The History of Chinese Civilization. From Ancient Times to 1911 (set of 4 books)

A work on the history of Chinese civilization, covering the time from the Neolithic era to the proclamation of the Republic of China in 1912, created by scholars from Peking University. Each of the four volumes is dedicated to the political and social history, economy, religion, philosophy, science and technology, literature, and art of the corresponding period.

The first volume of the «History of Chinese Civilization» is dedicated to the time before the formation of the Qin Empire (the Neolithic, Bronze, and Early Iron Ages, the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties) and is based on the study and comparison of written (including recently discovered) and archaeological sources.

The second volume of the «History of Chinese Civilization» covers several of the most important historical periods: the creation of the first empire in the country's history, the Qin Empire, the era of the Han dynasty, as well as the periods of the Three Kingdoms, Jin, and the Southern and Northern dynasties.

The third volume of the «History of Chinese Civilization» covers the periods of the Sui and Tang empires, during which the cultural and political unity of the country was restored, the Song dynasty, which tried to defend imperial greatness in the struggle against the states of the Khitan, Jurchen, and Tangut, as well as the Mongol Yuan dynasty and the first period of the rule of the Ming dynasty, which established itself after the overthrow of Mongol rule.

The fourth volume of the «History of Chinese Civilization» covers the final period of the Ming dynasty's history, when China, being a leading world power in science, technology, and culture, began to pursue a policy of isolation, and the entire period of the rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty, which ended with the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Republic of China.