1st Edition

Local Stories and National History of China I Social Changes in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Hanjiang River

By Chen Chunsheng Copyright 2025
310 Pages
by Routledge

310 Pages
by Routledge

This book is the first of a two-volume set examining the social history of the Hanjiang River region of southern China. It studies the complex social fabric of the region from the Song Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, focusing on religious practices, ethnic relations, and social change. The first part presents the region’s geography and history, and sets out the methods for studying its... Read more

1. Introduction  Part I Religion, Ethnic Groups and Social Order before the Mid-Ming Dynasty  2. Tales of Gods: Textualization and Local Society during the Song and Yuan Dynasties  3. Coastal Defense, Garrison, and Battalions in the Early Ming Dynasty  4. Local Society of Coastal Area  5. Mountainous Area in the Early Ming Dynasty  6. Different Ethnic Groups in Xingning County  Part II From the Intrusion of Japanese Pirates to Coastal Clearances  7. Pirates and Bandits  8. Appeased Pirates Mountain Bandits  9. Organization of Local Armed Forces and the Militarization of Rural Areas  10. Social Unrest and Literature Compilation  Part III Local Beliefs and Settlement Patterns  11. Localization of Orthodox Gods  12. Role of the Gentry and Development of the Double Loyal Ministers Belief in the Qing Dynasty  13. Settlement Patterns Coastal and Mountainous Areas  14. Social Transformation of Coastal and Mountainous Areas

Biography

Chen Chunsheng is a professor in the Department of History at Sun Yat-sen University, China, and Chair of the Steering Committee for Guidance in History Teaching of the Ministry of Education of China. His research interests include Chinese social history, economic history, and historical theory. He has made significant contributions to historical measurement research and traditional rural society studies.