Political Strategies of Identity Building in Non-Han Empires in China

Editors:
Francesca Fiaschetti and Julia Schneider

Publisher:
Harrassowitz Verlag 

Publication Date:
August 1, 2014

Abstract:
Long periods in Chinese history were determined by non-Han conquest rule. With this volume, which emerged from a workshop held in Munich in 2012, its editors and contributors aim at removing the blinders imposed by modern histories and their national boundaries, both territorial and intellectual, and at challenging the way in which we have thought and written about Chinese history so far.All chapters take a close look at the ways non-Han rulers, be they Jurchen, Mongols, or Manchus, used their specific cultural-ethnic backgrounds to strengthen their power in East Asia. Moreover, through a syncretic approach to the rhetoric and ideologies of other groups under their rule, the emperors and ruling elites developed invigorating methods to deal with the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural compositions of their often huge empires, whose influence is to be seen even in nowadays China. Only if we take their Inner and Northern Asian backgrounds into account will we be able to fully understand the historical and cultural impact of these dynasties on East Asian history. By doing so, the analysis of these periods must necessarily move beyond the focus of a China-centered narrative and take into account that the non-Han and Han identities of conquerors and conquered populations coming into contact became part of each other's histories. A closer look at these mutual influences will also enhance our understanding of these crucial historical periods beyond the limits of a perspective solely oriented towards ethnic and political boundaries.

Table of Contents:
Francesca Fiaschetti and Julia Schneider
Introduction  

East Asian Powers and Identities: 6th–12th Centuries

Shao-yun Yang
Fan and Han: The Origins and Uses of a Conceptual Dichotomy in Mid-Imperial China, ca. 500–1200

Hang Lin
Conquer and Govern: The Rise of the Jurchen
and Their Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) 

Julia Schneider
Sinicization and Nativistic Movement? The Middle Jurchen
Jin Period (1123–1189)

Multiethnic China and the Mongols

Veronika Veit
Characteristic Elements in the Process of Identity Building in Central Asia:
The Example of the Mongols (A Brief Excursion into History)

Francesca Fiaschetti
The Borders of Rebellion: The Yuan Dynasty and the Rhetoric of Empire

Oded Abt
Muslim Memories of Yuan-Ming Transition in Southeast China

The Manchu Qing Dynasty and its Neighbours

Evelyn S. Rawski
War Letters: Hongtaiji and Injo during the Second Invasion of Korea

Yadi Wu
Reactive Thrust to Sinicization by Manchu Officials of the Early Qing Dynasty-Ortai’s Dingji jiao

Zinan Yan, On the Divergent Implications of Archery: Discussing the Poetry of Nobles and Officials on Manchu and Han-Chinese Cultures 

Fan Zhang
Grass-root Official in the Ideological Battlefield: Reevaluation of the Study
of the amban in Tibet 

List of Contributors 


Index