Peking
Subtitle: Temples and City Life, 1400-1900 (Philip E.Lilienthal Books)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: December 4, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 850
ISBN-13: 9780520219915
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history; Asian studies; Non-Christian religions; Modern period, c 1500 onwards; c 1000 CE to c 1500; History - General History; China - History; History: World; China; Asia - China; History / General; Beijing (China); Beijing; History; Ming dynasty, 1368-1644; Temples
First sentence: The Peking that is the subject of this book had its physical origins in the first decades of the fifteenth century.
Description: "This study shows how modern Beijing's glittering image as China's great and ancient capital came into being and reveals the shifting identities of a much more complex past, one whose rich social and cultural history Naquin splendidly evokes. Temples, by providing a place where diverse groups could gather without the imprimatur of family or state, made possible a surprising assortment of community-building and identity-defining activities.

By revealing how religious establishments of all kinds were used for fairs, markets, charity, tourism, politics, and leisured sociability, Naquin shows their decisive impact on Peking and, at the same time, illuminates their little-appreciated role in Chinese cities generally. Lacking most of the conventional sources for urban history, she has relied particularly on a trove of commemorative inscriptions that expressed ideas about the relationship between human beings and gods, about community service and public responsibility, about remembering and being remembered.

The result is a book that will be essential reading in the field of Chinese studies for years to come."--BOOK JACKET.