The Human Tradition in Modern China

Kenneth J. Hammond, Kristin Stapleton

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2007
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781461644361
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: History

This lively and engaging text offers a panorama of modern Chinese history through compelling biographies of the famous and obscure. Spanning five hundred years, they include a Ming dynasty medical pioneer, a Qing dynasty courtesan, a nineteenth-century Hong Kong business leader, a Manchu princess, an arsenal manager, a woman soldier, and a young maid in contemporary Beijing. Through the lives of these diverse people, readers will gain an understanding of the complex questions of modern Chinese history: What did it mean to be Chinese, and how did that change over time? How was learning encouraged and directed in imperial and post-imperial China? Was it possible to challenge entrenched gender roles? What effects did European imperialism have on Chinese lives? How did ordinary Chinese experience the warfare and political upheaval of twentieth-century China? What is the nature of the gap between urban and rural China in the post-Mao years? These richly researched biographies are written in an accessible and appealing style that will engage all readers interested in modern China.

Contributions by: Daria Berg, John M. Carroll, Kenneth J. Hammond, Joshua H. Howard, Fabio Lanza, Oliver Moore, Pan Yihong, Hugh Shapiro, Kristin Stapleton, and Shuo Wang

Table of contents

• The Human Tradition around the World Series Editors: William H. Beezley and Colin M. MacLachlan
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• CHAPTER ONE - Li Shizhen: Early Modern Scientist
• CHAPTER TWO - Amazon, Artist, and Adventurer: A Courtesan in Late Imperial China
• CHAPTER THREE - Zou Boqi on Vision and Photography in Nineteenth-Century China
• CHAPTER FOUR - Ho Kai: A Chinese Reformer in Colonial Hong Kong
• CHAPTER FIVE - Der Ling: Manchu Princess, Cultural Advisor, and Author
• CHAPTER SIX - Li Chenggan: Patriot, Populist, and Factory Patriarch
• CHAPTER SEVEN - The Beijing University Students in the May Fourth Era: A Collective Biography
• CHAPTER EIGHT - The Reluctant Mendicant
• CHAPTER NINE - Hu Lanqi: Rebellious Woman, Revolutionary Soldier, Discarded Heroine, and Triumphant Survivor
• CHAPTER TEN - Zhao Ruiqin: A Peasant Woman in Gansu and Domestic Worker in Beijing
• Index
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors