Chinese Civilization A Sourcebook, 2nd Ed

, by Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Ebrey, Patricia Buckley

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ISBN: 9780029087527 | 002908752X
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 5/10/1993

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This updated version of a fantastic account of Chinese culture and civilization provides analysis of notable historical documents, social records, and laws.

Setting the standard for supplementary texts in Chinese history courses, the newly expanded edition of Chinese Sourcebook includes coverage of personal documents, social records, laws, and previously ignored reports.

With insight to the beginnings of Chinese civilization, this book provides a complete and thorough introduction to the nation’s history and culture.

Preface to the Second Edition

(2)

Preface to the First Edition

xiii

(2)

Contents According to Topics

(4)

A Note on the Selection and Translation of Sources

xix

(1)

Map of China

I. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

(46)

1. Late Shang Divination Records. The questions and answers inscribed on oracle bones used to communicate with divine powers

(3)

2. The Metal Bound Box. A scene in which the Duke of Zhou offers his life to the ancestors in place of his nephew the king, from the Book of Documents

(2)

3. Hexagrams in the Book of Changes. Two passages from an ancient diviners' manual

(3)

4. Songs and Poems. Songs of courtship, feasting, and war, from the Book of Songs

(3)

5. The Battle Between Jin and Chu. Description of the strategies, jockeying for position, and boasting of a major battle, from the Zuo zhuan

(3)

6. Confucian Teachings. Passages from the Analects, Mencius, and Xunzi

(10)

7. Daoist Teachings. Passages from the Laozi and Zhuangzi

(5)

8. Legalist Teachings. Passages from the Book of Lord Shang and Han Feizi

(6)

9. Two Avengers. From the Intrigues of the Warring States

(4)

10. Social Rituals. The procedures to be followed when an inferior visits a superior and vice-versa, from the Book of Etiquette and Ritual

(5)

II. THE QIN AND HAN DYNASTIES

(40)

11. Penal Servitude in Qin Law. From excavated wooden-strip documents

(3)

12. The World Beyond China. From Sima Qian's Historical Records

(3)

13. Heaven, Earth, and Man. From the writings of Dong Zhongshu

(3)

14. The Debate on Salt and Iron. A court debate between the Legalist prime minister and the Confucian scholars about the role of the government in economic matters

(4)

15. The Classic of Filial Piety. A popular primer that glorifies the virtue of filial devotion

(5)

16. Wang Fu on Friendship and Getting Ahead. A second-century man's cynical view of how men get ahead

(3)

17. Women's Virtues and Vices. An exemplary biography of a model woman, the lament of a man whose wife was far from model, and a woman's admonitions to girls on how to behave

(5)

18. Yin and Yang in Medical Theory. The theory behind traditional medicine, from the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine

(3)

19. Local Cults. Three stone inscriptions describing shrines erected to honor various deities

(3)

20. Uprisings. Accounts of two religious leaders and the uprisings they staged

(4)

III. THE ERA OF DIVISION AND THE TANG DYNASTY

(50)

21. Ge Hong's Autobiography. By a fourth-century scholar and reluctant official

(6)

22. Buddhist Doctrines and Practices. Wei Shou's summary of Buddhist doctrines, hagiographic accounts of two monks, and documents found at Dunhuang showing Buddhist belief in practice

(8)

23. Tales of Ghosts and Demons. Three tales from a fourth-century collection

105

(4)

24. Cultural Differences Between the North and the South. Two views of the distinctions that developed during a period of political separation and non-Han domination in the North

109

(3)

25. Emperor Taizong on Effective Government. A summary of political theory, written by the second Tang emperor for his sons

112

(4)

26. The Tang Legal Code. Sections from the laws on theft and robbery and those on land and taxes

116

(4)

27. The Errors of Geomancy. An official's complaints about the profusion of theories

120

(3)

28. The Dancing Horses of Xuanzong's Court. Unusual and exotic entertainment

123

(2)

29. Family Business. Documents from Dunhuang on the sale of slaves, division of property, and household registration

125

(3)

30. The Examination System. Humorous and semihumorous anecodotes about men's efforts to pass the civil service examinations

128

(4)

31. A Pilgrim's Visit to the Five Terraces Mountains. From the diary of a Japanese monk who made a pilgrimage to one of the sacred sites of Buddhism

132

(5)

IV. THE SONG AND YUAN DYNASTIES

137

(66)

32. The Tanguts and Their Relations with the Han Chinese. Some Tangut maxims, a Tangut ruler's letter to the Song emperor, and the preface to a Chinese-Tangut glossary

139

(3)

33. Book of Rewards and Punishments. A moral tract associated with popular Daoism

142

(4)

34. Precepts of the Perfect Truth Daoist Sect. Principles of a Daoist monastic sect

146

(5)

35. Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Emperor Shenzong. A court debate between the leading activist and his conservative opponent and letters they wrote each other outlining their differences

151

(4)

36. Rules for the Fan Lineage's Charitable Estate. The rules by which a charitable trust was to be run for the benefit of the members of the lineage

155

(2)

37. Ancestral Rites. From a ritual manual giving the procedures to be followed

157

(7)

38. Women and the Problems They Create. Three folktale-like stories of unusual women and a sympathetic view of women's problems

164

(5)

39. Longing to Recover the North. Poems by six twelfth-century writers expressing their anguish at the loss of China's heartland

169

(3)

40. Zhu Xi's Conversations with His Disciples. Conversations between a leading neo-Confucian philosopher and his students

172

(6)

41. The Attractions of the Capital. A description of economic activity, entertainment, and amenities in the city of Hangzhou

178

(8)

42. The Mutual Responsibility System. One magistrate's instructions on how these units were to operate

186

(2)

43. On Farming. How to plant, weed, care for tools, budget time, and so on

188

(4)

44. A Mongol Governor. The biography of a Mongol who spent decades putting down rebellions and securing Mongol rule

192

(3)

45. A Schedule for Learning. Neo-Confucian rules and advice for teachers and students

195

(4)

46. A Scholar-Painter's Diary. Two weeks of social and intellectual activity

199

(4)

V. THE MING DYNASTY

203

(64)

47. Proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor. A despot's complaints about how difficult it was to get his subjects to act properly

205

(3)

48. The Dragon Boat Race. A description of the festival as performed in one place in Hunan

208

(3)

49. Village Ordinances. Sample ordinances a village could adopt

211

(2)

50. Commercial Activities. Sample contracts, an essay on merchants, and a biography of an admired one

213

(8)

51. What the Weaver Said. An artisan's view of his work

221

(2)

52. Tenants. Two contracts specifying the responsibilities of quasi-hereditary tenant-servants on one estate and reports of riots by tenants

223

(3)

53. Shi Jin the Nine-Dragoned. Episode from a novel describing the background of one outlaw

226

(12)

54. Family Instructions. Advice and rules found in a lineage genealogy

238

(7)

55. Concubines. How concubines were bought, the reminiscences of a man for a beloved concubine, and an episode from a novel depicting the ploys of a malicious concubine

245

(8)

56. Widows Loyal Unto Death. Accounts from a local history glorifying women who showed loyalty to their dead husbands by killing themselves

253

(3)

57. Two Philosophers. Letters and conversations of two important thinkers, Wang Yangming and Li Zhi

256

(7)

58. A Censor Accuses a Eunuch. A memorial to the emperor accusing the eunuch Wei Zhongxian of usurping his authority and acting tyrannically

263

(4)

VI. THE QING DYNASTY

267

(64)

59. The Yangzhou Massacre. One family's experiences, recounted in a diary

271

(9)

60. Proverbs About Heaven. Standard sayings

280

(2)

61. Taxes and Labor Service. A description of the forms in which taxes and service were assessed in one country

282

(5)

62. Permanent Property. The advice a man gave his sons concerning the importance of owning land and how to manage it

287

(5)

63. Lan Dingyuan's Casebook. Two examples of how an energetic Magistrate solved administrative and legal cases

292

(5)

64. Exhortations on Ceremony and Deference. A lecture delivered by an official in the hope of teaching villagers good behavior

297

(4)

65. Village Organization. Two records of village affairs, one about a water-use agreement, the other the creation of a fair

301

(3)

66. The Village Headman and the New Teacher. Episode from a novel about how a teacher was hired

304

(5)

67. Boat People. A local history's account of a minority group

309

(2)

68. Placards Posted in Guangzhou. Official orders to admit foreigners to the city after the Opium War and protests from local residents

311

(2)

69. Infant Protection Society. An account of one man's efforts to stem infanticide

313

(5)

70. Mid-Century Rebels. Confessions, proclamations, petitions, and descriptions of a number of different rebel groups

318

(5)

71. The Conditions and Activities of Workers. A stone inscription recording official disapproval of organizing by workers and an official report of working conditions in a water-logged mine

323

(3)

72. Genealogy Rules. The rules one lineage used in compiling its genealogy

326

(5)

VII. THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

331

(76)

73. Liang Qichao on His Trip to America. Comments on the amazing sights in New York, and reflections on Chinese social organization

335

(6)

74. Ridding China of Bad Customs. Proposals for ways to end footbinding, suppress opium addiction, and free young girl bondservants

341

(7)

75. Rural Education. Recollections of a teacher introducing science to a rural school

348

(6)

76. My Old Home. A story showing problems of communication between upper and lower class men

354

(6)

77. The Spirit of the May Fourth Movement. Recollections of a woman who had been in middle school at the time

360

(4)

78. The Haifeng Peasant Association. How one man tried to organize peasants

364

(9)

79. The Dog-Meat General. An account of one of the more incompetent and brutal warlords

373

(5)

80. The General Strike. A magazine account of a strike in Shanghai in 1928

378

(7)

81. Funeral Processions. A description of two funeral processions with a list of the equipment used and the cost

385

(6)

82. My Children. An essay by a man with five children

391

(5)

83. The Life of Beggars. An account of the Social organization of beggars and their various techniques of earning a living

396

(5)

84. Generalissimo Jiang on National Identity. Two speeches, early and late in the War Against Japan, on China's relations with other countries and the relations of the various nationalities within China

401

(6)

VIII. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

407

(98)

85. The Communist Party. A speech by Liu Shaoqi on party organization and discipline

411

(5)

86. Land Reform. An episode from a novel showing peasants learning "to stand up"

416

(6)

87. Hu Feng and Mao Zedong. Letters of a leading intellectual which Mao published with his own commentary on how they demonstrated his counterrevolutionary tendencies

422

(7)

88. A New Young Man Arrives at the Organization Department. An episode from a story of the conflict between an idealistic young party member and the entrenched power structure

429

(6)

89. Peng Dehuai's Critique of the Great Leap Forward. Peng's letter to Mao offering measured criticism of his policies

435

(5)

90. Developing Agricultural Production. A newspaper account of efforts to inspire members of a production brigade to work harder

440

(2)

91. Lei Feng, Chairman Mao's Good Fighter. Inspirational anecdotes about a model worker and soldier, devoted to aiding the people

442

(5)

92. Housing in Shanghai. A newspaper article describing the effects of state control of housing

447

(2)

93. Red Guards. Red Guards' accounts of their activities during the Cultural Revolution

449

(9)

94. Victims. A short story written after the fall of the "Gang of Four," showing some of the negative effects on both the older and younger generations of the Cultural Revolution

458

(12)

95. The Changing Course of Courtship. Four documents that show the changing circumstances in which young people have looked for spouses

470

(8)

96. The One-Child Family. One province' regulations for fostering the one-child family and a magazine article on the pressure young mothers have experienced because of this policy

478

(4)

97. Economic Liberalization and New Problems for Women. Newspaper and magazine articles protesting some of the ways new policies have had adverse effects on women's employment or welfare

482

(6)

98. Peasants in the Cities. An interview and a newspaper article concerning the rural residents who flocked to the cities in the 1980s

488

(8)

99. Posters Calling for Democracy. Posters from the 1989 Democracy Protests

496

(5)

100. Defending China's Socialist Democracy. A newspaper article refuting the views of those who believe that the West is more democratic than China

501

(4)

Glossary

505

(4)

Suggestions for Further Reading

509

(6)

Original Sources

515

(5)

Index

520

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Chinese Civilization A Sourcebook, 2nd Ed

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials