Very few people can, as Ying-shih Yu has done, so thoroughly contribute to the study of China, whether ancient times or modern times, intellectual history, social history, cultural history, or any other number of disciplines. Despite the numerous topics, Yu's essays manage to be incredibly rich, groundbreaking, and enlightening. This truly is a superb collection of his most important scholarly ... Read moreworks in the English language.
Ge Zhaoguang, author of An Intellectual History of China: Knowledge, Thought, and Belief Before the Seventh Century C.E. The breadth and depth of knowledge presented in this collection of Ying-shih Yu essays and lectures is a treasure trove for readers interested in Chinese history. The topics range from early ideas about immortality to later ideas about the social standing of men of business. No other publication in English compares in terms of command of traditional Chinese sources and sensitivity to contemporary historiographical issues, all mobilized in the service of better understanding China's past in relation to China's present.
Willard Peterson, Gordon Wu '58 Professor of Chinese Studies, Princeton University This anthology compiles Ying-shih Yu's many years of research on Chinese history and culture and features the most important topics and turning points in Chinese history. Yu's English publications and texts are the highlights and summaries of his best work in Chinese, and this book will allow scholars from the English-speaking world firsthand access to Yu's many accomplishments and open myriads of dialogue.
Chin-shing Huang, Academia Sinica (Taipei) Show Less