Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives

Asian Connections

by Evelyn S. Rawski

In this revisionist history of early modern China, Evelyn Rawski challenges the notion of Chinese history as a linear narrative of dynasties dominated by the Central Plains and Hans Chinese culture from a unique, peripheral perspective. Rawski argues that China has been shaped by its relations with Japan, Korea, the Jurchen/Manchu and Mongol States, and must therefore be viewed both within the context of a regional framework, and as part of a global maritime network of trade. Drawing on a rich variety of Japanese, Korean, Manchu and Chinese archival sources, Rawski analyses the conflicts and regime changes that accompanied the region's integration into the world economy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Early Modern China and Northeast Asia places Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese relations within the context of northeast Asian geopolitics, surveying complex relations which continue to this day.

Genres: History

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2015

Reviews

[hoffnarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The goal of the work, to "de-center" China and see "what would Chinese history look like" if one looks at it from the perspective of the periphery is admirable and the work offers some gestures in that direction but I don't know if a new perspective on "Chinese history" is either the core of the work nor did it need to be. I think instead this work reaches in multiple directions at once: opening with a dense but very helpful summary of a massive amount of secondary historical research on the frontiers and interactions between the "central plains" states and other states and peoples around it, especially the peoples of the northeast of the continent, the Korean peninsula, and the Japanese archipelago. The second half of the book are three case studies: state rituals, succession, and civilized-barbian discourses that take us on a tour of how these practices and discourse were connected, similar, or unique in the early modern states of northeast Asia. Again, the strength throughout is massive synthesis of the secondary literature, and lots of integration of Korean language scholarship in particular. Was pretty shocked, however, to find that a book with hundreds of toponyms has two barely labeled maps - simply unacceptable.

[Ghostholos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offered a refreshing perspective on the history of Northeast Asia during the century or so from around 1550 to 1650.

Admittedly it's beyond the scope of her work (after all, the title says NORTHEAST Asia), but it would have been interesting to have at least a brief discussion what states in (the northern part of) Vietnam were up to during this period. It seems it may paint a more three-dimensional picture of the other non-Chinese polities, and it could probably done satisfactorily (if treated as more of an aside) by referring only to secondary English language literature.

In addition to getting a more detailed picture of the way that polities on China's peripheries were changing during that period, it would also give us a more nuanced picture of China (the image we see in this book, appears to be one where China seems to have no significant contacts with peoples other than those of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Manchuria---this may be the case, but either way it would be nice to have the topic addressed).

All that said, this was well-worth the read. I hope to see more histories take her approach of presenting dynamic polities... dynamically!