A Short History Of The Chinese People (Paperback)

A Short History of tk Chinese, People A Short History oj the CHINESE PEOPLE THIRD EDITION L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH Professor of Chinese, Columbia University York HARPER BROTHERS PUBLISHERS To ROBERT K. REISCHAUER First American casualty in the Second World War, who urged the writing of this Contents Preface to the First Edition xiii Preface to the Third Edition xvii L The Beginnings of the Chinese i The Prehistoric Period The Historic Period the Shang ca. 1523-1028 B. C. The Chou ca. 1027-256 B. C. The Early Chou The Middle and Late Chou II. The First Empires 31 The Chin 221-207 B - C The Han The Early or Western Han 202 B. C.-A. D. 9 An Interregnum The Hsin Dynasty A. D. 9-23 The Later Han A. D. 25-220 Han Culture III. The Period of Political Disunion 58 The Three Kingdoms and Western Tsin A. D. 220-317 The Eastern Tsin and the Turkic Hsiung-nu Mongol Dynasties 317-420 The Wei in North China, and the Sung, Chi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties in the South 420-589 IV. A Reunited China The Sui and the Pang 590-906 Vlll CONTENTS The Sui 590-618 The Tang Dynasty 618-906 Religion and Culture Under the Sui and the Tang V. Disunion the Sung and the Partition of the North and Northwest 143 The Five Dynasties and the Ten Independent States The Sung 960-1279 The Khitan, Tangut, and Jurchen VI. The Mongols The Yttan Dynasty, 1260-1368 171 VII. A Chinese House The Ming, 1368-1644 189 VIII. The Ching, or Manchu, Dynasty 1644-1912 214 IX. The Republic 1912- 23 2 Appendixes Supplementary Readings 24-7 Chronological Table 259 Chronological Chart 261 List of Chinese Characters 263 Index 273 Paleolithic Sites in East Asia 3 Neolithic Sites in East Asia 6 Black Pottery Sites in China 9 Shang Dominion 1 1 EarlyChou 20 Middle Chou 22 Late Chou 25 The First Empire Chin 33 The Han Empire 44 The Three Kingdoms 59 Routes of Chinese Pilgrims 107 Pang Empire 122 The Sung, Tangut Hsi-Hsia, and Liao Empires 147 The Mongol Empire 1 77 Ming 191 Cruises of Ming Admirals 1 93 Empire of the Manchus 217 Illustrations ILLUSTRATIONS WILL BE FOUND FOLLOWING PAGE 140 PLATE I. Digging for the remains of Paleolithic man, near Peking II. Gorillaj Peking manj modern Chinese j v Prehistoric painted pot from Kansu V. Early bronze vessel, ca. 1300-900 B. C. VI. White pottery vessel, ca. I2th century B. C. VII. Earliest known form of Chinese writing, ca. I2th cen tury B. C. VIII. Documents on wood of Han date IX. Sundial, with a reconstruction of the suggested form of gnomon in place X. How an ancient Chinese book was assembled XL House model painted pottery of Han dynasty 202 B. C.-A. D. 220 XII. Section of painting attributed to Ku K ai-chih fl. AJX. 350-400 XIII. Avalokitesvara, northern Wei dynasty A. D. 386-535 XIV. Detail, band of celestial musicians, from a stela, A. D. 551 XV. Front of a stupa, yth century A. D. XVL Kneeling Bodhisattva from Tunhuang, 8th century A. D. XVII. Bronze mirror, Tang dynasty A. D, 618-906 xi Xli ILLUSTRATIONS XVIII. Wall painting The fight for Buddhas relics, Tang dynasty A. D. 618-906 XIX. Pottery figurines Ladies playing polo, Tang dynasty A. D. 618-906 XX. Part of oldest extant printed book The Diamond Sutra scroll, A. D. 868 XXI. Bowl, Ting ware, Sung dynasty A. D. 960-1279 XXII. Painting Bare willows and distant mountains, by Ma Yuan . A. D. 1200 XXIII. A mountain scene in China XXIV. The imperial palace library, Chien-lung period A. D. 1736-1795, Peking XXV. Two varieties ofephedra Preface to the ffirst Edition THE history of the Chinese people cannot often enough be told. Old as it is, new light is being shed on it every year. Mean while the Chinese are making history before our eyes. We need, as never before, to understand how they have come in our time to make such a sacrificial defense of a way of life that is theirs as much as it is our own. The Chinese are different from us at the same time they are more like us than the people of India, of Annam, or of Japan...