did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

We're the #1 textbook rental company. Let us show you why.

9780812243703

Multicultural China in the Early Middle Ages

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780812243703

  • ISBN10:

    0812243706

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2012-03-21
  • Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Purchase Benefits

  • Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping On Orders Over $35!
    Your order must be $35 or more to qualify for free economy shipping. Bulk sales, PO's, Marketplace items, eBooks and apparel do not qualify for this offer.
  • eCampus.com Logo Get Rewarded for Ordering Your Textbooks! Enroll Now
List Price: $79.95 Save up to $26.79
  • Rent Book $53.16
    Add to Cart Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping

    TERM
    PRICE
    DUE
    USUALLY SHIPS IN 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS
    *This item is part of an exclusive publisher rental program and requires an additional convenience fee. This fee will be reflected in the shopping cart.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

Summary

In contrast to the economic and cultural dominance by the south and the east coast over the past several centuries, influence in China in the early Middle Ages was centered in the north and featured a significantly multicultural society. Many events that were profoundly formative for the future of East Asian civilization occurred during this period, although much of this multiculturalism has long been obscured under a Sinitic façade due to the Confucian monopoly of written records. Multicultural China in the Early Middle Agesendeavors to expose a number of these long-hidden non-Sinitic characteristics and manifestations of heritage, some lasting to this very day. Sanping Chen investigates several foundational aspects of Chinese culture during this period, including the unicorn and the heroine Mulan, to determine the origin and development of the lore. His meticulous research yields surprising results. For instance, he finds that the character Mulan is not of Chinese origin and that Central Asian influences are to be found in language, religion, governance, and other fundamental characteristics of Chinese culture. As Victor Mair writes in the Foreword, "While not everyone will acquiesce in the entirety of Dr. Chen's findings, no reputable scholar can afford to ignore them with impunity." These "foreign"-origin elements were largely the legacy of the Tuoba, whose descendants in fact dominated China's political and cultural stage for nearly a millennium. Long before the Mongols, the Tuoba set a precedent for "using the civilized to rule the civilized" by attracting a large number of sedentary Central Asians to East Asia. This not only added a strong pre-Islamic Iranian layer to the contemporary Sinitic culture but also commenced China's golden age under the cosmopolitan Tang dynasty, whose nominally "Chinese" ruling house is revealed by Chen to be the biological and cultural heir of the Tuoba.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Old Wine in New Bottlesp. ix
Introductionp. 1
The Legacy of the Tuoba Xianbei: The Tang Dynastyp. 4
From Mulan to Unicornp. 39
Brotherly Matters and the Canine Image: The Invasion of "Barbarian" Tonguesp. 60
The Huns and the Bulgars: The Chinese Chapterp. 83
The Mystery of the "White-Drake" Oracle: The Iranian Shadowsp. 99
Son of Heaven and Son of Godp. 119
Bai Juyi and Central Asiap. 157
Appendix. Turkic or Proto-Mongolian? A Note on the Tuoba Languagep. 183
Notesp. 193
Bibliographyp. 237
Indexp. 267
Acknowledgmentsp. 277
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program