Why China did not have a Renaissance – and why that matters: An interdisciplinary Dialogue

Thomas Maissen; Barbara Mittler

Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2018

Why China did not have a Renaissance – and why that matters

An interdisciplinary Dialogue

Thomas Maissen and Barbara Mittler

Volume 1 in the series Critical Readings in Global Intellectual History

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110576399

Overview
Contents

About this book

New Series

Concepts of historical progress or decline and the idea of a cycle of historical movement have existed in many civilizations. In spite of claims that they be transnational or even universal, periodization schemes invariably reveal specific social and cultural predispositions.
Our dialogue, which brings together a Sinologist and a scholar of early modern History in Europe, considers periodization as a historical phenomenon, studying the case of the “Renaissance.” Understood in the tradition of J. Burckhardt, who referred back to ideas voiced by the humanists of the 14th and 15th centuries, and focusing on the particularities of humanist dialogue which informed the making of the “Renaissance” in Italy, our discussion highlights elements that distinguish it from other movements that have proclaimed themselves as “r/Renaissances,” studying, in particular, the Chinese Renaissance in the early 20th century.
While disagreeing on several fundamental issues, we suggest that interdisciplinary and interregional dialogue is a format useful to addressing some of the more far-reaching questions in global history, e.g. whether and when a periodization scheme such as “Renaissance” can fruitfully be applied to describe non-European experiences.

Author / Editor information

Thomas Maissen, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris, Universität Heidelbert; Barbara Mittler, Universität Heidelberg.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
List of illustrations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	IX
Series editors’ note Milinda Banerjee, Sebastian Meurer and Susan Richter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XI
Prologue
Periodization in a global context Thomas Maissen and Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Introduction
Epochal changes in a global context – Toward a History-in-common Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Defining epochs in global history – Can we write a History-in-common without shared concepts? Thomas Maissen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Part I. Periodization
Europe: Secularizing teleological models Thomas Maissen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
China: Engendering teleological models Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Part II .Renaissances
The view from Europe: The Renaissance Thomas Maissen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
The view from China: r/Renaissances Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Conclusion
The Renaissance and the rise of the West Thomas Maissen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Renaissance-in-common? History-as-dialogue Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Epilogue
Why China did not have a Renaissance – and why that matters: Conflicting approaches to periodization Thomas Maissen and Barbara Mittler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Sources from the European Renaissance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
Sources from the Chinese Renaissance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Works cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Index of names and places Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Audience: Academics in the field of European and Global History, Sinology,Transcultural, Postcolonial, and Transregional Studies.
Pages
- Front matter: 17
- Main content: 238
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 10

eBook

Published: June 25, 2018
ISBN: 9783110576399

Hardcover

Published: June 25, 2018
ISBN: 9783110573961

Paperback

Published: July 6, 2020
ISBN: 9783110710069