The Rise of the Chinese Empire
Subtitle: Nation, State, and Imperialism in Early China, ca. 1600 B.C.-A.D. 8
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: April 18, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 506
ISBN-13: 9780472115334
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history: BCE to c 500 CE; History; History - General History; History: World; Ancient World; Ancient - General; Asia - China; History / China; China; Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D; Qin dynasty, 221-207 B.C; To 221 B.C
Description: Chun-shu Chang uses newfound documents to analyze the ways in which political, institutional, social, economic, military, religious, and thought systems developed and changed in the critical period from early China to the Han empire (ca. 1600 B.C. - A.D. 220). In addition to exploring the formation and growth of the Chinese empire and its impact on early nation-building and later territorial expansion, Chang also provides insights into the life and character of critical historical figures such as the First Emperor (221- 210 B.C.) of the Ch'in and Wu-ti (141- 87 B.C.) of the Han, who were the principal agents in redefining China and its relationships with other parts of Asia. As never before, Chang's study enables an understanding of the origins and development of the concepts of state, nation, nationalism, imperialism, ethnicity, and Chineseness in ancient and early Imperial China, offering the first systematic reconstruction of the history of Chinese acquisition and colonization.