Outline of Chinese History

Introduction

Outline of Chinese History is the only monograph left behind by Mr. Zhang Yinlin in his short life, and it was originally part of a high school history textbook that he was hired to write. Mr. Zhang always said that one should have “the dignity of a writer” in writing, and he advocated that “The most important thing in learning is to create new paths on your own, rather than just copying old things.” Based on his own view of history, he made a strict selection of historical facts of China before the Eastern Han Dynasty, integrating the research results of his predecessors and his own “playful experience”, and wrote about the changes of Chinese society, the contribution of ideas, and the character and activities of some major figures in a story-telling way. The book, with its concise arrangement of chapters, lively writing techniques, and penetrating wisdom, has been described not only as “one of the best ‘creations’ in a history textbook” but also as “the best ‘creation’ in a history textbook”. But also a unique kind of general history reading.

ISBN

978-981-5285-97-0

Chapter 1: The General Trends in the Dawn of Chinese History
Section I: The Culture of the Shang Dynasty
Section II: Major Events of the Xia and Shang Dynasties and Earlier Legends
Section III: The Rise of the Zhou Dynasty
Section IV: The Zhou Dynasty and Foreign Tribes
Chapter 2: Feudal Society during the Zhou Dynasty
Section I: The Organization of the Feudal Empire
Section II: Slaves
Section III: The Common People
Section IV: Cities and Commerce
Section V: Family
Section VI: The Warriors
Section VII: Religion
Section VIII: The Nobles and Ministers
Section IX: The Collapse of the Feudal System
Chapter 3: The Hegemonic States and Their Enterprises
Section I: The Rise of Chu
Section II: The Rise of Qi (with a Brief Mention of Song)
Section III: The Struggle for Hegemony between Jin and Chu
Section IV: The Rise of Wu and Yue
Section V: Duke Zichan of Zheng
Chapter 4: Confucius and His Era
Section I: The Characteristics of the State of Lu
Section II: The Ancestry and Character of Confucius
Section III: Confucius and His Times
Section IV: Confucius and Politics
Section V: Confucius and Education
Section VI: The Later Years of Confucius
Chapter 5: Politics and Society During the Warring States Period
Section I: The Rise of the Three Jin States and the Tian Qi
Section II: Wei Wenhou, Li Ke, and Wu Qi
Section III: The Reforms of Qin
Section IV: Economic Progress and the Transformation of Warfare
Section V: The Changes in the International Landscape
Chapter 6: The Intellectual Trends of the Warring States Period
Section I: The Rise of the New Intellectual Class
Section II: Mozi
Section III: Mozi and the Mohist School
Section IV: Mencius, Xu Xing, and Zhou Officials
Section V: Yang Zhu, Chen Zhong, Zhuang Zhou, Hui Shi, and Laozi
Section VI: Zou Yan, Xunzi, and Han Fei
Chapter 7: Qin Shi Huang and the Qin Empire
Section I: Lyu Buwei and Ying Zheng
Section II: The Unification of the Six States
Section III: Operation of the New Empire
Section IV: Development and livelihoods in the Empire
Chapter 8: The Period Between the Qin and Han Dynasties
Section I: The Rise and Fall of Chen Sheng
Section II: Xiang Yu and the Battle of Julu
Section III: The Rise of Liu Bang and the Fall of Guanzhong
Section IV: Xiang Yu in Guanzhong
Section V: The Battle of Chu and Han and its Outcome
Chapter 9: The Development of the Great Han Empire
Section I: Reconstruction of the Pure Prefecture-county System
Section II: Interactions between China and Foreign Tribes during the Qin and Han Dynasties
Section III: The Four Periods of Emperor Wu‘s Expansionary Endeavors
Section IV: The New Economic Policy of Emperor Wu
Chapter 10: Scholarship and Politics in the Early Han Dynasty
Section I: The Heyday of Taoism and Its Influence
Section II: The Establishment of the Orthodox Status of Confucianism
Section III: The Influence of Confucianism in Emperor Wu‘s Dynasty
Chapter 11: Restructuring and “Revolution”
Section I: The Monopoly of Power by the Imperial Clan Wang
Section II: The Political Landscape During the Reign of Emperor Ai
Section III: From Wang Mang‘s Reinstatement to His Ascension to the Throne
Section IV: Wang Mang‘s Reforms
Section V: The Downfall of the Xin Dynasty
Section VI: The Establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Its Founding Scale
APPENDIX
The Revival and Decline of the Han Empire
The Founding of the Song Dynasty and Its Initial Scale
The Foreign Aggression and Reform of the Northern Song Dynasty
The Lives and Thoughts of the Four Sages of the Northern Song Dynasty

Author(s) Information

Author: ZHANG Yinlin
Translators: YANG Zhi, XU Haijiao