What China and India Once Were : The Pasts That May Shape the Global Future

Publication/Creation:

New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2018]

Resource Type:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

What China and India Once Were : The Pasts That May Shape the Global Future / Benjamin Elman, Sheldon Pollock

Related/Included Titles:

Frontmatter --
Contents --
Preface and Acknowledgments --
Maps --
Introduction /
PART I --
I. Life and Energy /
II. Conquest, Rulership, and the State /
III. Gender Systems: The Exotic Asian and Other Fallacies /
PART II --
IV. Relating the Past: Writing (and Rewriting) History /
V. Sorting Out Babel: Literature and Its Changing Languages /
PART III --
VI. Big Science: Classicism and Conquest /
VII. Pilgrims in Search of Religion /
VIII. Art and Vision. Varieties of World Making /
Afterword. The Act of Comparing (Both Sides, Now) /
Chronology --
Chinese and Indian Terms --
Contributors --
Index

Related Names

Additional Author/Creators:

Elman, Benjamin, editor
Pollock, Sheldon, editor

Subjects/Genre

Subjects:

India--History
China--History
India--Social life and customs
China--Social life and customs

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Maps -- Introduction / Elman, Benjamin / Pollock, Sheldon -- PART I -- I. Life and Energy / Guha, Sumit / Pomeranz, Kenneth -- II. Conquest, Rulership, and the State / Crossley, Pamela / Eaton, Richard M. -- III. Gender Systems: The Exotic Asian and Other Fallacies / Bossler, Beverly / Lal, Ruby -- PART II -- IV. Relating the Past: Writing (and Rewriting) History / Brokaw, Cynthia / Busch, Allison -- V. Sorting Out Babel: Literature and Its Changing Languages / Owen, Stephen / Pollock, Sheldon -- PART III -- VI. Big Science: Classicism and Conquest / Elman, Benjamin / Minkowski, Christopher -- VII. Pilgrims in Search of Religion / Benite, Zvi Ben-Dor / Davis, Richard H. -- VIII. Art and Vision. Varieties of World Making / Aitken, Molly / Wang, Eugene -- Afterword. The Act of Comparing (Both Sides, Now) / Chakrabarty, Dipesh / Saussy, Haun -- Chronology -- Chinese and Indian Terms -- Contributors -- Index

Summary:

In the early years of the twenty-first century, China and India have emerged as world powers. In many respects, this is a return to the historical norm for both countries. For much of the early modern period, China and India were global leaders in a variety of ways. In this book, prominent scholars seek to understand modern China and India through an unprecedented comparative analysis of their long histories.Using new sources, making new connections, and reexamining old assumptions, noted scholars of China and India pair up in each chapter to tackle major questions by combining their expertise. What China and India Once Were details how these two cultural giants arrived at their present state, considers their commonalities and divergences, assesses what is at stake in their comparison, and, more widely, questions whether European modernity provides useful contrasts. In jointly composed chapters, contributors explore ecology, polity, gender relations, religion, literature, science and technology, and more, to provide the richest comparative account ever offered of China and India before the modern era. What China and India Once Were establishes innovative frameworks for understanding the historical and cultural roots of East and South Asia in global context, drawing on the variety of Asian pasts to offer new ways of thinking about Asian presents.

Language:

English

Language Note:

In English.

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (viii, 365 pages) : illustrations, maps

Additional Physical Form:

Issued also in print.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9937296351402486

ISBN:

0-231-54562-2

OCLC Number:

1035228176

Other Identifiers:

doi: 10.7312/poll18470