The Chinese state in Ming society / Timothy Brook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brook, Timothy, 1951-

Series:

Critical Asian scholarship

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China--Politics and government--1368-1644.

China.

Politics and government.

China--Social conditions--960-1644.

Social conditions.

Physical Description:

viii, 248 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.

Summary:

The Ming dynasty (1368-1644), a period of commercial expansion and cultural innovation, fashioned the relationship between the present day state and society in China. This unique collection of reworked and heavily illustrated essays, by one of the leading scholars of Chinese history, re-examines this relationship and argues that contrary to previous scholarship, it was radical responses within society that led to a 'constitution', not periods of fluctuation within the dynasty itself. Brook's outstanding scholarship demonstrates that it was changes in commercial relations and social networks that were actually responsible for the development of a stable society. This imaginative reconsidering of existing scholarship on the history of China will be fascinating reading for scholars and students interested in China's development.

Contents:

Part 1. Space

The spatial organization of subcounty administration

The gazetteer cartography of Ye Chunji

Part 2. Fields

Taxing polders on the Yangzi Delta

Growing rice in North Zhili

Part 3. Books

Building school libraries in the mid-Ming

State censorship and the book trade

Part 4. Monasteries

At the margin of public authority: the Ming state and Buddhism

Buddhism in the Chinese constitution: recording monasteries in North Zhili.

Notes:

"Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon."--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [191]-242) and index.

ISBN:

0415345073

0415345065

OCLC:

54001368