This text, the classic introduction to modern China for students and general readers, emerged from the author's introductory course at Yale, in which he traced the beginnings of modern China to internal developments beginning in the early 17th century. Strong on social and political history, as well as Chinese culture and its intersections with politics, this work is a longstanding leader in the survey course on modern China.

Conquest and Consolidation. The late Ming -- The Manchu conquest -- Kangxi's consolidation -- Yongzheng's authority -- Chinese society and the reign of Qianlong -- China and the eighteenth-century world . -- Fragmentation and Reform. The first clash with the West -- The crisis within -- Restoration through reform -- New tensions in the late Qing -- The end of the dynasty. -- Envisioning State and Society. The new republic -- A road is made -- The fractured alliance -- The Guomindang in power -- Communist survival. -- War and Revolution. World War II -- The fall of the Guomindang state -- The birth of the People's Republic -- Planning the new society -- Deepening the revolution -- Cultural revolution. -- War and Revolution. Reopening the doors -- Redefining revolution -- Levels of power -- Testing the limits -- Century's end -- Breakthrough?. Pt. I. Conquest and Consolidation. The late Ming: The glory of the Ming ; Town and farm ; Corruption and hardship ; The Ming collapse -- The Manchu conquest: The rise of the Qing ; Conquering the Ming ; Adapting to China ; Class and resistance -- Kangxi's consolidation: The war of the Three Feudatories, 1673-1681 ; Taiwan and maritime China ; Wooing the intellectuals ; Defining the borders ; A mixed legacy -- Yongzheng's authority: Economic structures ; The question of taxes ; The center and channels of power ; Moral authority -- Chinese society and the reign of Qianlong: "Like the sun at midday" ; Eighteenth-century Confucianism ; The dream of the Red Chamber ; Qianlong's later years -- China and the eighteenth-century world: Managing the foreigners ; Aliens and Chinese law ; Opium ; Western images of China. -- pt. II. Fragmentation and Reform. The first clash with the West: The response of China's scholars ; China's political response ; Britain's military response ; The new treaty system -- The crisis within: Social dislocation north and south ; The Taiping ; Foreign pressures ; The Nian rebellion ; Muslim revolts -- Restoration through reform: Confucian reform ; Defining foreign policy ; The missionary presence ; Overseas Chinese -- New tensions in the late Qing: Self-strengthening and the Japanese war ; The reform movement of 1898 ; Three sides of nationalism ; Emerging forces -- The end of the dynasty: The Qing constitution ; New railways, new army ; Nationalists and socialists ; Qing fall. -- pt. III. Envisioning State and Society. The new republic. Experiment in democracy ; The rule of Yuan Shikai ; Militarists in China and Chinese in France -- "A road Is made": The warning voice of social Darwinism ; Marxist stirrings ; The facets of May Fourth ; The Comintern and the birth of the CCP -- The fractured alliance: The initial agreement ; Launching the Northern Expedition ; Shanghai spring ; Wuhan summer, Canton winter -- The Guomindang in power: Guomindang government ; Culture and ideology ; China and the United States ; China and Japan -- Communist survival: The Chinese poor ; Mao Zedong and the rural Soviets ; The Long March ; Crisis at Xi'an. -- pt. IV. War and Revolution. World War II: The loss of East China ; China divided ; Chongqing and Yan'an, 1938-1941 ; Chongqing and Yan'an in the widening war ; War's end -- The fall of the Guomindang state: The Japanese surrender and the Marshall mission ; Land reform and the Manchurian base ; The losing battle with inflation ; Defeat of the Guomindang armies -- The birth of the People's Republic: Countryside and town, 1949-1950 ; The structure of the new government ; The Korean War ; Mass party, mass campaigns -- Planning the new society: The first five-year plan ; Foreign policy and the national minorities ; Army reform ; The hundred flowers -- Deepening the revolution: The great leap forward ; The Sino-Soviet rift ; Political investigation and "socialist education" -- Cultural Revolution: The cult of Mao and the critics ; Launching the Cultural Revolution ; Party retrenchment and the death of Lin Biao. -- pt. V. Re-entering the World. Reopening the doors. The United States and the Nixon visit ; Attacking Confucius and Lin Biao ; Defining the economy, 1974-1975 ; 1976 : the Old Guard dies -- Redefining revolution: The four modernizations ; The fifth modernization ; Taiwan and the Special Economic Zones ; "Truth from facts" -- Levels of power: One billion people ; Governing China in the 1980s ; The problems of prosperity, 1983-1984 ; Rebuilding the law -- Testing the limits: Democracy's chorus ; Broadening the base ; Social strains ; The breaking point. -- Century's end. Returning to growth ; Zones and games ; Little dragons ; Into the sea ; Deng's passing -- Breakthrough? . The range of options ; The Hu/Wen years ; The economic challenges ; Global preoccupations ; Cultural parameters.