Abstract
This book began at a high level of generality. It assumed the existence since Neolithic times of four primary civilizations: Western Eurasia, East Asia, Black Africa and pre-Columbian America. It assumed too that, whatever the previous originality of Southeast Asia and the subsequent leadership of Japan and the Lesser Tigers, China had usually been the dominant nucleus of East Asia. It sought to explore both the relations between China and the other primary civilizations and the Chinese contribution to a global order, emerging since the thirteenth century, defined in terms of world institutions. It concluded that, from these perspectives, China’s history was part of everyone’s history and should be of interest to more than Sinologists. In particular, the development of Europe to centrality within a world order required reference to China. Without an assessment of China’s contribution, that world order itself was not fully intelligible. Finally, it was hoped that these perspectives would, for both Chinese and non-Chinese, enlarge the imaginative horizons within which historical enquiry is conducted.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Denys Lombard, Le Carrefour Javanais, Essai d’histoire globale, 3 vols (Editions de L’Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 1990).
Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China Volume 5; Chemistry and Chemical Technology Part 7; Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic (Cambridge University Press, 1986).
Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1992).
Gilles Lipovetsky, L’Empire de l’Éphémère, La Mode et son destin dans les sociétés modernes (Gallimard, Paris, 1982).
Marie-Claire Amouretti, ‘L’attelage dans l’Antiquité, Le Prestige d’une erreur scientifique’, Annales, Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations 46:1, January—February 1991, pp. 219–32.
Philip C. C. Huang, The Peasant Family and Rural Development in the Yangtzi Delta, 1350–1988 (Stanford University Press, California, 1990).
Simon Leys, Chinese Shadows (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1978), p. 45.
Nick Danziger, Danziger’s Travels (Grafton, London, 1987), p. 372.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1995 S. A. M. Adshead
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Adshead, S.A.M. (1995). Postscript. In: China in World History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23785-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23785-2_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-62132-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-23785-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)