Routledge China and the Mongols: History and Legend Under the Yüan and Ming (Routledge Revivals)

Product Description Published in 1999. A common theme linking these papers is that of the interaction of élite and popular traditions, as found in the writings and folktales of Yuan and Ming China. The first studies focus on historical writings, not just as topics of intellectual and cultural history, but as foundations for understanding the sources of that time and seeing how earlier periods were viewed - for example, in the composition of the Liao, Chin and Sung histories at the Mongol-Yuan court in the 1340s. A second cluster examines a number of popular legends in which Mongol and Chinese elements can be seen to mix: the use of a bowshot in choosing a site, as in the story of the founding of Peking; the legends of the foundation of the Ming dynasty; or the image and fictionalisation of the great Ming statesman, Liu Chi. Review '...the sequence of articles gathered together here...certainly reinforce each other to add up to a very valuable and well indexed resource for the study of 13th- and 14th-century China, especially in the fields of historiography and of religion and folklore.' Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies, Vol. 63, No. 2 'While the volume can only include a sampling of Hok-lam Chan's rich scholarly output, readers are treated to an impressive offering.' China Review International 'All in all, China and the Mongols is a valuable collection that gives a set of superbly-documented essays on three important research topics.' Mongolian Studies