Essays on Tang and Pre-Tang China (Variorum Collected Studies Series) [Hardcover]

Edwin G. Pulleyblank (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 086078858X | ISBN-13: 978-0860788584 | Publication Date: April 1, 2001 | Edition: Reprint

A collection of essays on Tang and pre-Tang China. The first item "Chinese History and World History", is an abbreviated version of the author's inaugural lecture as Professor of Chinese in the University of Cambridge. Professor Pulleyblank's first aim was to criticize historicist views, then prevalent among both Marxist and non-Marxist historians in Japan and China, that attempted to fit Chinese history into a Procrustean framework based on Western models of periodization. At the same time he wanted to criticize the Eurocentric view of human history that he found prevalent in the West generally but especially at Cambridge and to show, on the one hand, that contacts with East Asia had played an important role in European history and, on the other hand, that comparisons and contrasts with the Chinese experience were important for a true understanding of that history. Most of the other items in this volume are by-products or extensions of research that went into the author's doctoral dissertation at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, begun in 1948 and published in 1955. Topics covered include: Chinese historical criticism; the arrival on China's borders in early T'ang of a group of Sogdians, that is, Iranians from what used to be called Eastern Turkistan; the registration of population in China in the Sui and T'ang periods; and the An Lu-shan Rebellion and the origins of chronic militarism in late T'ang China.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Variorum; Reprint edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 086078858X
• ISBN-13: 978-0860788584
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.