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

Author: (German) Hu Hai-bo, (English)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-12-01
Features: This book 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 translation practice of the Chinese Social Sciences Press for The Cambridge History of China and 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 consists of 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 book 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, Hu Hai-bo, a distinguished professor at the University of Munich, and, a distinguished 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 Titz. The author of Chapter 2 on Western Xia history, Deng Ruping, a professor at Kenyon College, has published several works on Western Xia history. Thomas Elson, a professor at Trenton State College, specializes in the early history of the Mongol Empire and wrote Chapter 4 of this volume. Morris Rossabi, a professor at Columbia University and the City University of New York, is the author of Kublai Khan: His Life and Times and other works, and thus wrote Chapter 5 on the reign of Kublai Khan. The author of Chapter 6, Qiao Qiqing, was previously a professor at the National University of Singapore and is now a professor at the Institute of History at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. He has authored works such as Military Institutions of the Yuan Dynasty, New Perspectives on Yuan History, and New Studies on Mongol-Yuan History, and wrote Chapter 6 on the middle period of the Yuan dynasty with ease. Stephen G. Haw, a professor at the University of Kansas, specializes in the intellectual and political history of the Yuan and Ming dynasties and has written books such as The Conquerors and the Rulers and Confucianism and Autocracy. He wrote Chapter 7 on the late period of the Yuan dynasty. The author of Chapter 8, Elizabeth Endicott-West, was formerly a professor at Harvard University and is now a professor at Middlebury College. She has authored works such as Mongol Rule in China: Local Administration in the Yuan Dynasty and thus focused on issues related to the Yuan government and administration. Mou Fali, a distinguished professor at Princeton University, has long studied Chinese history and wrote Chapter 9, focusing on social issues under Yuan rule. As the preface to the original book states, Mou Fali 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 relations, state relations, the formation and mutual influence of multiculturalism, and the evolution of social customs. The compilers of this volume have made many significant explorations into these issues.