Abstract
DR. GRANET'S study of Chinese civilisation ranges from the beginnings as set forth in the traditional account of the Tsu-King down to the end of the second Han dynasty in the early years of the third century A.B. It falls into two parts. In the first the political history is briefly surveyed. In the second the constitution and development of Chinese society is reconstructed. M. Granet deals critically with the traditional history and shows it to be an ideal projected into the past by antiquarian reconstruction and remodelling of the materials. Up to the present the auxiliary studies of ethnology and archaeology have thrown little light on the problems of tradition, and M. Granet constantly emphasises the need for excavation. At the same time, he is prepared to put it forward as a working hypothesis that Chinese civilisation is to be explained by the contact of two principal civilisations, one a civilisation of terraces and millet, and the other a civilisation of rice and the low-lying plains. M. Shiro-kogorov's investigations of the physical anthropology of Northern China would appear to support this view.
Chinese Civilization.
Prof. Marcel Granet. Translated by Kathleen E. Innes and Mabel R. Brailsford. (The History of Civilization Series.) Pp. xxiii + 444 + 12 plates. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930.) 25s. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chinese Civilization . Nature 127, 88 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127088b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127088b0