A Translucent Mirror

"In this exploration of the origins of nationalism and concepts of racial identity in China, Pamela Kyle Crossley traces the shifting ideologies of a large, early modern land-based empire, the Qing (1636-1912). Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources, Crossley argues that motifs introduced under the Qing in the eighteenth century - part of the crystallizing categories of identity that the Qing themselves promoted - continue to distort the modern understanding of Qing origins. What has often been repudiated by nationalist foes of empire, it turns out, is frequently itself a creation of empire."--BOOK JACKET.

First sentence: WHEN IN THE LATE-EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY QIANLONG Emperor ommissioned "Biographies of Twice-Serving Officials" (Erchen zhuan) and demanded a reconsideration of generals and officials who had deserted the Ming to serve the Qing during the seventeenth-century conquest, he allowed the Great Wall of China to mark a moral boundary derived from a newly adopted vision of identity.

Year

1999

Language

English

Publisher

University of California Press

Editions

3

Pages

417

ISBN

9780520215665

Data source: Wikidata