China has more than three thousand years of recorded history, but misconceptions abound at every stage. Historian Justin Jacobs takes you on a thematic tour of four important topics in ancient Chinese history: relations with nomads, sacred mountains, the civil service exams, and the maritime voyages of Zheng He. Each lecture includes a rich, nuanced overview based on the latest scholarship and illustrated with copious slides.
Justin M. Jacobs, professor of Chinese history at American University, is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Plunder? How Museums Got Their Treasures.
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China and the Nomads
For most of its history, China has fought, negotiated with, intermarried with, repudiated, and capitulated to the nomadic peoples who inhabit its northern peripheries. Jacobs provides a detailed overview of these contentious relationships, including those with the Xiongnu, Tabgatch, Mongols, and Manchus, in the process dispelling popular caricatures of “barbaric raiders” and highlighting the fundamental transformations occasioned by nomadic invasions.
Additional Sessions of Ancient China Series
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