Features the essays that reflect the diversity of approaches scholars follow in the study of China's past. This title reveals the depth and vitality of Chinese civilization and demonstrates how an understanding of traditional China can enrich and broaden our own contemporary worldview.

1. Western Perceptions of China from the Late Sixteenth Century to the Present, Jonathan Spence 2. Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How it Became Chinese, David. N. Keightley 3. The Evolution of Government in China, Jack L. Dull 4. Sage Kings and Laws in the Chinese and Greek Traditions, Karen Turner 5. The Confucian Tradition in Chinese History, Tu Wei-ming 6. Religious Traditions in Chinese Civilization, T. H. Barrett 7. Science and Medicine in Chinese History, Nathan Sivin 8. Women, Marriage and the Family in Chinese History, Patricia Ebrey 9. Chinese Economic History in Comparative Perspective, Albert Feuerwerker 10. Modern Chinese Social History in Comparative Perspective, William T. Rowe 11. Chinese Art and its Impact on the West, Michael Sullivan 12. Poetry in the Chinese Tradition, Stephen Owen 13. The Distinctive Art of Chinese Fiction, Paul S. Ropp