Cambridge History of China - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) (Volume 2)

Author: Richard C. Lee
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Since 1966, when John K. Fairbank (1907-1991) and I began to plan the Cambridge History of China, it has been 30 years. The general editor's preface was written 20 years ago, and soon after, the first few volumes appeared in 1978 and 1979. With the publication of this volume, there are now 11 volumes in print. The historians of China in the 1990s mentioned in this volume, whether male or female, Chinese or Western, and regardless of the language they wrote in, are part of this new international system, which has been established by information technology, interconnection, and interdependence. In many respects, in the crucial topics we have discovered, in our overall concept of the social context of past events, and in seeking lessons from the past, we still hold differing opinions. But we all understand that no matter how quickly our attitudes toward the past change, or how much our interpretations of the past may vary, the past is an eternal part of ourselves. The various disasters in China in the 1960s stemmed from a misguided and futile belief that people could be completely reshaped and that their past cultural experiences could be severed.