DIVINATION, MYTHOLOGY AND MONARCHY IN HAN CHINA by Michael Loewe ( 9780521052207 )

Item Details

Title:

DIVINATION, MYTHOLOGY AND MONARCHY IN HAN CHINA

By:

Michael Loewe

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£36.99

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£32.37

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£4.62

ISBN 10:

0521052203

ISBN 13:

9780521052207

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Publisher:

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

1 February, 2008

Series:

University of Cambridge Oriental Publications No. 48

Pages:

376

Description:

An examination of the links between religion and statecraft and how they affected the concept of monarchy during the Han dynasty.

Synopsis:

Chinese empires were established by force of arms, but sustained by religious rites and intellectual theory. The four centuries from 206 BC to AD 220 witnessed major changes in the state cults and the concepts of monarchy, while various techniques of divination were used to forecast the future or to solve immediate problems. Michael Loewe examines these changes and the links between religion and statecraft. While both mythology and the traditions nurtured by the learned affected the concept and practice of monarchy throughout the period, the political and social weaknesses of the last century of Han rule bring into question the success that was achieved by the imperial ideal. Nevertheless, that ideal and its institutions were of prime importance for the understanding of Han times and for the influence they exercised on China's later dynasties.

Illustrations:

18 b/w illus.

Publication:

Imprint:

Cambridge University Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

BING: FROM FARMER'S SON TO MAGISTRATE IN HAN CHINA (HB)

BING: FROM FARMER'S SON TO MAGISTRATE IN HAN CHINA (PB)

CHINA'S EARLY EMPIRES (HB)

CHINESE IDEAS OF LIFE AND DEATH (HB)