the forces that oppose the most glaring abuses of human rights in India today. -- Wendy Doniger, author of The Hindus: An Alternative HistoryB. R. Ambedkar rewrote the history of untouchability as the practice of social outcasting and historical violence that followed the defeat of Buddhism in ancient India, and by so doing he prioritized the social suffering and ongoing stigmatization of the Dalits, the Broken Men. This extensively annotated critical selection is a potent reminder of the audaciousness of Ambedkar's method and the insurrectionary power of his writings for our political present. -- Anupama Rao, author of The Caste Question: Dalits and Politics in Modern IndiaAmong the numerous sins of the Hindutva forces, the beef ban, which includes not only slaughtering of cattle but also possession of its meat, is the most calamitous. It is not the question of Muslims and Dalits alone, who are directly affected; it affects India’s very future. This selection from Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 1948 work, with a focus on beef eating and its implications, exposes the duplicity and falsehood of the civilizational argument on which the entire Hindutva superstructure stands. -- Anand Teltumbde, author of The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders and India’s Hidden ApartheidA huge intellectual endeavor. A labor of love! The editors’ essay on Broken Men Theory makes for a powerful and compelling argument (through Meillassoux) about Ambedkar’s fundamental critique of the sacredness of historical discourses as such, about Ambedkar’s speculative material method and his academically ‘untouchable’ hypothesis on the emergence of untouchability, about the absolutely contingent eruption of untouchability, the sheer unreason/madness of the untouchability as against the universalizable principle/truth of equality and every occurrence in history is equal and comparable to any other across time and space. -- Vaibhav Abnave, Prabuddha CollectiveI marvel at the sheer labor put into Beef, Brahmins, and Broken Men. There are two kinds of annotations here: one that places Ambedkar's remarks in context, pointing to where he departs from the source material, how he works with it, the slippages in his argument, and so on. And the other, which adds and expands on information in his text. -- V. Geetha, historianAmbedkar makes a moving and completely original argument in this work to try and understand how untouchability came to be and what it became. This is enriched by the depth of the scholarship involved in setting up the critical notes. -- Uma Chakravarti, historianI applaud the spirit of this project. It unlocks a new contemporaneity that signifies a particular relationship of desire to read Ambedkar’s original text in a new, writerly way. The urgency of the annotations is derived from questions, problems and passions that belong to our times. -- Soumyabrata Choudhury, scholarTable of ContentsIntroduction: No Democracy Without Beef: Ambedkar, Identity, and Nationhood, by Kancha Ilaiah ShepherdFool’s Errand: A Note on the Notes to and Selection from Ambedkar’s The Untouchables, by S. Anand and Alex GeorgeSelections from B.R Ambedkar’s The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables?PrefacePart IV: New theories of the origin of Untouchability.9: Contempt for Buddhists as the root of Untouchability10: Beef-eating as the root of UntouchabilityPart V: The new theories and some hard questions11: Did the Hindus never eat beef?12: Why did non-Brahmins give up beef-eating?13: What made the Brahmins become vegetarians?14: Why should beef-eating make Broken Men Untouchable?Part VI: Untouchability and the date of its birth15: The Impure and the Untouchables16: When did Broken Men become Untouchables?The Broken Men theory: Beginnings of a Reading, by Alex George and S. AnandReferencesAcknowledgmentsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book brings together leading scholars to provide new perspectives on one of the most traumatic episodes in Taiwan’s modern history and its fraught legacies. Contributors from a variety of disciplines revisit the Musha Incident and its afterlife in history, literature, film, art, and popular culture.Trade ReviewThis compelling book provokes the reader to ponder the bloody violence committed in the name of the colonial state but also of the rebels. It bears witness to the difficulties encountered by survivors and later generations to tell and remember this important story. A must read. -- Klaus Mühlhahn, author of Making China Modern: From the Great Qing to Xi JinpingThis collection brilliantly interweaves two layers of meaning of the Musha Incident for Taiwan society—a horrendous historical tragedy and a haunting collective trauma. The chapters take us on a tour with divergent tracks, frequently leading to fascinating landscapes of creative imagination. The fluid, open-ended history thus conjured up reveals how our senses of reality are shaped by evolving contemporary discourses. -- Yvonne Chang, author of Modernism and the Nativist Resistance: Contemporary Chinese Fiction from TaiwanThe Musha Incident is a pathbreaking study of the last major act of armed indigenous resistance to Japanese colonial rule. By marshalling the talents of experts in history, literature, film, and music, Michael Berry provides what will become a touchstone analysis of a tragedy that has long captured public imagination. -- Ashley Esarey, coauthor of My Fight for a New Taiwan: One Woman's Journey from Prison to PowerOffering perspectives from indigenous, Han Chinese, Japanese, American, and European sources, The Musha Incident serves as a model for understanding the complexity of history and its representations. For the editor, it is not only a labor of love but also a demonstration of intellectual and moral commitment. -- Michelle Yeh, editor of Hawk of the Mind: Collected Poems of Yang MuThe complexities, nuances, and shades of interpretation that the contributors reveal in their analyses demonstrate how egregious the Musha Incident’s previous dismissal or erasure in most general narratives of Taiwan and Japan has been. The book is bold in its innovative scope—truly interdisciplinary. -- Kirsten Ziomek * H-Asia *Table of ContentsA Note on RomanizationAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Approaching Musha, by Michael BerryPart I. Historical Memories of Musha1. The Discourse and Practice of Colonial “Suppression” in the Making of the Musha Rebellion and Its Aftermath, by Toulouse-Antonin Roy2. The Musha Incident and the History of Tgdaya-Japanese Relations, by Paul D. Barclay3. Relistening to Her and His Stories: On Approaching “The Musha Incident from an Indigenous Perspective,”by Kae KitamuraPart II. Literary Memories of Musha4. Bodies and Violence in the Musha Incident, by Robert Tierney5. Musha Incident, Incidentally: Tsushima Yūko’s Exceedingly Barbaric, by Leo Ching6. Satō Haruo on the Musha Incident, by Ping-hui Liao7. Untimely Meditations: The Contemporary, the Philosophy of Walking, and Related Ethical Matters in Remains of Life, by Chien-heng WuPart III. Visual and Digital Memories of Musha8. The Face of the Inbetweener: The Image of Indigenous History Researchers as Reflected in Seediq Bale, by Nakao Eki Pacidal9. Quest for Roots: Trauma and Heroism in Wu He’s Yusheng and Tang Shiang-Chu’s Yusheng: Seediq Bale, by Darryl Sterk10. Historical Representation in an Age of Wiki Writing and Digital Curation: The Musha Incident on Digital Platforms, by Kuei-fen ChiuPart IV. Musha in Cultural Dialogue11. Fiction and Fieldwork: In Conversation with Wu He on Remains of Life, by Michael Berry12. Heavy Metal Headhunt: An Interview with Chthonic’s Freddy Lim, by Michael Berry13. Televising the Musha Incident: Wan Jen on the Miniseries Dana Sakura, by Michael Berry14. No Good Guys or Bad Guys: An Interview with Wei Te-sheng, by Tony Rayns (translated by Christa Chen)ContributorsIndex

Read more less