Culture And Power In The Reconstitution Of The Chinese Realm, 200-600 (harvard East Asian Monographs)

The period between the fall of the Han in 220 and the reunification of the Chinese realm in the late sixth century receives short shrift in most accounts of Chinese history. The period is usually characterized as one of disorder and dislocation, ethnic strife, and bloody court struggles. Its lone achievement, according to many accounts, is the introduction of Buddhism. In the eight essays of Culture and Power in the Reconstitution of the Chinese Realm, 200-600, the authors seek to chart the actual changes occurring in this period of disunion, and to show its relationship to what preceded and followed it. This exploration of a neglected period in Chinese history addresses such diverse subjects as the era's economy, Daoism, Buddhist art, civil service examinations, forays into literary theory, and responses to its own history. China's Early Medieval Age - The Time Between The Fall Of The Han In A.d. 220 And The Sui's Reunification Of The Realm In 589 - Receives Short Shrift In Most Accounts Of Chinese History, Which Typically Characterize It In Negative Fashion As An Age Of Disorder And Dislocation, Ethnic Strife And Bloody Court Battles, An Era Whose Only Notable Achievement Was The Introduction Of Buddhism. But Despite The Violence And Volatility, These Centuries Were A Time Of Extraordinary Cultural Flowering, Which Reshaped And Deeply Enriched Chinese Civilization. Culture And Cultural Change Are The Primary Focuses Of The Eight Essays In This Volume. The Authors Of These Essays Address The Growth Of Cities, Literary Theory, The Civil Service Examinations, Buddhist Art, Governmental Reform, Daoism, And Literary Anthologies. Although They Take Diverse Viewpoints As They Seek To Chart The Changes That Unfolded Across The Early Medieval Age, Their Work Is Bound Together By Several Overarching Themes: Evolving Notions Of The Nature Of The Center And Its Relationship To The Periphery, Of Boundaries Between Groups And Regions: Ideas Of Order And The Re-creation Of Order; And Views On Connections To The Past And The Significance Of Historical Inheritance. These Are Issues That Were Central To The Work Of Reconstituting A Chinese Realm That Was Both Culturally And Politically Coherent.--book Jacket. Jiankang And The Commercial Empire Of The Southern Dynasties / Shufen Liu -- To The Manner Born? / Robert Joe Cutter -- Dialogue With The Ancients / Donald Holzman -- Civil Service Examinations / Albert Dien -- Hybrid Vigor / Audrey Spiro -- Form And Matter / Scott Pearce --lu Xiujing, Buddhism, And The First Daoist Canon / Stephen Bokenkamp -- Culling The Weeds And Selecting Prime Blossoms / David R. Knechtges. Scott Pearce, Audrey Spiro, And Patricia Ebrey, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. TOC 4 Bokenkamp, Stephen-Lu Xiujing, Buddhism, and the First Daoist Canon 199 Liu, Shufen-Jiankang and the Commercial Empire of the Southern Dynasties 50 Cutter, Robert Joe-To the Manner Born-Nature and Nurture in Early Medieval Chinese Literary Thought 68 Part II-Encountering Ancients 87 Holzman, Donald-A Dialogue with the Ancients-Tao Qian's Interrogation of Confucius 88 Knechtges, David R.-Culling the Weeds and Selecting Prime Blossoms-The Anthology in Early Medieval China 218