A Narrative of Cultural Encounter in Southern China: Wu Xing Fights the 'Jiao'

Description

Late in the 8th century, under the Tang dynasty, a local magnate led a land reclamation project on the Fujian coast that is emblematic of the encounter between the Sinitic culture of the Yellow River basin in northern China and the local cultures of the south. Later accounts say the drainage canals were undercut by a jiao, a mythological dragon-like beast that was a stand-in for the crocodiles that once inhabited the south China coast. The book uses this incident to explore the interaction between the indigenous pre-Sinitic people and culture of the Fujian coast with the Sinitic immigrants who arrived in growing numbers through the 8th century and after.

Hugh R. Clark was a member of the history and East Asian studies programs at Ursinus College (Pennsylvania) for 35 years. He is now retired from active teaching.

By absorbingly interlacing historical narrative with allegory, Hugh Clark informs us, as no previous author has, of the comprehensive scope and impactful southward expansion of the medieval Chinese civilization-building project. Clark's book is a must-read for anyone seeking knowledge of the foundations of Chinese identity formation during this pivotal time." - Don J. Wyatt, John M. McCardell,Jr. Distinguished Professor, Department of History, Middlebury College, USA. "Over the last forty years Hugh Clark has established himself as one of our most pre- eminent historians of South China. In this book he puts a lifetime of research into its most accessible form, expertly weaving together the larger history of China with a very particular story of immigration, coastal reclamation, cultural transformation, and deadly crocodiles". Andrew Chittick, the E. Leslie Peter Professor of East Asian Humanities & History, Eckerd College, USA. Hugh Clark brings decades of research on Medieval China's history and culture to this intriguing study, which uses a legendary encounter between a Chinese official and a dragon to explore how the diverse regional and local cultures of South China were incorporated into the Chinese state." - Terry Kleeman, Professor Emeritus of Chinese and Religious Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. "The southern paddy fields of China are now considered integral to the modern country, but it was not always so, and the present state of affairs was not inevitable. Hugh Clark has written imaginative microhistory introducing a little-known world of crocodiles and mythical beasts, economic displacement and colonial expansion, the power of local deities and - possibly - cultural resistance"- Naomi Standen, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, University of Birmingham, Associate Member of the History Faculty, University of Oxford, USA. Professor Hugh R. Clark is a national- and internationally-recognized expert on Song dynasty (960-1279) history. His scholarly credentials are impeccable; his publication record is extraordinary. The tale of Wu Xing (eighth century) and his plight to save the Putian district from a malevolent kraken functions in this study as a backdrop to a much more important story: the centuries-long reclamation efforts in China to reclaim the coastal areas of the Putian Plain in modern Fujian province. I know of no China historian writing in English who can document and explain this process-using primary source materials-with more authority than Professor Hugh R. Clark". - James M. Hargett, The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, USA.