the economy --- 8. Thought --- 9. Literature and art ---- Part III. The Later Empire, 960-1850. 10. General history --- 11. Government --- 12. Society and the economy --- 13. Thought --- 14. Literature and art ---- Epilogue ---- Appendixes. A. Chronological chart of Chinese history --- B. Notes on the Chinese language --- C. Suugested additional readings. Introduction -- Part I. The formative age, prehistory-206 BC. General history: Prehistory, Shang, Western Chou, Eastern Chou The triumph of Ch'in ; State and society: Government, Society, The economy ; Thought: The hundred schools, Confucianism, The school of Mo-tzu, Taoism, Legalism ; Literature and art: Prose, Poetry, The arts -- Part II. The Early Empire, 206 BC-AD 960. General history: Han, The era of division, Sui, T'ang, The five dynasties era ; Government: Organizational structure, Personnel, Censors, Law, The military ; Society and the economy: Population, Urbanism, Great family dominance, Agriculture, Commerce ; Thought: Han eclecticism, Revived Taoism, Buddhism ; Literature and art: Literature, The arts -- Part III. The Later Empire, 960-1850. General history: Sung, The northern conquest dynasties, Ming, Ch'ing ; Government: Absolutism, Organizational structure, Personnel, The military ; Society and the economy: Population, Urbanism, The leveling of society, The new managerial class, General economic developments ; Thought: Later Taoism and Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, Classical scholarship, Sino-Western intellectual contacts ; Literature and art: Literature, The arts -- Epilogue -- Appendixes. A. Chronological chart of Chinese history ; B. Notes on the Chinese language.

A panoramic survey of the course of Chinese civilization from prehistory to 1850, when the old China began to give way to the new.

A work unique in the sweep of its design and scope, intended expressly for the general reader interested in human history and culture, this is a vivid panoramic survey of the vast course of Chinese civilization from prehistory to 1850, when the old China began the agonizing transition to the new. Historical surveys of China tend to be dynasty-by-dynasty chronicles with a profusion of names and dates and occaisional cultural tidbits, or to concentrate on the period from earliest times to the Han dynasty (or the T'ang), giving only scant coverage to the last thousand years. China's Imperial Past is different. Not only does it treat the three major periods of Chinese history at roughly equal length, weaving all their complexity into a balanced, integrated whole, but it gives ample space to China's magnificent literary and artistic achievements. -- Description from https://books.google.com.