The studies collected here derive in large part from the collaborative Chin history project, to which Professors Chan and Franke have made a massive contributuion. The Jurchens lived in northeastern Manchuria as hunters, fishers and farmers, until 1115 when they founded a dynastic state called Chin and went on to conquer northern China. Some of the studies here deal with the way of life of the pre-dynastic Jurchens, others with the law and institutions of the Chin state, and the treaties by which they sought to regulate their conflict with the Sung dynasty to the south. Taken together, these studies depict the varying mixture of Chinese and native traditions and customs that were adopted, presenting a detailed analysis of this multinational regime in medieval China.

This is the most extensive study of Chin dynasty history in any language. It demonstrates the importance of cultural developments in North China under the Chin (1115-1234).

This is the most extensive study of Chin dynasty history in any language. It demonstrates the importance of cultural developments in North China under the Chin (1115-1234).

A highly readable and engaging survey of China's history from the tenth through the mid-fourteenth centuries.

The Tungusic Languages is a survey of Tungusic, a language family which is seriously endangered today, but which at the time of its maximum spread was present all over Northeast Asia. This volume offers a systematic succession of separate chapters on all the individual Tungusic languages, as well as a number of additional chapters containing contextual information on the language family as a whole, its background and current state, as well as its history of research and documentation. Manchu and its mediaeval ancestor Jurchen are important historical literary languages discussed in this volume, while the other Tungusic languages, around a dozen altogether, have always been spoken by small, local, though in some cases territorially widespread, populations engaged in traditional subsistence activities of the Eurasian taiga and steppe zones and the North Pacific coast. All contributors to this volume are well-known specialists on their specific topics, and, importantly, all the authors of the chapters dealing with modern languages have personal experience of linguistic field work among Tungusic speakers. This volume will be informative for scholars and students specialising in the languages and peoples of Northeast Asia, and will also be of interest to those engaged with linguistic typology, cultural anthropology, and ethnic history who wish to obtain information on the Tungusic languages.