Cambridge History of China - Liao, Western Xia, Jin, Yuan Dynasties (907-1368)

Author: Robert Hymes
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1998-08-01
Features: This is the sixth volume of The Cambridge History of China, originally titled Alien Regimes and Border States in English, which can be literally translated as Foreign Dynasties and Frontier States. It was published by Cambridge University Press in 1994. Following the general practice of the Chinese Social Sciences Press in translating The Cambridge History of China and considering the content of this volume, we have translated the title of the Chinese edition of this volume as The Cambridge History of Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan in China. This volume is divided into nine chapters, with one chapter each dedicated to the history of the Liao, Western Xia, and Jin dynasties. The other six chapters focus exclusively on the history of the Yuan dynasty, with an introduction and bibliography placed at the beginning and end, respectively. The original text of the entire volume comprises 864 pages. The Cambridge History of China is a monumental work that brings together the efforts of many Western scholars who study Chinese history, and this volume is no exception. The introduction was written by the two general editors of this volume, Professor Robert Hymes (Emeritus Professor at the University of Munich) and Professor Charles O. Hucker (Emeritus Professor at Princeton University). The former is a renowned expert in the study of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, with numerous publications, particularly in Jin history, and also wrote Chapter 3 on the Jin dynasty in this volume. The latter has long been engaged in the study of ancient Chinese history and was also the general editor for the volumes on the Qin, Han, Sui-Tang, and Ming dynasties in The Cambridge History of China. In this volume, he co-authored Chapter 4 on the Liao dynasty with Klaus-Peter Tillmann. Chapter 2 on the history of Western Xia was written by Professor Deng Ruping of Kenyon College, who has published several works on Western Xia history. Professor Thomas J. Elsen of Trenton State College, who primarily studies the early history of the Mongol Empire, wrote Chapter 4 of this volume. Professor Morris Rossabi of Columbia University, New York City College, is the author of works such as Kublai Khan: His Life and Times, and thus wrote Chapter 5 on the reign of Kublai Khan. Professor Qiao Qichen, formerly a professor at the National University of Singapore and now a professor at the Institute of History at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, is the author of works such as Military Institutions of the Yuan Dynasty, New Perspectives on the Yuan Dynasty, and New Studies on the Mongol-Yuan History, and wrote Chapter 6 on the mid-Yuan period with ease. Professor John K. Fairbank of the University of Kansas, who primarily studies the intellectual and political history of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, is the author of works such as The Conquerors and the Rulers and Confucianism and Autocracy, and wrote Chapter 7 on the late Yuan period. Professor Elizabeth Endicott-West, formerly a professor at Harvard University and now at Middlebury College, is the author of works such as Mongol Rule in China: Local Administration in the Yuan Dynasty, and thus wrote Chapter 8 on issues related to the Yuan government and administration. Professor Paul R. Kruglanski, an emeritus professor at Princeton University, has long studied Chinese history and wrote Chapter 9 of this volume, focusing on social issues under Yuan rule. As the preface to the original book states, Professor Kruglanski also read the entire manuscript of this volume and provided revisions. It must be acknowledged that this volume is one of the more challenging ones in The Cambridge History of China, as the Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan dynasties it covers were all established by ethnic minorities in Chinese history. Studying the history of these dynasties involves not only facing numerous linguistic and textual challenges but also conducting in-depth research on the development and changes of ethnic and state relations, the formation and mutual influence of multiculturalism, and the evolution of social customs. The editors of this volume have made many significant explorations into these issues.