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China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty (History of Imperial China Book 3) Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 84 ratings

The Tang dynasty is often called China’s “golden age,” a period of commercial, religious, and cultural connections from Korea and Japan to the Persian Gulf, and a time of unsurpassed literary creativity. Mark Lewis captures a dynamic era in which the empire reached its greatest geographical extent under Chinese rule, painting and ceramic arts flourished, women played a major role both as rulers and in the economy, and China produced its finest lyric poets in Wang Wei, Li Bo, and Du Fu.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] readable introduction to the Tang Dynasty. (J. K. Skaff Choice 2010-05-01)

This series on China, brilliantly overseen by Timothy Brook, is a credit to Harvard University Press. Above all, it encourages us to think of China in different ways. (Jonathan Mirsky
Literary Review 2010-11-01)

This is an impressive survey history of the Tang dynasty, concise and accessible.
China's Cosmopolitan Empire is written so succinctly and clearly that it provides, to my knowledge, the best summary of the Tang period yet available in English. It will make an excellent source for the general student of Chinese or East Asian history. (David L. McMullen, University of Cambridge)

In
China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty, Mark Edward Lewis has done a superb job of synthesizing the scholarship on the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and rendering it into a readable account. Professor Lewis's general narrative of Tang history, chapters two and three of the book, is the best overview of Tang history in any language, and would be a good starting point for anyone interested in the dynasty...There is a large corpus of scholarship in English on Tang dynasty history and culture. China's Cosmopolitan Empire is an admirable addition to that corpus. It will undoubtedly become the standard survey in English for the foreseeable future. (Peter Lorge Journal of Military History 2011-01-01)

With clarity and rich details, sustained by quotes, anecdotes, poems, and visual images, Lewis brings to life the vitality of a transforming China in geography, politics, urban life, rural society, the outer world, kinship, religion, and writing, all in comparison with previous times...Lewis's nuanced details of a changing Tang are direct challenges to the dated but still influential views of China as an unchanging Sinocentric empire, uninterested in commerce and foreign contact. (Yihong Pan
China Review International 2009-05-01)

Lewis' book will be of great interest and utility to general readers as well as students who are looking for a lucid overview of Tang history and culture. (Michael R. Drompp
Journal of Asian History 2010-10-01)

Mark Edward Lewis has produced an impressive volume on the history of the Tang dynasty...Its greatest contribution is its integration of the latest secondary scholarship into interesting arguments about the evolution of Chinese society between the seventh and tenth centuries...This book remains an excellent place to see the latest insights into Tang history. It is a thought-provoking effort to synthesize that work and reflect on the significance of the Tang for China's history. If it inspires the next generation of students to pursue Tang history seriously, Lewis will have made a real contribution to Tang studies. (Anthony DeBlasi
Journal of Asian Studies 2010-05-01)

About the Author

Timothy Brook is Professor of History and Republic of China Chair at the University of British Columbia.

Mark Edward Lewis is Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Chinese Culture at Stanford University.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003WE9C5A
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; Reprint edition (April 2, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 2, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3531 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 84 ratings

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4.2 out of 5 stars
84 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2010
    This was the first book in the History of Imperial China series that I've read, and if the other volumes live up to the informative and comprehensive quality of this one, I can see this series perhaps supplanting the unwieldy Cambridge series.

    Mr. Lewis provides a surprisingly detailed survey of one of the most interesting Chinese dynasties in about 300 pages (plus appendices, notes and index). No small feat, considering the vast wealth of in-depth scholarly work available regarding the Tang. That is not to say, of course, that this is a merely a brief skimming of the highlights; to the contrary, Mr. Lewis gives us a wonderful grounding in the geographic and political climate before taking us deep into the streets of Chang'an and Luoyang, to the countryside of the Central Plain, or to the mountain retreats of the eremitic Tang poets. Ample citations of Tang prose and poetry, as well as cultural anecdotes, are present to give the reader a learned picture of what it meant to be a student of the 'jinshi' examinations, a singer in the pleasure quarter, or a court poet.

    This is, however, a scholarly work through and through. Well cited and referenced, the information given is well-chosen and aimed squarely at those seeking to learn about the Great Tang, as opposed to being simply entertained by its many colorful nuances. Mr. Lewis is a strong writer for this kind of book, and his prose is easy to follow and to the point. This may not be the best choice for bedtime reading, but it is accessible to all readers, especially those new to the subject.

    I highly recommend this book to any beginning student of Chinese imperial history, and to any reader interested in learned writing on one of the most important eras in one of the most important civilizations in the world.
    38 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2017
    I would actually like to give this 4.5 stars but I dont have that option!

    I like this series of books--there is one on early Chinese empires and on the Ching Dynasty as well. They are quite comprehensive, covering the broad contours of the empires, in this case the Tang Empire. In addition, though these are scholarly works, they are written as much as possible with the lay reader in mind. I am an academic, so I appreciate all the paraphernalia that goes along with these books, particularly the notes and bibliographies. But, I am not a China expert, so I appreciate the presentation in a fairly clear and readable format.

    In this volume, I do have one small criticism. I love the chapters devoted to religion, ideas and culture. But, they do, in this particular volume on the Tang, require a certain amount of pre-existing knowledge on the part of the reader. This is especially the case in the chapters on religion dealing with Buddhism and Taoism. The author tends to introduce concepts and personalities and presumes that the reader has some background knowledge. If it gets someone to go to the notes and bibliography and read more for themselves, that is great. But it may turn some people off. He writes about culture, poetry and ideas in a similar vein.

    I also may have a small quibble with the author's use of evidence from the Song dynasty, the Tang successor, which he sometimes uses to illustrate events and ideas from the Tang--arguing that the origins of the Song practice is rooted in the Tang. This is a very very small criticism, however.

    All in all, this is a very nice, comprehensive introduction to Tang dynasty China, written for a general audience by an expert.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2022
    Good
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2011
    This book is comprehensive, providing English language material that is difficult or impossible to find anywhere else. However, the Kindle (digital) edition is a sham. No illustrations are included; instead, readers are referred to the print edition. Great, so we should have to buy the print edition as well? Kind of defeats the purpose of buying a digital edition doesn't it?

    The publishers did not take care when producing the digital edition. It is filled with awkwardly hyphenated words that don't go away regardless of which orientation you use.

    Note that all these comments are for the iPad Kindle version; I don't know whether the normal Kindle edition is complete. I'm very disappointed with the digital version.
    33 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2015
    I enjoyed reading about the Tang Dynasty for a Chinese history elective class. The book was fairly easy to read and provided nice graphics with timelines.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2018
    Not sure why I did not particularly jive with this text. I had been hoping for much more, I guess, and the way Lewis writes is monotonous. I am a big fan of Chinese History, especially the Tang Dynasty, so I was hoping for more detailed and relevant information. Yet, I prefer the crystal clear explanations and data presented in Tanner's Vol. 1 on Chinese History or even the playful (though arguably dated) writing and explanations of Fairbanks in his China: A New History. That said, I don't think Lewis presented that much more information than Tanner.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Conor Withers
    5.0 out of 5 stars A cosmopolitan cultural hub. Focusing on the civilisation, not the individual rulers.
    Reviewed in Australia on February 29, 2024
    This series of books on Chinese history and Dynasties has put more of a focus on societal functions, farming, transportation, law, administration and religion. So after the rise of Buddhism and spread of Islam, the book shows the cultural shift and more relaxed and less rigid form of China. Containing numerous Tang poems and context behind it along with highlighting differences in letting Turkic peoples into the service. This book is informative on the Empire as a whole and not just the founder of the Tang, Wu Zeitian or An Lushan.
    A fantastic book and book series for those interested in the dynasty and not only the emperors.
  • Tiziana
    4.0 out of 5 stars Completo!
    Reviewed in Italy on April 9, 2015
    Il libro è scritto molto bene, per quanto riguarda le ricerche specifiche che stavo facendo io mi è stato d'aiuto solo in modo limitato (particolare periodo 650-705 Wu Zhao) ma se si è interessati al periodo Tang in generale (parla in minima parte anche delle dinastie Sui e Song) è sicuramente molto completo! Nel conplesso consigliato! Anche per i non madrelingua inglese, con un livello medio (circa b2)
  • Vieux Fidéle
    4.0 out of 5 stars Pour pallier la carence des éditeurs français
    Reviewed in France on September 21, 2012
    Une fois de plus pour s'instruire dans notre ex beau pays il faut connaitre la langue anglaise...Ce tome sur l'empire Tang répond bien à une analyse de l'évolution de la civilisation chinoise et assimilés "barbares". Il ne s'agit pas vraiment d'une revue historique chronologique ou venementielle militaire mais plutôt d'une explication des étapes de cette dynastie jusqu'à sa chute. Livre sérieux mais facile à lire pour un francophone. Achat utile de toute la série pour les spécialistes sinon chaque tome se suffit à lui-même.
  • Alice R
    4.0 out of 5 stars don’t buy the Kindle version!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2022
    This is a very good and readable introduction and I certainly recommend it as a book, but it’s a real shame that the publisher did not do a better job with the Kindle edition: you have to go back to the contents page to navigate to different chapters (no “go to” option); the footnotes are not linked, so you have to go to the back of the book to locate them, which makes the ebook unnecessarily fiddly to use. Worst of all, the illustrations are not included: the reader just gets told to refer to the print version if you want to see them. This really does a disservice to the work.
  • Zhaojun_EU
    1.0 out of 5 stars Very pool quality!!!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2020
    Pool quality! Fake one!
    Customer image
    Zhaojun_EU
    1.0 out of 5 stars Very pool quality!!!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2020
    Pool quality! Fake one!
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