The Wobbling Pivot, China since 1800: An Interpretive History

This comprehensive but concise narrative of China since the eighteenth century builds its story around the delicate relationship between central government and local communities.    With a nod to Ezra Pound′s translation of the Chinese classic Zhongyong – The Unwobbling Pivot , Pamela Kyle Crossley argues that China′s modern history has not wholly adhered to the ideal of the ‘unwobbling pivot’, with China as a harmonious society based on principles of stability. Instead she argues that developments can be explained through China ’s surprising swings between centralization and decentralization, between local initiative and central authoritarianism. The author’s approach is broad enough to provide a full introduction to modern Chinese history. Students new to the subject will be supported with timelines, maps, illustrations, and extensive notes to further readings, while those with a background in Chinese history will find an underlying theme in the narrative addressing long–standing interpretive issues.    As a personal perspective from a leading authority in the field, The Wobbling Pivot provides a stimulating and original interpretation of the course of modern Chinese history.  

List of Illustrations. List of Maps. Foreword and Acknowledgments. Prelude. Timeline. 1. The Wobbling Pivot. 2. Sources of Order Under the Qing Empire. 3. Sources of Disorder Under the Qing Empire. 4. Essay: Strategic Borders. 5. Qing and the World. 6. Essay: Rebel Heroines. 7. Visionaries. 8. Essay: Hunan Takes the Lead. 9. Essay: Water. 10. Beiyang Ascendancy. 11. Cultural Revolution. 12. Essay: Manchus as Minorities. 13. War. 14. The Ubiquitous Center. 15. Essay: Minerals. 16. Essay: Health Risks. 17. Gravity. Bibliography. Index.

Pamela Kyle Crossley is Professor of Inner Asian, East Asian Intellectual and Chinese History at Dartmouth College , New Hampshire . Her publications include The Manchus (Blackwell, 1997); A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Ideology (1999); and What is Global History? (2008). She is a past Guggenheim Fellow and was awarded the Levenson Prize from the Association for Asian Studies in 2001. 

"As a textbook, The Wobbling Pivot is accessible, complete and readable, and as a synthesis of twentieth century Chinese history, it is both original and provocative, and a valuable introduction to the perennial issues that China poses in the undergraduate classroom.”  ( The China Quarterly , 1 September 2012) "[A] lively survey ... .It sheds considerable light on contemporary Chinese dilemmas." ( Shanghaiist , December 2010)