Introduction; Part I. Political Space: 1. Diplomacy and cosmopolitan society; 2. Military defense of the Northern Frontier; 3. Bilateral boundaries; Part II. Cultural Spaces: 4. The Chinese nation; 5. Mortuary cultures across the Chinese-Steppe divide; 6. Sinic space and Han Chinese; Conclusion.
Nicolas Tackett explores the emergence of a new worldview and sense of Chinese identity during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127).
Nicolas Tackett earned his B.S. from Stanford University (1998) and his Ph.D. from Columbia University (2006). He has been at the University of California, Berkeley since 2009, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on a variety of topics, including 'Imperial China and the World', 'Precursors of Modern Nationalism', 'Frontier History', and 'History of Nationalism in Asia'. Tackett's first book, The Destruction of the Medieval Chinese Aristocracy (2014), received the American Historical Association's John Henry Breasted Prize in 2015. He was also the recipient of post-doctoral fellowships at Stanford University and the Getty Research Institute, and of an ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowship. He has given talks on four continents and in three languages on topics related to Tang-Song China.
'Tackett's provocative and highly original book makes the case that
eleventh-century Chinese scholar-officials, traveling back and
forth on embassies between the Song capital and the Kitans' Liao
court, came to think of their country not as a universal empire,
ruling many ethnic groups, but as a nation state, a state for the
Han Chinese.' Patricia Buckley Ebrey, University of Washington
'In The Origins of the Chinese Nation: Song China and the Forging
of an East Asian World Order, Nicolas Tackett shows that
'nationalism' was not solely a modern, Western phenomenon by
demonstrating how a form of nationalist consciousness came into
being in eleventh-century China, when the Chinese state coexisted
with other states on its borders. Elegantly and lucidly written,
this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the
complex interactions of culture, ethnicity, and nationalism.'
Beverly Bossler, University of California, Davis
'Tackett's study of the formation of a new literati national
consciousness in the eleventh century denaturalize the modern
nation and fundamentally challenges the belief that nationalism is
the unique product of Western modernity.' Peter K. Bol, Harvard
University, Massachusetts
'Tackett ingeniously explores the political and cultural space of
the Northern Song period (960–1127 C.E.) to demonstrate the rise of
a new Chinese identity remarkably similar to the early nationalisms
of the Atlantic world. He succeeds in demonstrating the emergence
of a national consciousness in the late eleventh century through
careful use of textual and archaeological sources.' Michael C.
McGrath, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
'Nicolas Tackett's The Origins of the Chinese Nation provides a
wealth of material in a renewed attempt at exploring 'when is the
nation?' …' Atsuko Ichijo, Nations and Nationalism
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