East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History [Paperback]

Patricia Buckley Ebrey (Author), Anne Walthall (Author), James B. Palais (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0618133844 | ISBN-13: 978-0618133840 | Publication Date: August 5, 2005 | Edition: 001

Designed for the East Asian history course, these texts feature the latest scholarship on the region and offer a range of cultural, political, economic, and intellectual history. Coverage is balanced among East Asian regions, with approximately 20 percent of the complete volume focused on Korea, an area that has become increasingly important in East Asian courses and in world politics.Special attention is devoted to coverage of gender and material culture, themes that are reinforced through the text's pedagogical features. Color inserts illustrate the rich artistic heritage of East Asia and bolster the coverage of material culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia B. Ebrey, Professor with Joint Appointment: Early Imperial China, Song Dynasty, at the University of Washington in Seattle, received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1975. She has published numerous journal articles and published The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Her monographs include The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period (University of California Press, 1993) and Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China: A Social History of Writing about Rites (Princeton University Press, 1991). She is a co-author of East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History and author of China: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (both Houghton Mifflin, 2006). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 001 edition (August 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618133844
• ISBN-13: 978-0618133840
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great coverage of all of northeast Asia, July 21, 2007

By 

J. Kim "HonestReviews" (Fullerton, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (Paperback)

I don't understand why some reviews were not so good. I thought this book did an excellent job of covering the history of East Asia (mostly Korea, China, and Japan). There are some good photos here too and I liked how there was some analysis on the relations of the countries and not just bland statements or repetitions of other history books (ie-there's some good writing on how Japanese history was influenced by Korean and Chinese culture). The format is easy to read and does not bore you to sleep. I would have bought a hardcover copy if they had one as I liked this very much.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for beginners, but too pricey!!, November 9, 2009

By 

Wayne Leigh (Singapore) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Pre-Modern East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (Paperback)

I really think the price is far too high for what is in essence a history book which is more fitting for a senior high school student who wants to be introduced to pre-Modern East Asian history. I found "Genesis of East Asia" a much more interesting and engaging book which goes beyond merely stating the bare facts, and at a much more reasonable price.Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907 (Asian Interactions and Comparisons)

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars memorable titbits of detail, August 25, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (Paperback)

The authors take a grand sweep across half of Asia and thousands of years. They cover 3 countries - China, Japan and Korea. By virtue of geographic size and population, China receives the greatest coverage. Its long sequence of dynasties are covered in impressive detail. Not just in the political and military events of those eras. The book also devotes space to explaining the religious and philosophical changes. Notably the Analects of Confucius, Daoism, the incursion of Buddhism from India into China, which finally adopted it as its own.

There is also extensive coverage of Japanese civilisation. While derived from Chinese, it soon adopted its own unique features, including the Shinto version of Buddhism.

The book also has memorable titbits of historical detail, some of which may be stick in the reader's memory. Maybe like in medieval Japan, where landlords might segregate toilets by sex, because men's excrement was more highly valued by farmers than women's. Most history books just don't talk about this stuff!