TY  - BOOK
AU  - Abramson,Marc Samuel
TI  - Ethnic identity in Tang China
T2  - Encounters with Asia
SN  - 9780812240528 (alk. paper)
AV  - DS730 .A45 2008
U1  - 305.800951/09021 22
PY  - 2008///
CY  - Philadelphia
PB  - University of Pennsylvania Press
KW  - Ethnology
KW  - China
KW  - Tangdynastie
KW  - swd
KW  - Ethnische Identität
KW  - Ethnic relations
KW  - History
KW  - Tang dynasty, 618-907
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]-246) and index; 1; Ethnicity in the Chinese Context; 1 --; 2; The Ambiguity of the Non-Han: Stereotyping and Separation; 18 --; 3; Buddhism as a Foreign Religion; 52 --; 4; Deep Eyes and High Noses: The Barbarian Body; 83 --; 5; The Geopolitics of Ethnicity; 108 --; 6; Varieties of Ethnic Change; 150 --; Appendix A; Chinese Dynasties; 193 --; Appendix B; Sui and Tang Emperors; 195
N2  - "Ethnic Identity in Tang China is the first work in any language to explore comprehensively the construction of ethnicity during the dynasty that reigned over China for roughly three centuries, from 618 to 907. Often viewed as one of the most cosmopolitan regimes in China's past, the Tang had roots in Inner Asia, and its rulers continued to have complex relationships with a population that included Turks, Tibetans, Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asians, Persians, and Arabs." "Marc S. Abramson's portrait of this complex, multiethnic empire draws on political writings, religious texts, and other cultural artifacts, as well as comparative examples from other empires and frontiers. Abramson argues that various constituencies, ranging from Confucian elites to Buddhist monks to "barbarian" generals, sought to define ethnic boundaries for various reasons but often in part out of discomfort with the ambiguity of their own ethnic and cultural identity. The Tang court, meanwhile, sought to absorb some alien populations to preserve the empire's integrity while seeking to preserve the ethnic distinctiveness of other groups whose particular skills it valued. Abramson demonstrates how the Tang era marked a key shift in definitions of China and the Chinese people, a shift that ultimately laid the foundation for the emergence of the modern Chinese nation."--Jacket
ER  -