Ancient China and the Yue : Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, c. 400 BCE-50 CE

Brindley, Erica Fox

ISBN 10: 1107446813 / ISBN 13: 9781107446816

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018

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Seller Inventory # 30653610-n

Bibliographic Details

Title: Ancient China and the Yue : Perceptions and ...

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Publication Date: 2018

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis:

In this innovative study, Erica Fox Brindley examines how, during the period 400 BCE-50 CE, Chinese states and an embryonic Chinese empire interacted with peoples referred to as the Yue/Viet along its southern frontier. Brindley provides an overview of current theories in archaeology and linguistics concerning the peoples of the ancient southern frontier of China, the closest relations on the mainland to certain later Southeast Asian and Polynesian peoples. Through analysis of warring states and early Han textual sources, she shows how representations of Chinese and Yue identity invariably fed upon, and often grew out of, a two-way process of centering the self while de-centering the other. Examining rebellions, pivotal ruling figures from various Yue states, and key moments of Yue agency, Brindley demonstrates the complexities involved in identity formation and cultural hybridization in the ancient world, and highlights the ancestry of cultures now associated with southern China and Vietnam.

Book Description:

A richly empirical discussion of ethnic identity formation in the period 400 BCE-50 CE. Erica Fox Brindley presents a meticulous new study of the ancient Chinese textual record in an attempt to understand the Yue peoples of China's southern frontier and how they were perceived by the Chinese elite.