Chinese Statecraft

Timothy Brook, a historian of Ming China, is the Emeritus Republic of China Chair at the University of British Columbia. Lianbin Dai, a historian of late imperial China, is an Honorary Affiliate Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia.

• Introduction; 1. Statecraft Confucian Timothy Brook; 2. Ideological modules for diagnosing disorder Lianbin Dai; 3. The problem of monarchy Timothy Brook; 4. Waiting: the seniority system R. Kent Guy; 5. Relieving famines Pierre-Étienne Will; 6. Financial administration, market, and merchants Desmond Cheung; 7. The institution of penal prudence Jérôme Bourgon; 8. Feeling, the State, and the problem of filial revenge C. D. Alison Bailey; 9. Employing military force to rule the realm Wicky Wai-kit Tse; 10. Strengthening the army Jun Fang; 11. The limits of all-under-heaven Leo K. Shin; 12. Paramount boundaries Aaron Throness; Conclusion: Neo-Confucian learning as a knowledge practice for sociopolitical engagement Lianbin Dai; Bibliography; Index.

'These insightful studies introduce Qiu Jun's Supplement to Explications of the Great Learning from 1487, the most important analytic compendium on statecraft to appear between Ma Duanlin's Comprehensive Examination of the Record and Debates [over Statecraft] in the Yuan dynasty and Chen Zilong's Compilation of Texts for Ordering the Age from Our Dynasty at the end of the Ming.' Peter K. Bol, Harvard University