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Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal (Contemporary Chinese Studies) Hardcover – September 15, 2018

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) has been both hailed as China’s George Washington for his role in the country’s transition from empire to republic and condemned as a counter-revolutionary. Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal sheds new light on the controversial history of this talented administrator and modernizer who endeavoured to establish a new dynasty while serving as the first president of the republic, eventually declaring himself emperor. Drawing on untapped primary sources and recent scholarship, Patrick Fuliang Shan offers a lucid, comprehensive, and critical new interpretation of Yuan’s part in shaping modern China.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Shan provide readers with a powerful and mostly convincing reappraisal of Yuan based on both primary sources with due attention to traditional and revisionist scholarship. It will surely be a significant addition to the study of Yuan Shikai as well as modern China in the years to come.

-- Qiang Fang, professor of East Asian History, University of Minnesota Duluth ― China Review International, Vol. 24, No. 2

Shan’s excellent biography—the first in English since 1961—challenges us to think critically about our preconceptions, and the way in which prevailing historical narratives emerge, rejecting those appealing but ultimately unhelpful binary characterizations which too often blight the telling of China’s recent past. -- Jonathan Chatwin, author of Long Peace Street: A walk in modern China ―
the Asian Review of Books

This book is the most detailed and refreshing account of Yuan Shikai ever published. Drawing on a wide array of source materials, it sheds new light on political changes in the formative era of the modern Chinese state. -- Huaiyin Li, professor, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin

Patrick Fuliang Shan’s balanced, comprehensive, and analytical study of Yuan Shikai presents a complete portrait of this bewilderingly controversial leader. -- Xiaobing Li, professor, Department of History, University of Central Oklahoma

Book Description

This first major comprehensive study of Yuan Shikai in more than half a century explores the controversial life of one of the most important figures in China’s transition from empire to republic.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ UBC Press (September 15, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0774837780
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0774837781
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2023
    The first biography of Yuan Shikai in a Western language since 1961, this book reexamines the life of this pivotal figure with depth and objectivity. One clear advantage over past studies is its use of the Complete Works of Yuan Shikai, which runs to 36 volumes and was not available until recently. Yuan is a much more complex personality than the standard characterization, either on Taiwan or in the Mainland. Prodded by his adviser Yang Du and Goodnow (president of Hopkins University), he attempted to establish a constitutional monarchy, which he believed was best for China on the threshold of modernity. Professor Shan has done an excellent job in putting Yuan Shikai back on the map once again.