China Unbound : Evolving Perspectives on the Chinese Past

This is a collection by one of the leading experts on modern Chinese history and historiography, Paul Cohen.

In this absorbing volume, he consistently argues for fresh ways of approaching the Chinese past, training his critical spotlight alternately on Western historians, Chinese historians, and the history itself.

The selection provides a persuasive critique of older approaches to nineteenth and twentieth century history and offers powerful reinterpretations of such diverse topics as the Boxer uprising, American China historiography, nationalism, popular religion, and reform.

While maintaining the view that culture is important, the author also suggests that the claims of Western and Chinese cultural difference have largely been exaggerated and have unnecessarily encouraged cultural stereotyping and caricaturing.

Paul Cohen suggests, by repeatedly foregrounding common elements in the thinking and behaviour of Chinese and non-Chinese, that historians can render China's history intelligible, meaningful, and even relevant to people in the West. With the application of the 'China-centred approach' to recent areas of scholarly interest, and the expansion and rewriting of essays on more traditional topics, Paul Cohen has written a significant contribution to the literature on Chinese history and historiography.