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Publications | Department of Asian Studies

Publications By Years

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Publications

2011
Settlement Patterns in the Chifeng Region
Project, Chifeng International Collaborative Archaeological Research . 2011. Settlement Patterns in the Chifeng Region. Center for Comparative Arch.Abstract

This volume and the accompanying online dataset provide the complete results of a regional settlement study of 1,234 square kilometers in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of northeastern China. Results of systematic study of the relationship between surface and subsurface remains are presented, based on sites that were surveyed as part of the regional survey, and subsequently intensively surface collected and test excavated. The volume concludes with a comprehensive synthesis of the regional trajectory of social change from 6000 BCE to 1300 CE, offered as a basis for comparison with those of other regions where complex societies developed.

South Asian Texts in History: Critical Engagements with Sheldon Pollock
Bronner, Yigal, Whitney Cox, and Lawrence McCrea, eds. 2011. South Asian Texts in History: Critical Engagements with Sheldon Pollock. Ann Arbor, Mich: Aas.
2009
Shelach-Lavi, Gideon . 2009. Prehistoric Societies on the Northern Frontiers of China: Archaeological Perspectives on Identity Formation and Economic Change During the First Millennium BCE. London: Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology Series, Equinox.Abstract

The northern borders of China - known as the Northern zone - were a key area of interaction between sedentary and nomadic people during the late second and early first millennium BCE. During this period the region's unique economy, socio-political systems, local cultures and identities took shape. 'Prehistoric Societies on the Northern Frontiers of China' analyses the archaeological record to examine the changes that took place in Northern China in the first millennium. Drawing on field work in the Chifeng area of Inner Mongolia, the book explores dramatic changes in the construction of identities alongside more gradual changes in subsistence strategies and political organization. The book is unique in integrating the archaeological data and historical records of this period with anthropological theory to examine the role of identity construction and the use of symbol in the shaping of East Asian society.

Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era
Pines, Yuri . 2009. Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era. 1st ed. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Abstract

This ambitious book looks into the reasons for the exceptional durability of the Chinese empire, which lasted for more than two millennia (221 BCE–1911 CE). Yuri Pines identifies the roots of the empire’s longevity in the activities of thinkers of the Warring States period (453–221 BCE), who, in their search for solutions to an ongoing political crisis, developed ideals, values, and perceptions that would become essential for the future imperial polity. In marked distinction to similar empires worldwide, the Chinese
empire was envisioned and to a certain extent "preplanned" long before it came into being. As a result, it was not only a military and administrative construct, but also an intellectual one. Pines makes the argument that it was precisely its ideological appeal that allowed the survival and regeneration of the empire after repeated periods of turmoil.
Envisioning Eternal Empire presents a panoptic survey of philosophical and social conflicts in Warring States political culture. By examining the extant corpus of preimperial literature, including transmitted texts and manuscripts uncovered at archaeological sites, Pines locates the common ideas of competing thinkers that underlie their ideological controversies. This bold approach allows him to transcend the once fashionable perspective of competing "schools of thought" and show that beneath the immense pluralism of Warring States thought one may identify common ideological
choices that eventually shaped traditional Chinese political culture. The result is a refreshingly novel look at the foundational period in Chinese intellectual history.

Pines’ analysis of the political thought of the period focuses on the thinkers’
perceptions of three main components of the preimperial and imperial polity: the ruler, the elite, and the commoners. Regarding each of them, he identifies both the common ground and unresolved intrinsic tensions of Warring States discourse. Thus, while thinkers staunchly supported the idea of the omnipotent universal monarch, they were also aware of the mediocrity and ineptitude of acting sovereigns. They were committed to a career in government yet feared to compromise their integrity in service of corrupt rulers. They declared their dedication to "the people" yet firmly opposed the lower strata’s input in political processes. Pines asserts that the persistence of these unresolved tensions eventually became one of the most important assets of China’s political culture. The ensuing imperial political system was not excessively rigid, but sufficiently flexible to adapt itself to a variety of domestic and foreign pressures. This remarkable adaptability
within the constant ideological framework contributed decisively to the empire’s longevity.

European Collections of Scientific Instruments, 1550-1750
European Collections of Scientific Instruments, 1550-1750. 2009. Leiden ; Boston: Brill.
Spring, Heat, Rains: A South Indian Diary
Shulman, David . 2009. Spring, Heat, Rains: A South Indian Diary. University of Chicago Press.
Voices from Shanghai
Eber, Irene . 2009. Voices from Shanghai. . Publisher's Version
2008
The Emperors of Modern Japan
Shillony, Ben-Ami, ed. 2008. The Emperors of Modern Japan. Leiden ; Boston: Brill Academic Pub.
The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World
Biran, Michal . 2008. The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: Between China and the Islamic World. 1st ed. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
2007
Chinggis Khan
Biran, Michal . 2007. Chinggis Khan. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
2005
Enigma of the Emperors
Shillony, Ben-Ami . 2005. Enigma of the Emperors. Folkestone, Kent, UK: BRILL/Global Oriental.
2004
Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung
Anonymous, . 2004. Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung. ed. Andrew Plaks. London ; New York: Penguin Classics.
2002
Foundations of Confucian Thought: Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period, 722-453 B.C.E.
Pines, Yuri . 2002. Foundations of Confucian Thought: Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period, 722-453 B.C.E. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Abstract
This ambitious work focuses on the world of Chinese thought during the two and a half centuries directly preceding and partly overlapping the time of Confucius. Ideas developed by Chunqiu statesmen and thinkers formed the intellectual milieu of Confucius and his disciples and contributed directly to the intellectual flowering of the Zhanguo (Warring States) era (453-221 B.C.E.), the formative period of the Chinese intellectual tradition. This study is the first attempt to systematically reconstruct major intellectual
trends in pre-Confucian China. Foundations of Confucian Thought is based on an exploration of the Zuo zhuan, the largest pre-imperial historical text. Relying on meticulous textual and linguistic analysis, Yuri Pines argues that hundreds of the speeches of Chunqiu statesmen recorded in the Zuo zhuan were not invented by the compiler of the treatise but reproduced from earlier sources, thus making it an authentic reflection of the Chunqiu intellectual tradition. By tracing changes in ideas and concepts throughout the Chunqiu period, Pines reconstructs the dynamics of contemporary political and ethical discourse, distilling major intellectual impulses that Chunqiu thinkers bequeathed to their Zhanguo descendants.
Self and Self-Transformation in the History of Religions
Shulman, David, and Guy G Stroumsa, eds. 2002. Self and Self-Transformation in the History of Religions. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
1999
The Jewish Bishop and the Chinese Bible: S.I.J. Schereschewsky (1831-1906)
Eber, Irene . 1999. The Jewish Bishop and the Chinese Bible: S.I.J. Schereschewsky (1831-1906). Brill.Abstract

A study of the life and times of Bishop S.I.J. Schereschewsky (1831-1906) and his translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into northern vernacular (Mandarin) Chinese. Based largely on archival materials, missionary records and letters, the book includes an analysis of the translated Chinese text together with Schereschewsky's explanatory notes. The book examines his Jewish youth in Eastern Europe, conversion, American seminary study, journey to Shanghai and Beijing, mission routine, the translating committee's work, his tasks as Episcopal bishop in Shanghai and the founding of St. John's University. Concluding chapters analyze the controversial "Term Question" (the Chinese term for God) and Schereschewsky's techniques of translating the Hebrew text. Included are useful discussions of the Old Testament's Chinese reception and the role of this translation for subsequent Bible translating efforts.

1997
Consecration of Images and Stupas in Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism
Bentor, Yael . 1997. Consecration of Images and Stupas in Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Leiden ; New York: Brill Academic Pub.
1992
The Jews and the Japanese: The Successful Outsiders
Shillony, Ben-Ami . 1992. The Jews and the Japanese: The Successful Outsiders. Tuttle Publishing.