The Sinitic Encounter in Southeast China through the First Millennium CE

Hugh R. Clark

Hugh R. Clark

The Sinitic Encounter in Southeast China through the First Millennium CE

University of Hawaii Press | 2015

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824857189

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About this book

This work engages two of the most neglected themes in China’s long history: the integration of lands south of the Yangtze River into China and its impact on Chinese culture. The roots of Chinese civilization are commonly traced to the North. For millennia after the foundations of the northern culture had been laid, the South was not part of its mandate, and long after the imperial center had claimed political control in the late first millennium BCE, it remained culturally distinct. Yet for the past one thousand years the South has been the cultural, demographic, economic—and, on occasion, political—center of China. The process whereby this was accomplished has long been overlooked in Chinese historiography.

Hugh Clark offers a new perspective on the process of assimilation and accommodation that led to the new alignment. He begins by focusing on the stages of encounter between the sinitic north and the culturally diverse and alien south. Initially northerners and southerners looked on each other with antipathy: To the former, the non-sinitic inhabitants of the South were “barbarians.” To these “barbarians,” northerners were arrogantly hegemonic. Such attitudes led to patterns of resistance and alienation across the South that endured for many centuries until, as Clark suggests, the South grew in importance within the empire—a development that was finally recognized under the Song.

Clark’s approach to the second theme poses a fundamental challenge to what is meant by “Chinese culture.” Drawing on his long familiarity with southern Fujian, he closely examines the pre-sinitic cultural and religious heritage as well as later cults on the southeast coast to argue that an enduring legacy of pre-sinitic indigenous southern culture contributed significantly to late imperial and modern China, effectively challenging the paradigm of northern cultural hegemony that has dominated Chinese history for centuries.

The Sinitic Encounter in Southeast China is a path-breaking book that puts long-neglected issues back on the historian’s table for further investigation.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Preface Free access PDF PDF	ix
Introduction Free access PDF PDF	xiii
PART ONE. Transitions
Chapter One. “The Civilizing Mission” and the Historiographical Context Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	3
Chapter Two. Northern Perceptions of the Pre-Sinitic South Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	19
Chapter Three. The Sinitic Accommodation with the South Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	46
Chapter Four. Social Innovation in the Eleventh Century and the Debates on Civilization Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	70
PART TWO. A Local Model of Cultural Accommodation
Chapter Five. The Central Coast through the Eighth Century Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	87
Chapter Six. The Sinitic Encounter Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	110
Chapter Seven. Cults of the Sinitic Era: A Narrative of Appropriation and Civilization Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	136
Chapter Eight. Civilizing the God of Baidu: A Case Study in Civilizing Strategy Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	156
Chapter Nine. Conclusions Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	173
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	189
Glossary Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	227
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	237
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	261

The Sinitic Encounter in Southeast China through the First Millennium CE

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