Documenting China: A Reader in Seminal Twentieth-Century Texts

Documenting China brings together a series of linked texts, each one chosen for its impact when first published, and which together chart the core developments in twentieth-century Chinese history. With extracts spanning the fields of philosophy, political science, gender studies, popular culture, literary history, neo-nationalist discourse, and international relations, the book challenges advanced language learners to elevate their reading ability to the level necessary for handling real primary sources in an unmediated way while deepening their understanding of Chinese politics, society, and culture. Each chapter is structured around crucial passages from a core historical text, each chapter begins with an introductory essay in English that provides context for fully understanding the text, suggested further readings, and a glossary of key terms.

Margaret Hillenbrand is university lecturer in modern Chinese and a fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford, and author of Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance: Japanese and Taiwanese Fiction, 1960-1990. Chloe Starr is assistant professor of Asian theology at the Yale Divinity School, author of Red-Light Novels of the Late Qing, and coeditor of China and the Quest for Gentility: Negotiations beyond Gender and Class.