This volume examines the role of dynastic rulers, the imperial system, and the ruling literati in the promotion and shaping of Chinese thought and culture. It includes ten papers chosen for publication from a conference held in Taiwan in September 1992: “Determining Orthodoxy: Imperial Roles” by Jack L. Dull; “Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s Portrayal of the First Ch’in Emperor” by Stephan Durrant; “The Literary Emperor: The Case of Han Wu-ti” by David R. Knechtges; “Empress Wu and Feminist Sentiments in T’ang China” by Chen Jo-shui; “Academies: Official Sponsorship and Suppression” by Thomas H. C. Lee; “Imperial Power and The Reestablishment of Monastic Order in the Northern Sung” by Huang Chi-chiang; “Imperial Rulership in Cultural History: Chu Hsi’s Interpretation” by Huang Chun-chieh; “The Emperor and the Star Spirits: A Mythological Reading of the Shui-hu chuan” by Frederick P. Brandeur; “Ku Yen-wu’s Image and Ideal of the Emperor: A Cultural Giant and Political Dwarf” by Ku Wei-ying; and “Imperial Power and the Appointment of Provincial Governors in Ch’ing China” by R. Kent Guy. It will be of interest to students of Chinese culture including literature, art, religion, philosophy, and politics.

Challenges traditional views of the Qin dynasty as an oppressive regime by revealing cooperative aspects of its governance. This revealing book challenges longstanding notions of the Qin dynasty, China’s first imperial dynasty (221–206 BCE). The received history of the Qin dynasty and its founder is one of cruel tyranny with rule through fear and coercion. Using a wealth of new information afforded by the expansion of Chinese archaeology in recent decades as well as traditional historical sources, Charles Sanft concentrates on cooperative aspects of early imperial government, especially on the communication necessary for government. Sanft suggests that the Qin authorities sought cooperation from the populace with a publicity campaign in a wide variety of media—from bronze and stone inscriptions to roads to the bureaucracy. The book integrates theory from anthropology and economics with early Chinese philosophy and argues that modern social science and ancient thought agree that cooperation is necessary for all human societies.

Professor Ch'ien Mu (Qian Mu) describes the basic constitutive elements of China's traditional government as it evolved. He concentrates upon those dynasties he considers China's most representative: the Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing; and critically analyzes and compares their governmental organization, civil service examination system, taxation, and defence.

One of Choice Reviews' Outstanding Academic Titles of 2018--an innovative look at how families in Ming dynasty China negotiated military and political obligations to the state.tate.

Across eighteenth-century China a wide range of common people forged government documents or pretended to be officials or other agents of the state. This examination of case records and law codes traces the legal meanings and social and political contexts of small-time swindles that were punished as grave political transgressions.

In a brisk revisionist history, William Rowe challenges the standard narrative of Qing China as a decadent, inward-looking state that failed to keep pace with the modern West. This original, thought-provoking history of China's last empire is a must-read for understanding the challenges facing China today.