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Reorienting China
The Landscape of Chinese Civilization
Brief Description
This book is an unusual excursion into Chinese cultural history. In a sweeping narrative spanning over five thousand years, Professor Cho-yun Hsu moves beyond accounts that focus solely on the internal evolution of Chinese culture. He revisits early Chinese civilization, integrating recent archaeological discoveries to reshape...
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Format: Hardback
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This insightful work reveals why Chinese civilization has endured despite numerous internal and external hardships and turmoils. It offers a nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on China's past and its relevance to the present.
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Description
This book is an unusual excursion into Chinese cultural history. In a sweeping narrative spanning over five thousand years, Professor Cho-yun Hsu moves beyond accounts that focus solely on the internal evolution of Chinese culture. He revisits early Chinese civilization, integrating recent archaeological discoveries to reshape our understanding of its development. Employing a big history perspective, Hsu reconstructs the dynamic interplay of diverse ethnic groups and cultures within and beyond China, highlighting the constant friction and fusion that shaped its trajectory.This insightful work reveals why Chinese civilization has endured despite numerous internal and external hardships and turmoils. It offers a nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on China's past and its relevance to the present.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9789882372795
Publisher: The Chinese University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 09 June 2025
Country: Hong Kong
Imprint: The Chinese University Press
Contributors:
- Translated by David Ownby
Audience: Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Weight: 250g
Pages: 300
About the Author
Cho-yun Hsu. An internationally recognized authority on ancient Chinese history and comparative civilizations. He was University Professor of History and Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and elected Academician of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. As one of the founding members of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Hsu was instrumental in supporting and encouraging global research in Chinese Studies. In 2004, he received the Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies Award, the highest honor of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), which recognizes his life-long dedication to the advancement of Asian Studies in the international arena. In 2024, he was awarded the sixth Tang Prize for his contributions to the field of Sinology.
He has authored or coauthored numerous publications, including American Life: A Chinese Historianβs Perspective (2021), The Transcendental and the Mundane: Chinese Cultural Values in Everyday Life (2021), China: A New Cultural History (2012), Western Chou Civilization (1988), Han Agriculture: The Formation of the Early Chinese Agrarian Economy (206 B.C.βA.D. 220) (1980), and Ancient China in Transition: An Analysis of Social Mobility, 722β222 B.C. (1965).
David Ownby recently retired after more than thirty years as Professor of History at the UniversitΓ© de MontrΓ©al. His research focus is intellectual life in contemporary China, and his recent publications include Rethinking Chinaβs Rise: A Liberal Critique by Xu Jilin (as editor and translator), Voices from the Chinese Century: Public Intellectual Debate from Contemporary China (co-edited with Timothy Cheek and Joshua A. Fogel), The Transcendental and the Mundane: Chinese Cultural Values in Everyday Life by Cho-yun Hsu, and Globalization after the Pandemic by Qin Hui (both as translator). His online project, βReading the China Dream,β is available at readingthechinadream.com.
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