LEADER 04784nam 2200757 a 450 001 9910809473603321 005 20211014005917.0 010 $a1-283-89808-X 010 $a0-8122-0628-2 024 7 $a10.9783/9780812206289 035 $a(CKB)3170000000046311 035 $a(OCoLC)822017897 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10642731 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000600874 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11360274 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000600874 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10601650 035 $a(PQKB)10184527 035 $a(OCoLC)809317483 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse17512 035 $a(DE-B1597)449549 035 $a(OCoLC)979954235 035 $a(OCoLC)999355361 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780812206289 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3441979 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10642731 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL421058 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3441979 035 $a(EXLCZ)993170000000046311 100 $a20110824d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aMulticultural China in the early Middle Ages /$fSanping Chen 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aPhiladelphia $cUniversity of Pennsylvania Press$dc2012 215 $a1 online resource (292 p.) 225 0 $aEncounters with Asia 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 0 $a0-8122-4370-6 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [237]-265) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tForeword: Old Wine in New Bottles /$rMair, Victor H. --$tIntroduction --$tChapter 1. The Legacy of the Tuoba Xianbei: The Tang Dynasty --$tChapter 2. From Mulan to Unicorn --$tChapter 3. Brotherly Matters and the Canine Image: The Invasion of "Barbarian" Tongues --$tChapter 4. The Huns and the Bulgars: The Chinese Chapter --$tChapter 5. The Mystery of the "White-Drake" Oracle: The Iranian Shadows --$tChapter 6. Son of Heaven and Son of God --$tChapter 7. Bai Juyi and Central Asia --$tAppendix. Turkic or Proto-Mongolian? A Note on the Tuoba Language --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tIndex --$tAcknowledgments 330 $aIn contrast to the economic and cultural dominance by the south and the east coast over the past several centuries, influence in China in the early Middle Ages was centered in the north and featured a significantly multicultural society. Many events that were profoundly formative for the future of East Asian civilization occurred during this period, although much of this multiculturalism has long been obscured due to the Confucian monopoly of written records. Multicultural China in the Early Middle Ages endeavors to expose a number of long-hidden non-Sinitic characteristics and manifestations of heritage, some lasting to this very day. Sanping Chen investigates several foundational aspects of Chinese culture during this period, including the legendary unicorn and the fabled heroine Mulan, to determine the origin and development of the lore. His meticulous research yields surprising results. For instance, he finds that the character Mulan is not of Chinese origin and that Central Asian influences are to be found in language, religion, governance, and other fundamental characteristics of Chinese culture. As Victor Mair writes in the Foreword, "While not everyone will acquiesce in the entirety of Dr. Chen's findings, no reputable scholar can afford to ignore them with impunity. "These "foreign"-origin elements were largely the legacy of the Tuoba, whose descendants in fact dominated China's political and cultural stage for nearly a millennium. Long before the Mongols, the Tuoba set a precedent for "using the civilized to rule the civilized" by attracting a large number of sedentary Central Asians to East Asia. This not only added a strong pre-Islamic Iranian layer to the contemporary Sinitic culture but also commenced China's golden age under the cosmopolitan Tang dynasty, whose nominally "Chinese" ruling house is revealed by Chen to be the biological and cultural heir of the Tuoba. 410 0$aEncounters with Asia. 606 $aEthnicity$zChina$xHistory 607 $aChina$xHistory$y221 B.C.-960 A.D 607 $aChina$xEthnic relations$xHistory 610 $aAfrican Studies. 610 $aAsian Studies. 610 $aEuropean History. 610 $aHistory. 610 $aMedieval and Renaissance Studies. 610 $aMiddle Eastern Studies. 610 $aWorld History. 615 0$aEthnicity$xHistory. 676 $a951/.01 700 $aChen$b Sanping$01716756 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910809473603321 996 $aMulticultural China in the early Middle Ages$94112291 997 $aUNINA