Han social structure
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Han social structure
(Han Dynasty China, 1)
University of Washington Press, c1972
Available at 9 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 507-516
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This comprehensive analysis of the social structure of a major Chinese dynasty will be of great value to historians, anthropologist, and sociologist. A study of Han social structure is of particular importance because during the Han dynasty the complex heritage of ancient China was remolded and the foundations were laid for a stable, continuing system for state and society.
The author investigates the whole range of Han society. He traces the powerful role developed by consort families and the rising status of the official, particularly of the scholar. he discusses 'guests' (or retainers), showing how their position in Chinese society slowly declined, and describes various aspects of the institution of slavery. According to Ch'u, a ruling bureaucracy formed the core of the social power structure in imperial China. This stratum interlocked with and was supplemented by "powerful families." "The Chi'in-Han material on powerful families assembled in this book is among the richest of its kind, and although different interpretations can be expected, all serious students will agree that Ch'u's contribution has raised the investigation of Chinese society and history to a new level of factual inquiry and coordination," Karl A. Wittfogel writes in the Foreword.
The first part of the study contains discussions on kinship, marriage, the position of women, social classes, and power families. The second includes carefully annotated translations of passages from the Shih-chi, Han-shu, and Hou Han-shu. These documents not only provide the evidence for the author's argument, but also, by making such primary material available in English for the first time, will serve other researchers on a vast array of topics relating to all phases of Han history.
This volume initiates a series of monographic studies on various aspects in the Han period as they have been researched by members of the Han Dynasty History Project and the University of Washington.
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