Explore the vast range of titles available.

Article Abstract: Has Shidibala been whitewashed by literati officials, court historians, and later scholars? Who was Tegshi, leader of the assassination plot? What was his relationship to the hated minister Temüder, to Shidibala's empress Sukebala, and to Shidibala's successor, Yisün-Temür? This article seeks to answer these questions in an attempt to show how the political agency of this Mongol qa'an has been framed or obscured in Yuan sources. Portrayals of his grandmother Dagi likewise exemplify how political agency asserted by women in ruling circles is typically decried as wasteful, inappropriate, or as an immoral interference in government. Yet its institutionalization in the Mongol-Yuan government, especially in the empress dowagers' office, demonstrates that the official and unofficial networks of royal women were important channels through which Mongolian imperial sovereignty was constructed and negotiated, increasingly in tension with the Daidu bureaucracy and a throne seeking to centralize power in its own hands.

New Qing Imperial History uses the Manchu summer capital of Chengde and associated architecture, art and ritual activity as the focus for an exploration of the importance of Inner Asia and Tibet to the Qing Empire (1636-1911). Well-known contributors argue that the Qing was not simply another Chinese dynasty, but was deeply engaged in Inner Asia not only militarily, but culturally, politically and ideologically. Emphasizing the diverse range of peoples in the Qing empire, this book analyzes the importance to Chinese history of Manchu relations with Tibetan prelates, Mongolian chieftains, and the Turkic elites of Xinjiang. In offering a new appreciation of a culturally and politically complex period, the authors discuss the nature and representation of emperorship, especially under Qianlong (r. 1736-1795), and examine the role of ritual in relations with Inner Asia, including the vaunted (but overrated) tribute system. By using a specific artifact or text as a starting point for analysis in each chapter, the contributors not only include material previously unavailable in English but allow the reader an intimate knowledge of life at Chengde and its significance to the Qing period as a whole.

This offering to the memory of Professor Evgeny Kychanov, historian of Sino-Inner Asian history, examines the curious career of Qubilai Qa'an's grandson Ananda 阿難答 (?–1307), whose appanage (fendi 分地) adjoined the former Tangut realm (Xi Xia) and whose portrait as a pious Muslim in Rashīd al-Dīn's (1247–1318) Persian history has encouraged speculation about his role in the ethno-religious transformation of northwest China. My aim here is to assess Rashīd al-Dīn's account in the light of contemporary Chinese data about the Anxi Prince (anxi wang 安西王), in order to clarify and problematise the historiographical record concerning this Mongol prince, and to examine his identity (as a Mongol or a Muslim) in relation to the regional and empire-wide politics of the time. What exactly do we know about Ananda? To what extent might political considerations have shaped religious activity or behaviour (never mind beliefs)? What did it mean to be a (the only?) Muslim Mongol prince in Yuan China?

After struggling with a chronic heart condition for several years, Hok-lam Chan passed away suddenly on June 1, 2011—just five days prior to the long-scheduled elective surgery intended to extend his life. In 1976–1977, Chan was granted a sabbatical leave from the University of Washington and, at the invitation of Igor de Rachewiltz, he traveled to Australian National University to collaborate on what became In the Service of the Khan: Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yüan Period, 1200–1300. Always fostering a cooperative rather than competitive atmosphere, Chan viewed his role as that of a courteous and reliable guide—friendly, easy-going, encouraging, and full of good humor—while, at the same time, passionate about the history of the period under discussion. [...]as an instructor, he will be remembered for his approachability, friendliness, unpretentiousness, and unfailing loyalty displayed toward his students. [...]we should remember Chan as exceptional for the times when he entered into our field not only because of his abundant talent but also because of his objective spirit.

Cambridge University Press, 1994. In it, he argues that the Yuan ruling establishment (mainly, Dadu) became \"Confucianized\" in ideology (a concept he takes care to distinguish from ethnic \"sinicization\") as a result of its isolation from the steppe after the civil war of 1328; and that an intra-Confucian bureaucratic struggle unfolded between reformers in the spirit of Wang Anshi and conservatives of the Sima Guang mold, resulting in the dismissal of the centralizing minister Toghto in 1355 and eventual fall of the dynasty. \"10 In the view of Christopher Atwood, Conquerors and Confucians offered several important insights: first, \"the moral obligation of filial piety meant that Mongols were morally obliged not to lose their ancestral customs\"; and second, factionalism in the Yuan was not defined by \"ethno-legal status\" but by \"vertically integrated cliques\" incorporating members of different status groups.11 Dardess's ability to turn deep research into engaging narrative ensured that the book and its companion article \"From Mongol Empire to Yüan Dynasty\" endured as valuable references that presented research agendas for a subsequent generation of scholars carving out the field of Mongol Empire studies. Despite the acknowledged misfit of the modern sociological notion of \"occupation\" with his select group of actors, his bold attempt to view the Ming founding through radically different lenses allowed him to articulate many new questions and fresh insights, which reviewers found to be of far greater value than the book's argument.

Dunnell reviews Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China by Linda Cooke Johnson.