{"product_id":"the-wobbling-pivot-china-since-1800-isbn-9781405160803","title":"The Wobbling Pivot, China since 1800","description":"This comprehensive but concise narrative of China since the eighteenth century builds its story around the delicate relationship between central government and local communities.  \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eRejects the traditional view of China as a wholly harmonious society based on principles of stability – the \u003ci\u003eUnwobbling Pivot\u003c\/i\u003e of Ezra Pound's translation of the Chinese classic \u003ci\u003eZhongyong\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eProvides an original interpretation, arguing that developments can be explained through an understanding of China’s surprising swings between centralization and decentralization, between local initiative and central authoritarianism\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eServes as an introduction to the subject, while readers with a background in Chinese history will find the book offers a personal perspective and addresses long-standing interpretive issues\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eSupported by a variety of timelines, maps, illustrations, and extensive notes for further reading\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003ePlaces China’s history within the context of global change\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003eList of Illustrations vii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eList of Maps viii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eForeword and Acknowledgments ix\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrelude xi\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTimeline xv\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 The Wobbling Pivot 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Sources of Order Under the Qing Empire 21\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 Sources of Disorder Under the Qing Empire 44\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 Essay: Strategic Borders 66\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 Qing and the World 70\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 Essay: Rebel Heroines 98\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 Visionaries 100\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 Essay: Hunan Takes the Lead 126\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 Essay: Water 129\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Beiyang Ascendancy 133\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 Cultural Revolution 155\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 Essay: Manchus as Minorities 177\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 War 180\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 The Ubiquitous Center 207\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 Essay: Minerals 240\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 Essay: Health Risks 243\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 Gravity 246\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 274\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 295\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e“Finding a fresh angle to a familiar story is a challenge, one that this book has dealt with creatively and convincingly.”  (\u003ci\u003eEnglish Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e, 1 June 2014\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"As a textbook, The Wobbling Pivot is accessible, complete and readable, and as a synthesis of twentieth century Chinese history, it is both original and provocative, and a valuable introduction to the perennial issues that China poses in the undergraduate classroom.”  (\u003ci\u003eThe China Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, 1 September 2012)\u003c\/p\u003e \"[A] lively survey ... .It sheds considerable light on contemporary Chinese dilemmas.\" (\u003ci\u003eShanghaiist\u003c\/i\u003e, December 2010) \u003cb\u003ePamela Kyle Crossley\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Inner Asian, East Asian Intellectual and Chinese History at \u003cst1:place w:st=\"on\"\u003e\u003cst1:city w:st=\"on\"\u003eDartmouth College\u003c\/st1:city\u003e, \u003cst1:state w:st=\"on\"\u003eNew Hampshire\u003c\/st1:state\u003e\u003c\/st1:place\u003e. Her publications include \u003ci\u003eThe Manchus\u003c\/i\u003e (Blackwell, 1997); \u003ci\u003eA Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Ideology\u003c\/i\u003e (1999); and \u003ci\u003eWhat is Global History?\u003c\/i\u003e (2008). She is a past Guggenheim Fellow and was awarded the Levenson Prize from the Association for Asian Studies in 2001.  This comprehensive but concise narrative of \u003cst1:country-region w:st=\"on\"\u003e\u003cst1:place w:st=\"on\"\u003eChina\u003c\/st1:place\u003e\u003c\/st1:country-region\u003e since the eighteenth century builds its story around the delicate relationship between central government and local communities.   \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With a nod to Ezra Pound's translation of the Chinese classic \u003ci\u003eZhongyong – The Unwobbling Pivot\u003c\/i\u003e, Pamela Kyle Crossley argues that China's modern history has not wholly adhered to the ideal of the ‘unwobbling pivot’, with China as a harmonious society based on principles of stability. Instead she argues that developments can be explained through \u003cst1:country-region w:st=\"on\"\u003e\u003cst1:place w:st=\"on\"\u003eChina\u003c\/st1:place\u003e\u003c\/st1:country-region\u003e’s surprising swings between centralization and decentralization, between local initiative and central authoritarianism. The author’s approach is broad enough to provide a full introduction to modern Chinese history. Students new to the subject will be supported with timelines, maps, illustrations, and extensive notes to further readings, while those with a background in Chinese history will find an underlying theme in the narrative addressing long-standing interpretive issues.   \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As a personal perspective from a leading authority in the field, \u003ci\u003eThe Wobbling Pivot\u003c\/i\u003e provides a stimulating and original interpretation of the course of modern Chinese history.  \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e    \"Pamela Crossley, a leading historian of the Qing Empire, has hit upon a genuinely novel and stylish way of telling the story of China's modern transformations. She strikes a good balance between offering up big arguments and supporting them with revealing details, and she excels at limning connections between collective actions and state responses to unrest two centuries ago and patterns of protest and repression in the current era of Internet petitions and text message mobilization. The result is truly impressive, a high-level work of synthesis that is informed by deep knowledge of the past yet speaks with immediacy to the concerns of the present.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eJeffrey N. Wasserstrom\u003c\/b\u003e, University of California-Irvine, author of \u003ci\u003eChina in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"Pamela Crossley's book gives readers a new and original perspective on modern Chinese history by moving its focus away from the politics of the centre to give us a greater understanding of how China's regions and minorities have shaped this multi-voiced society in its transition from empire to nation-state.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eRana Mitter\u003c\/b\u003e, University of Oxford\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Original, conceptually bold, and unusually engaging. Crossley offers her readers a broader and deeper meditation on the shape and significance of China’s historical trajectory, one that may indeed make Chinese history more meaningful in the context of teaching undergraduates.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eBryna Goodman\u003c\/b\u003e, University of Oregon\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The Wobbling Pivot is refreshingly ambitious in its interpretation of the whole scope of Chinese history since 1800. Its analysis of the often disastrous extremes of state authoritarianism and local implosion is told with a telling eye for detail that will grip general readers and specialists alike.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eFrank Dikotter\u003c\/b\u003e, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the University of Hong Kong\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990374400229,"sku":"NP9781405160803","price":37.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781405160803.jpg?v=1761787569","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-wobbling-pivot-china-since-1800-isbn-9781405160803","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}