The Life and Times of Xi Zhongxun
The adoption by the provincial gentry of literati ideals (and bureaucratic ambitions) was a vital stage in China’s transition from a semi-feudal society, where power was wielded by great landholders, into an agrarian empire. What made that possible was an imperial system that relied much less on the coercive power of the imperial centre (a clumsy a
... See moreJohn Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
As we have seen, the ethical system of the ancient Zhou was fundamentally based on emulation.5 This tradition has a long, ongoing influence over Chinese political philosophy. For example, during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s, even while Confucian tradition was explicitly rejected, the novelist Yu Hua recalls how the emulation of admi
... See moreAlexander Douglas • Against Identity: The Wisdom of Escaping the Self
