[KS] Tang China in a Multi-Polar Asia -- Including Relations with Koguryo, Silla, and Paekche (New book announcement)

Frank Joseph Shulman fshulman at umd.edu
Sat Nov 2 12:17:33 EDT 2013


From: owner-EMEDCH-L at usc.edu on behalf of Keith Knapp [knappk at citadel.edu]
Subject: New book: Tang China in a Multi-Polar Asia

Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia (http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-8941-9780824836443.aspx)
A History of Diplomacy and War
Zhenping Wang

Using a synthetic narrative approach, this ambitious work uses the lens of multipolarity to analyze Tang China's (618-907) relations with Turkestan; the Korean states of Koguryo, Silla, and Paekche; the state of Parhae in Manchuria; and the Nanzhao and Tibetan kingdoms. Without any one entity able to dominate Asia's geopolitical landscape, the author argues that relations among these countries were quite fluid and dynamic-an interpretation that departs markedly from the prevalent view of China fixed at the center of a widespread "tribute system."

To cope with external affairs in a tumultuous world, Tang China employed a dual management system that allowed both central and local officials to conduct foreign affairs. The court authorized Tang local administrators to receive foreign visitors, forward their diplomatic letters to the capital, and manage contact with outsiders whose territories bordered on China. Not limited to handling routine matters, local officials used their knowledge of border situations to influence the court's foreign policy. Comprehensive and authoritative, Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia is a major work on Tang foreign relations that will reconceptualize our understanding of the complexities of diplomacy and war in imperial China.

2013 | 480 pages | 7 illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-8248-3644-3 | $65.00 | Cloth
The World of East Asia (http://uhpress.wordpress.com/books-in-series/the-world-of-east-asia/)
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu

University of Hawai`i Press
2840 Kolowalu Street, Honolulu, Hawai`i 96822-1888 USA
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu (http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/)







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