Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China [Hardcover]

Constance A. Cook (Editor), John S. Major (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824818857
• ISBN-13: 978-0824818852
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,753,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting at times and could be greatly expanded, April 24, 2010

By 

Jerry Kurjian - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Defining Chu: Image And Reality In Ancient China (Paperback)

Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China is more a collection of related articles than a history of the powerful Chu state in pre-dynastic China. The depth of the chapters is spotty; some offer only a general overview of their subject, with little analysis or broader context, while others are dense and developed and could themselves be expanded to book-length. As a previous reviewer points out, maps are not clearly linked to the text and seem like an afterthought; this is true for some illustrations also. And that an academic work about China published relatively recently can still only use transliterated Chinese and have no characters, except in the references, is inexplicable.

While I would recommend Defining Chu to anyone interested in early Chinese history, it should be pointed out that this is a mix of history, anthropology, and sociology. Substantial parts of several later chapters, for example, are taken up with the discussion of Chu religion and shamanism. Finally, I felt one of the main goals of the book as stated by the editors, to show that Chu was a mix of northern and southern influences and an amalgam of cultures, was not clearly achieved. Perhaps a project like this needs to be much bigger, to take more space to define both north and south, to characterize other states and ethnicities, in addition to Chu, that existed at the time, and to give a broader context of Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Multicultural China, May 20, 2008

By 

usabear "eclectic one" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China (Hardcover)

Most of our traditional histories of China paint a picture of a mainly monolithic state passing through a more-or-less straight line of Dynasties functioning around the designated "Han" peoples. Even where Dynasties were ruled by non-Han peoples (the Yuan, e.g.), we have been given the view that the essence of the "real" China was still the central "Han" culture.

In recent years we have seen numerous studies, archeological discoveries and discourses written about the geographic areas of current China outside of the classical area. The inescapable conclusion that must be drawn from these is that China is, and always was, an extraordinarily multicultural entity.

"Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China" is an important addition to the literature on early China. Chu was possibly the most important of the states existing in China during the Eastern Zhou period (771/770 - 221 BCE), until its ultimate demise at the hands of the Qin. In fact, the later overthrow of the Qin was led by descendents of Chu - an aristocrat (Xiang Yu) and a commoner (Liu Bang, who, having disposed of Xiang Yu, would become the first Han emperor).

Edited by the eminent scholars Constance Cook and John Major, "Defining Chu" draws together a group of highly regarded Sinologists to explicate the culture and history of the Chu state. Including essays on geography, spatial organization, art, culture, ideology and religion, the book is an important addition to the library of anyone interested in ancient China.

While not entirely casting aside the traditional historic view of China, the book demonstrates the complexity and multicultural aspects of the early Chinese landscape, additionally countering even some more recent views of China as being a historically reclusive and defensive entity. Perhaps more importantly, this book, along with others recently published, demonstrates the sophistication of the various cultures in the general area of China outside of the "Han", which have frequently received the sobriquet of "barbarian" or other tag reflecting a lesser level of sophistication (albeit the definition of "barbarian" being somewhat different in traditional Chinese usage from the current highly perjorative one).

It takes some nit-picking to find shortcomings in the book, but the devil is frequently in the details. The maps provided by the authors in Chapters 1 and 2 do not relate to the text in a straightforward fashion. Readers unfamiliar with the geography will have difficulty in pinpointing the locations discussed, as there is no map placing Chu within the more general geographic entity of China. Reign dates are somewhat inconsistent in Blakeley's essay, with marginal differences showing in repeated references. The essay by Heather Peters seems to lack a central focus, leaving one with a disjointed view of life in the towns.

The shortcomings are trivial, however, in the overall thrust of the book, which is written in a highly entertaining and vigorous style (unlike many histories, I'm afraid to say).

Anyone who has an interest in the culture and life during this seminally important period of Chinese history should buy this book.