This deeply informed and beautifully written book provides a comprehensive and comprehensible history of China from prehistory to the present. Focusing... on the interaction of humans and their environment, Robert B. Marks traces changes in the physical and cultural world that is home to a quarter of humankind. Through both word and image, this work illuminates the chaos and paradox inherent in China’s environmental narrative, demonstrating how historically sustainable practices can, in fact, be profoundly ecologically unsound. The author also reevaluates China’s traditional “heroic” storyline, highlighting the marginalization of nature that followed the spread of Chinese civilization while examining the development of a distinctly Chinese way of relating to and altering the environment. Unmatched in his ability to synthesize a complex subject clearly and cogently, Marks has written an accessible yet nuanced history for any reader interested in China, past or present. Indeed he argues successfully that all of humanity has a stake in China’s environmental future.

“A wonderful job! So lucid, beautfully written, with great range and insight. This will set a new standard for short general histories of... China.” —Michael Gasster, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University Newly updated and revised, China: Its History and Culture, Fourth Edition, incorporates the crucial social and economic changes that have taken place in China over the last decade. Through rich detail and engaging illustrations, the book traces China’s history from Neolithic times to the present day.

This book takes an unprecedented comparative approach in examining East Asia. Part in-depth reference, part handy guidebook this manual serves both... travelers and students of Mainland China, Japan, and South Korea. Blending detailed maps with history and contemporary cultural similarities and differences, this book provides the most up-to-date information on the pulse of East Asia.

In view of the proliferation of conflicting images of Jesus in the church, in the academy, and in popular culture, it is no wonder that his identity... sometimes appears more elusive than ever. Seeking the Identity of Jesus gathers an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars - from the fields of biblical studies, theology, and church history - to focus on the complex problems surrounding the quest for the historical Jesus. In contrast to recent sensationalistic claims about Jesus, their perspectives are richly informed by Scripture, testimony from the church's past, and experience of the risen Jesus in the present.

In this book an international group of scholars examines China's acceptance and ultimate rejection of Soviet models and practices in economic, cultural,... social, and other realms.

"Chinese people should consume Chinese products!" This slogan was the catchphrase of a movement in early twentieth-century China that sought to... link consumption and nationalism by instilling a concept of China as a modern "nation" with its own "national products." From fashions in clothing to food additives, from museums to department stores, from product fairs to advertising, this movement influenced all aspects of China's burgeoning consumer culture. Anti-imperialist boycotts, commemorations of national humiliations, exhibitions of Chinese products, the vilification of treasonous consumers, and the promotion of Chinese captains of industry helped enforce nationalistic consumption and spread the message--patriotic Chinese bought goods made of Chinese materials by Chinese workers in factories owned and run by Chinese. In China Made, Karl Gerth argues that two key forces shaping the modern world--nationalism and consumerism--developed in tandem in China. Early in the twentieth century, nationalism branded every commodity as either "Chinese" or "foreign," and consumer culture became the place where the notion of nationality was articulated, institutionalized, and practiced. Based on Chinese, Japanese, and English-language archives, magazines, newspapers, and books, this first exploration of the historical ties between nationalism and consumerism reinterprets fundamental aspects of modern Chinese history and suggests ways of discerning such ties in all modern nations.

From about 1600 to 1800, the Qing empire of China expanded to unprecedented size. Through astute diplomacy, economic investment, and a series of... ambitious military campaigns into the heart of Central Eurasia, the Manchu rulers defeated the Zunghar Mongols, and brought all of modern Xinjiang and Mongolia under their control, while gaining dominant influence in Tibet. The China we know is a product of these vast conquests. Peter C. Perdue chronicles this little-known story of China's expansion into the northwestern frontier. Unlike previous Chinese dynasties, the Qing achieved lasting domination over the eastern half of the Eurasian continent. Rulers used forcible repression when faced with resistance, but also aimed to win over subject peoples by peaceful means. They invested heavily in the economic and administrative development of the frontier, promoted trade networks, and adapted ceremonies to the distinct regional cultures. Perdue thus illuminates how China came to rule Central Eurasia and how it justifies that control, what holds the Chinese nation together, and how its relations with the Islamic world and Mongolia developed. He offers valuable comparisons to other colonial empires and discusses the legacy left by China's frontier expansion. The Beijing government today faces unrest on its frontiers from peoples who reject its autocratic rule. At the same time, China has launched an ambitious development program in its interior that in many ways echoes the old Qing policies. China Marches West is a tour de force that will fundamentally alter the way we understand Central Eurasia.

Of all the world’s mercantile lures, none was more persistent or more mesmeric for Americans than the fabled Far Eastern markets. In the 1890s, United... States commercial expansion into the Pacific catapulted the nation to the status of a great power. In describing and analyzing American ambitions in China which led to the Open Door negotiations, Mr. McCormick argues that American leaders rationally and pragmatically sought the China market in order to absorb American “overproduction” and achieve domestic stability. The dilemmas that emerged from the nature of American aims and policies were to plague the United States throughout the twentieth century. "A most important volume."—American Historical Review. "Impressive…a significant contribution to ultimate understanding of an important and complex series of events."—Ernest R. May, Political Science Quarterly.

The author chronicles the lives of three generations of Chinese men in America, woven from memory, myth and fact. Here's a storyteller's tale of what... they endured in a strange new land.

Two sharply contrasting views of China exist today. On the one hand a rising superpower predicted to have the largest economy in the world by mid... century, on the other hand a brutal, anachronistic and authoritarian regime, a threat to geo-stability and to the economies of the industrial world. So which China is the real China? Randall Peerenboom addresses this question by exploring China's economy, political and legal system, and most controversially, its record on civil, political and personal rights in the context of the developing world. Avoiding polemic and relying on empirical evidence, he compares China's performance not with first world countries such as the US and UK but with other middle income countries and highlights the often hypocritical stance of an international community which demands standards from others that it does not match at home. He also critically evaluates the benefits of globalisation and democratisation and the normative values of the West set against Beijing's determination to retain its cultural and political integrity. This book seeks to bridge the gap in understanding about China and to create a firmer foundation for mutual trust, while recognising that there are inevitable risks in a shift in global power of this magnitude that will require hard headed pragmatism at times where interests collide.

Winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Memorial Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and a Hugo and Nebula Award... nominee.With this groundbreaking novel, Maureen F. McHugh established herself as one of the decade's best science fiction writers. In its pages, we enter a postrevolution America, moving from the hyperurbanized eastern seaboard to the Arctic bleakness of Baffin Island; from the new Imperial City to an agricultural commune on Mars. The overlapping lives of cyberkite fliers, lonely colonists, illicit neural-pressball players, and organic engineers blend into a powerful, taut story of a young man's journey of discovery. This is a macroscopic world of microscopic intensity, one of the most brilliant visions of modern SF.

Turn East-West Relations Into Win-Win Situations China has more than one billion people. That's one billion potential customers. China Now is... your must-have guide to this exciting world of opportunity, written by a top corporate advisor and a renowned business professor who specialize in East-West business strategy. Together, Mark Lam and John Graham have worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies and thousands of American and Chinese executives, and now share with you their most successful strategies, tactics, and insights. A comprehensive all-in-one tour of the world's fastest growing market, China Now is filled with everything you need to know about China's people, negotiation styles, culture, history, economics, and business dealings. You'll learn how to plan, where to go, and who to visit for the best results. And, unlike other books on the market, you'll discover the key differences between various regions and businesses that could make or break the deal. China Now includes: The best regions to do business Nonverbal cues and culture-based signals Important travel, meeting, and personnel tips Laws and regulations on customs, foreign trade, and investment Protecting your intellectual property rights Even if you've read Sun Tsu's The Art of War, this book will help you master the art of peaceful negotiations-and establish long-term partnerships that profit everyone involved. The advice you'll find here is not only invaluable; it's absolutely essential to the future of your business.

China Off Center takes as its fundamental assumption that contemporary China can only be understood as a complex, decentralized place, where the view... from above (Beijing) and from tourist buses is a skewed one. Instead of generalizing about China, it demonstrates that this diverse national terrain is better conceived as it is experienced by Chinese, as a set of many Chinas. To that end, this anthology of interpretive essays and ethnographic reports focuses on the everyday, the particular, the local, and the puzzling. Together with contextualizing introductions, the readings provide students with a compelling look at some little-known but significant aspects of China from the past decade; for those already familiar with China, they furnish an assortment of uncommon viewpoints in a single, convenient volume.

In China on Screen, Chris Berry and Mary Farquhar, leaders in the field of Chinese film studies, explore more than one hundred years of Chinese cinema... and nation. Providing new perspectives on key movements, themes, and filmmakers, Berry and Farquhar analyze the films of a variety of directors and actors, including Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Gong Li, Wong Kar-wai, and Ang Lee. They argue for the abandonment of "national cinema" as an analytic tool and propose "cinema and the national" as a more productive framework. With this approach, they show how movies from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora construct and contest different ideas of Chinese nation -- as empire, republic, or ethnicity, and complicated by gender, class, style, transnationalism, and more. Among the issues and themes covered are the tension between operatic and realist modes, male and female star images, transnational production and circulation of Chinese films, the image of the good foreigner -- all related to different ways of imagining nation. Comprehensive and provocative, China on Screen is a crucial work of film analysis.