CULTURE & STATE CHINESE HISTORY - CONVENTIONS, ACCOMMODATIONS AND CRITIQUES

The Chinese state, despite its limited material capacities, always possessed strong ideological powers and was able to influence cultural norms in ways that inculcated loyalty and the desire for order. The fourteen papers in this volume re-examine the assumptions of how state power functioned. The general conclusion is that the state was only one actor in a culture that elites and commoners could shape, either on their own or in cooperation with the state or in competition with it. The papers range from the twelfth to the twentieth century, though most of the papers deal with the Ming and Qing dynasties.