Georges Briard Imperial Malachite Mug, Fine China

Ten international academics explore heterodoxy--dissent challenging the beliefs and meanings of the established norm--in late Imperial China. In this process, they trace the origins of the cultural and intellectual protests to aspects of Daoism and Buddhism in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Twelve essays are grouped into sections on the early sources, aspects of popular religion, Eternal Mother religion, and late Qing perspectives. A sampling of topics: the heterodoxy of Buddhism...

August 21, 2006: This nearly thousand page book successfully manages to summarize imperial Chinese history from the formation of the 'Five Dynasties' (actually about ten) to the end of the Qianlong emperor's reign in 1799. The author is F.W. Mote, a professor emeritus of Chinese history and civilization at Princeton. Mote's focii in the book are on all the emperors and other significant historical personalities, the structure of imperial governments, social organization...

May 04, 2005: This is the most illuminating text I've found on late Imperial Chinese society, and particularly on matters of gender, sexual beahvior and morality, and the growth of state-bureaucratic regulation of 'private' life. Prevalent themes include prostitution (male and female, state-sponsored and state-banned); state and popular attitudes toward men and boys who had sex with other men and boys (this section suggests interesting things about the origins and causes of homophobia...