– Featuring the famous “Debate on Salt and Iron,” rules for social visiting, discussions of yin and yang, local cults, and accounts of uprisings.

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To help you navigate your reading, here is how Ebrey breaks down the historical narrative across the text: Historical Era Document Types Included Key Themes Covered Oracle bones, Classic of Poetry, philosophical texts Rituals, kinship, early statecraft, Heaven's Mandate The Qin & Han Dynasties Legal statutes, imperial edicts, historical records Centralization, state monopolies, gender roles The Era of Division & Tang Buddhist sutras, Daoist poetry, penal codes Religious transformation, cosmopolitanism, elite culture Song & Yuan Dynasties Neo-Confucian tracts, local histories, family instructions Commercial revolution, printing, Mongol rule Ming & Qing Dynasties

Several academic and public repositories offer access to the text for research and personal study:

To find a physical copy through your local library system, services like help you locate which libraries near you own a copy. Simply search for the book's title on their website.

– Including Ko Hung’s autobiography, dedicatory colophons from Buddhist cave temples, “A Woman’s Hundred Years,” the examination system, household registration, and documents on slavery and family division.

Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook – Your Ultimate Guide and Study Resource

A sourcebook on Chinese civilization is essential for several reasons:

What makes Ebrey’s work indispensable is its shift away from a purely "great man" version of history. While it includes the expected philosophical heavyweights like Confucius and Laozi, it excels in providing "social history" documents. These include: