The Wobbling Pivot, China since 1800
An Interpretive History
February 2010
328 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This comprehensive but concise narrative of China since the
eighteenth century builds its story around the delicate
relationship between central government and local communities.
* Rejects the traditional view of China as a wholly harmonious
society based on principles of stability - the Unwobbling
Pivot of Ezra Pound's translation of the Chinese classic
Zhongyong
* Provides an original interpretation, arguing that developments
can be explained through an understanding of China's
surprising swings between centralization and decentralization,
between local initiative and central authoritarianism
* Serves as an introduction to the subject, while readers with a
background in Chinese history will find the book offers a personal
perspective and addresses long-standing interpretive issues
* Supported by a variety of timelines, maps, illustrations, and
extensive notes for further reading
* Places China's history within the context of global
change
List of Maps
Forward
Prelude
Timeline
Chapter 1: The Wobbling Pivot
Chapter 2: Sources of Order under the Qing Empire
Chapter 3: Sources of Disorder under the Qing Empire
Feature: Strategic Borders
Chapter 4: Qing and the World
Feature: Taiping Heroine
Chapter 5: Visionaries
Feature: Hunan Takes the Lead
Feature: Water
Chapter 6: Beiyang Ascendency
Chapter 7: Cultural Revolution
Feature: Minerals
Chapter 8: War
Feature: Manchus as Minorities
Chapter 9: The Transcendent Center
Feature: Health Risks
Chapter 10: Gravity
Bibliography
"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) "Pamela Crossley, a leading historian of the Qing Empire, has hit upon a genuinely novel and stylish way of telling the story of China's modern transformations. She strikes a good balance between offering up big arguments and supporting them with revealing details, and she excels at limning connections between collective actions and state responses to unrest two centuries ago and patterns of protest and repression in the current era of Internet petitions and text message mobilization. The result is truly impressive, a high-level work of synthesis that is informed by deep knowledge of the past yet speaks with immediacy to the concerns of the present."
--Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, University of California-Irvine, author of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know
"Pamela Crossley's book gives readers a new and original perspective on modern Chinese history by moving its focus away from the politics of the centre to give us a greater understanding of how China's regions and minorities have shaped this multi-voiced society in its transition from empire to nation-state."
--Rana Mitter, University of Oxford
"Original, conceptually bold, and unusually engaging. Crossley offers her readers a broader and deeper meditation on the shape and significance of China's historical trajectory, one that may indeed make Chinese history more meaningful in the context of teaching undergraduates."
--Bryna Goodman, University of Oregon
"The Wobbling Pivot is refreshingly ambitious in its interpretation of the whole scope of Chinese history since 1800. Its analysis of the often disastrous extremes of state authoritarianism and local implosion is told with a telling eye for detail that will grip general readers and specialists alike."
--Frank Dikotter, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the University of Hong Kong