China: a history

"Eminently accessible, yet rigorous, this engaging introduction to the political, social, and cultural development of Chinese civilization tells the story of China - from its beginnings to the present day - in a way that goes far beyond simple, misleading accounts of a glorious civilization falling victim and Western and Japanese imperialism or of a supposedly isolated country only recently and reluctantly opening to the outside world. Characteristic of Harold Tanner's presentation is the development and carefully balanced recounting of important themes - such as the ethnic diversity of the early empires, interaction with other civilizations, and the challenge of transforming a multi-ethnic empire into a modern nation-state - that other histories of China omit entirely or discuss only minimally."--Jacket.

pt. 1. The early empire : building institutions and identity, 2070 BCE-220 CE -- From myth to history: the beginnings of the Chinese state and culture in the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties -- The age of fighting and philosophy: the Eastern Zhou dynasty -- From feudal states to bureaucratic empire: the Qin and Western Han dynasties -- The decline and fall of Eastern civilization: the Xin and Eastern Han dynasties -- pt. 2. Cultural interaction and transformation, 220-1368 -- The age of warriors and Buddhists : the Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, and the period of North-South division -- A multi-ethnic empire: the Sui and Tang dynasties -- Competing suns in heaven: the Song and its neighbors -- China in the Mongol empire: the Yuan dynasty -- pt. 3. A new Confucian empire, 1368-1911 -- A model government for the ages: the early to mid-Ming dynasty -- Wealth and instability: the mid- and late Ming -- A Manchu empire: the Qing dynasty to 1799 -- The Qing dynasty's 19th-century crises -- pt. 4. The road to wealth and power, 1911-present -- Struggling to build a nation: the 1911 revolution and the early Republic, 1912-26 -- Years of turmoil: China under Chiang Kai-shek's Guomindang …