1. Choose one primary text and one secondary text. Examples: Sima Qian’s Shiji (Historical Memoirs) and Stephen Durrant’s The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995).
2. The primary text and secondary source chosen must be on the period before CE 900.
3. You should consult at least 3 other sources beyond the two works under review to provide you with a deeper understanding of the historical background.
4. Preparing for the review:
You must actually read the primary text (either in original Chinese or in English translations). This process takes about a minimum of 10 hours.
4. Writing the Review:
You must show in your review:
i. how the two texts contribute to your understanding of any period in Chinese history up to CE 900.
ii. how the two texts demonstrate the principles of traditional Chinese historiography. This process takes a minimum of 10 hours.
I. Textbook:
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Cambridge Illustrated History: China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Recommended Alternate Text and Supplementary Sourcebooks:
De Bary, Wm Theodore and Irene Bloom. Sources of Chinese Tradition From Earliest Times to 1600. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Ebrey, Patricia. Chinese Civilization and Society: A Sourcebook. New York: Free Press, 1993.
Fairbank, John K. et als. East Asia: Tradition and Transformation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989.
Gernet, Jacques. History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire. A History of China to 1600. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000.
Liu Jung-en. “Orphan of Chao” in Six Yuan Plays. London: Penguin Books, 1972.
Mair, Victor et al. The Hawaii Reader in Chinese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]