This book is a panoramic survey of the course of Chinese civilization from prehistory to 1850, when the old China began to give way to the new.
Introduction; Part I. The formative age, prehistory-206 BC; 1. General history; 2. State and society; 3. Thought; 34. Literature and art; Part II. The Early Empire, 206 BC-AD 960: 5. General history; 6. Government; 7. Society and the economy; 8. Thought; 9. Literature and art; Part III. The Later Empire, 960-1850: 10. General history; 11. Government; 12. Society and the economy; 13. Thought; 14. Literature and art; Epilogue.
"An admirable success. It is the embodiment of great Sinological acumen and experience and of a lovingly painstaking scholarship, beautifully presented. Moreover, it is a book that deploys its learning gracefully and succinctly, with a rhetorical modesty that is likely to wear very well on its many future readers... Professor Hucker has produced a most attractive harvest of the many labors of his distinguished scholarship and teaching career, and we should be grateful." - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies "The book is an impressive tour de force of skillful organization, clarity, and precision; the style is quiet, concise, and unambiguous. Hucker's coverage is strikingly comprehensive... His incorporation of the major findings and issues of recent research is meticulous and well proportioned." - The Journal of Asian Studies "The genius of the book lies in its organization... It is arranged in such a way that one can read it straight through for a comprehensive view of China's past; or one can read it topically, as a record of major events, or as a political-institutional history, or socio-economic history, or the history of ideas, or literary or art history... It is an eminently sound introduction to its subject, a work compiled with evident thought and care." - History "China's Imperial Past, by Charles O. Hucker, is the best introduction to Chinese culture from earliest times to the 19th century." - Diversion "[The] achievement of Professor Hucker is a formidable one. His work is a beautifully balanced one, organized with logic and clarity. His interpretations, if leaning to the safe side, are invariably sound. His erudition is carried lightly and there is found throughout, an awareness of the needs of the student... In sum, Hucker has produced a readable and comprehensive text. It will undoubtedly become a standard in college courses and it can be highly recommended to anyone who seeks a solid yet painless introduction to the civilization of traditional China." - Monumenta Serica (Germany)
