Charles Chien's Books

Taiping Rebel

The Deposition of Li Hsiu-ch'eng

By: Xiucheng Li,Charles Anthony Curwen

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Taiping Rebel

The Deposition of Li Hsiu-ch'eng

By: Xiucheng Li,Charles Anthony Curwen

Li Hsiu-ch'eng - the Loyal Prince - was the most important military leader on the rebel side during the last years of the Taiping Rebellion in China (1851-64). The Taiping Rebellion has been called the greatest popular revolt in modern history, and it came remarkably close to toppling the Ch'ing empire some fifty years before it was finally overthrown in 1911. Captured in June 1864 by government forces, Li Hsiu-ch'eng spent the final days before his inevitable execution writing a personal account of the Rebellion and his role in it. His Deposition is the fullest narrative by a participant and an invaluable historical document. The original manuscript of the Deposition was withheld by the government commander Tseng Kuo-fan and his descendants, and a shortened, bowdlerized version prepared for publication. Li himself was considered a great revolutionary hero in China until the Cultural Revolution when he was reassessed in a major public debate of considerable political significance.

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Page Count

374

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521210828

ISBN 13

9780521210829

Selected Poems

By: Charles-Pierre Baudelaire

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Selected Poems

By: Charles-Pierre Baudelaire

The poems of Charles Baudelaire are filled with explicit and unsettling imagery, depicting with intensity every day subjects ignored by French literary conventions of his time. 'Tableaux parisiens' portrays the brutal life of Paris's thieves, drunkards and prostitutes amid the debris of factories and poorhouses. In love poems such as 'Le Beau Navire', flights of lyricism entwine with languorous eroticism, while prose poems such as 'La Chambre Double' deal with the agonies of artistic creation and mortality. With their startling combination of harsh reality and sublime beauty, formal ingenuity and revolutionary poetic language, these poems, including a generous selection from Les Fleurs du Mal, show Baudelaire as one of the most influential poets of the nineteenth century.

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Page Count

273

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0141960906

ISBN 13

9780141960906

In the Shadow of the Han

Literati Thought and Society at the Beginning of the Southern Dynasties

By: Charles Holcombe

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In the Shadow of the Han

Literati Thought and Society at the Beginning of the Southern Dynasties

By: Charles Holcombe

Falling between the great unified empires of the Han and T'ang, the Period of Division (A.D. 220-589) is one of the most overlooked and least understood eras in Chinese history. At the start of the fourth century much of China's traditional heartland fell under the control of ethnic non-Chinese. The remnants of the Chinese court fled to the still somewhat exotic region south of the Yangtze River, where an Eastern Chin dynasty (318-420) was established in virtual exile. The state's ability to command population and other resources had declined sharply from the heights of Han imperial splendor, but it retained considerable influence over most aspects of society, including the economy. This residual state power made possible the rise, through the monopolization of government office, of a new elite class - the literati, or shih-ta-fu. In this groundbreaking history, Charles Holcombe examines the conditions that produced the literati and shaped their activities during the first of the Southern dynasties, with particular attention to the life and thought of the fourth-century monk Chih Tun (314-366). The security of the literati's positions in the state, as well as the cooptation process through which they rose to office, encouraged them to neglect the details of actual administrative service and concentrate instead upon peer recognition through the refinement of social graces and through literary, artistic, and philosophical achievements. While the empire hung poised on the brink of ruin, fourth-century literati engaged in round after round of abstruse discussion concerning the ultimate meaning of existence. Their seemingly impractical dalliances blossomed, however, into an age of intellectual and cultural creativity second only to the Warring States period of the late classical era. The Southern dynasties even witnessed significant commercialization and economic growth. Far from the dark ages that their political disunity might imply, China's Southern dynasties reveal themselves to have been great eras of an unexpected kind. In the Shadow of the Han explores some of the implications of this distinctive Southern dynasty culture.

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Page Count

260

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0824815920

ISBN 13

9780824815929

Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China

By: Charles Greer

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Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China

By: Charles Greer

Throughout history the Yellow River, or Huang Ho, has repeatedly broken through its levees to rampage over the densely populated North China Plain. In spite of its importance as the major river of China, little has been written on the Yellow River and its management. Charles Greer fills this gap with his comprehensive and thoroughly researched book. This work deals with the technological problems faced by the Chinese in taming the destructive river and also focuses on cultural attitudes that have governed the Chinese response to nature. For example, water control was not highly regarded by the Taoists, who preferred to let nature take its course; but the Buddhists sought to harness the river against devastating floods and also to benefit their crops. Greer traces water use and management in the Yellow River Basin through Chinese history and discusses early Western interest in the flood problem and Soviet assistance in Yellow River development. He analyzes traditional methods of control as well as newer strategies and their implications. The author of this book is one of a small number of social scientists able to master the original Chinese-language historical materials necessary to this undertaking. He has also examined Chinese water management methods first-hand as part of a delegation of water management specialists in 1976. In addition to geographers and conservationists, China scholars will find this book valuable because of the axial role the control of the Yellow River plays in the fundamental economic health of the People’s Republic of China. Water management engineers will find much useful comparative material.

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Page Count

193

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292773072

ISBN 13

9780292773073

Politics and Transcendent Wisdom

The Scripture for Humane Kings in the Creation of Chinese Buddhism

By: Charles D. Orzech

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Politics and Transcendent Wisdom

The Scripture for Humane Kings in the Creation of Chinese Buddhism

By: Charles D. Orzech

Politics and Transcendent Wisdom presents a systematic theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between politics and religion in a variety of contexts. This book examines the formation of &"national protection&" Buddhism in China and translates the key text of this important movement. Showing that Buddhist notions of sovereignty were meant and were taken as more than mere metaphor, Orzech examines the profound link between Buddhist notions of transcendence and the deployment of political authority in East Asia. To this integration of philosophical tradition and political history is brought a new understanding of Buddhist cosmology. The contexts of Buddhism as state religion in fifth- and eighth-century China are examined in detail, through extended consideration of the Transcendent Wisdom Scripture for Humane Kings Who Wish to Protect Their States, the text that was the charter for Buddhist state cults in China, Korea, and Japan into the twentieth century. The text first appeared during the fifth century as Buddhists were struggling to understand how their &"foreign&" religion and the &"foreign&" rulers of north China might be adapted to Chinese religious and political culture. The Scripture for Humane Kings and the rites enjoined by it were one answer to these questions. Three centuries later, in the context of a fully sinified Buddhism, the T'ang dynasty Tantric master Pu-k'ung produced a new version of the text with new rites that served as the centerpiece of his vision of a Chinese Buddhist state modeled on esoteric lines. The final section of this volume presents for the first time a full, annotated translation of this important East Asian Buddhist text.

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Page Count

380

Publisher

Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271017155

ISBN 13

9780271017150

The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume VIII - China

By: Charles D. Pettibone

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The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume VIII - China

By: Charles D. Pettibone

There are numerous "order of battle" books on the market. So what makes this one so special? Why should one decide on this particular book? Most "order of battle" books usually deal only at the division and corps level of a country's army. Most higher commands are not covered. This book deals with all the branches of a country's military, giving a breakdown of all the major echelons of command, from theater down to brigade, under each component (army groups, armies, corps, divisions, and brigades), and the equivalent command structure for the other military branches are included. Second, it attempts to give an overall command structure of the country's military, showing the central headquarters command structure as well as the major components (army groups, armies, corps, etc.). Third, most "order of battle" books list the commander and their dates of tenure. This book includes those but also lists their next duty assignments or where they went after leaving the post. One can literally trace a general officer's career through the upper echelons of command, making this completely different from all the other books on order of battle in the market.

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669

Published Date

ISBN 10

1466996463

ISBN 13

9781466996465

Écrin Littéraire

By: Charles Henri Schneider

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Écrin Littéraire

By: Charles Henri Schneider

Reprint of the original, first published in 1867.

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Page Count

326

Publisher

BoD – Books on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

3752572264

ISBN 13

9783752572261

The Ming Dynasty

Its Origins and Evolving Institutions

By: Charles Hucker

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The Ming Dynasty

Its Origins and Evolving Institutions

By: Charles Hucker

In the latter half of the fourteenth century, at one end of the Eurasian continent, the stage was not yet set for the emergence of modern nation-states. At the other end, the Chinese drove out their Mongol overlords, inaugurated a new native dynasty called Ming (1368–1644), and reasserted the mastery of their national destiny. It was a dramatic era of change, the full significance of which can only be perceived retrospectively. With the establishment of the Ming dynasty, a major historical tension rose into prominence between more absolutist and less absolutist modes of rulership. This produced a distinctive style of rule that modern students have come to call Ming despotism. It proved a capriciously absolutist pattern for Chinese government into our own time. [1, 2 ,3]

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Page Count

119

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472901532

ISBN 13

9780472901531

Faith in Paper

By: Charles Cleland

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Faith in Paper

By: Charles Cleland

Faith in Paper is about the reinstitution of Indian treaty rights in the Upper Great Lakes region during the last quarter of the 20th century. The book focuses on the treaties and legal cases that together have awakened a new day in Native American sovereignty and established the place of Indian tribes on the modern political landscape. In addition to discussing the historic development of Indian treaties and their social and legal context, Charles E. Cleland outlines specific treaties litigated in modern courts as well as the impact of treaty litigation on the modern Indian and non-Indian communities of the region. Faith in Paper is both an important contribution to the scholarship of Indian legal matters and a rich resource for Indians themselves as they strive to retain or regain rights that have eroded over the years. Charles E. Cleland is Michigan State University Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Curator of Anthropology and Ethnology. He has been an expert witness in numerous Native American land claims and fishing rights cases and written a number of other books on the subject, including Rites of Conquest: The History and Culture of Michigan's Native Americans; The Place of the Pike (Gnoozhekaaning): A History of the Bay Mills Indian Community; and (as a contributor) Fish in the Lakes, Wild Rice, and Game in Abundance: Testimony on Behalf of Mille Lacs Ojibwe Hunting and Fishing Rights.

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Page Count

1019

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472028499

ISBN 13

9780472028498

The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997

A Reference Guide to 1,100 Films Produced by British Hong Kong Studios

By: John Charles

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The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997

A Reference Guide to 1,100 Films Produced by British Hong Kong Studios

By: John Charles

Thanks to the successes of directors and actors like John Woo, Jackie Chan, and Chow Yun-Fat, the cinema of Hong Kong is wildly popular worldwide, and there is much more to this diverse film culture than most Western audiences realize. Beyond martial arts and comedy, Hong Kong films are a celebration of the grand diversity and pageantry of moviemaking--covering action, comedy, horror, eroticism, mythology, historical drama, modern romances, and experimental films. Information on 1,100 films produced in British Hong Kong from 1977 to 1997 is included here.

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Page Count

398

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

147660262X

ISBN 13

9781476602622

Book's by Charles Chien

Taiping Rebel

Taiping Rebel

Selected Poems

Selected Poems

In the Shadow of the Han

In the Shadow of the Han

Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China

Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China

Politics and Transcendent Wisdom

Politics and Transcendent Wisdom

The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Écrin Littéraire

Écrin Littéraire

The Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty

Faith in Paper

Faith in Paper

The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997

The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997

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