Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Volumes 1 and 2) gathers Pu Songling's celebrated classical tales of ghosts, fox-spirits, demons, scholars, lovers, judges, and eccentrics. Written in elegant wenyan prose yet alive with anecdotal immediacy, these stories transform the zhiguai and chuanqi traditions into subtle moral, erotic, and social fictions. The supernatural is never mere ornament: it exposes corruption, tests desire, and reveals truths concealed by Confucian decorum. Pu Songling...

"China and the Manchus" by Herbert Allen Giles offers a detailed exploration of the historical relationship between China and the Manchu dynasty. Giles, a prominent sinologist, delves into the complexities of Manchu rule, examining how the Manchus, originally a nomadic tribe, established their dominance over China. The book provides insights into the cultural exchanges and conflicts that arose during this period, highlighting the impact of Manchu governance on Chinese society, politics, an...

In "Historic China, and Other Sketches," Herbert Allen Giles presents a rich tapestry of China's history, culture, and philosophy, meticulously chronicled through a blend of scholarly analysis and personal narrative. This work is a reflection of Giles'Äô nuanced and engaging prose, which invites readers to traverse the intricate landscapes of ancient and modern China. The essays encompass various dimensions of Chinese life, from notable historical events to the subtleties of Confucian thou...

The Complete Works of Herbert Allen GilesHerbert Allen Giles was a British diplomat and sinologist who was the professor of Chinese at Cambridge University for 35 years. Giles was educated at Charterhouse School before becoming a British diplomat in ChinaThis collection includes the following:China and the ChineseThe Civilization Of ChinaChinese SketchesChina and the ManchusReligions of Ancient ChinaStrange Stories from a Chinese Stud...

The following Sketches owe their existence chiefly to frequent peregrinations in Chinese cities, with pencil and note-book in hand. Some of them were written for my friend Mr. F. H. Balfour of Shanghai, and by him published in the columns of the Celestial Empire. These have been revised and partly re-written; others appear now for the first time. It seems to be generally believed that the Chinese, as a nation, are an immoral, degraded race; that they are utterly dishonest, cruel, and in ev...

This book deals with history of the religions in China.The problem of the universe has never offered the slightest difficulty to Chinese philosophers. Before the beginning of all things, there was Nothing. In the lapse of ages, nothing coalesced into Unity, the Great Monad. After more ages, the Great Monad separated into Duality, the Male and Female Principles in nature; and then, by a process of biogenesis, the visible universe was produced.Divination seems to have been pr...

In an illustrated Chinese work of the fourteenth century, of which the Cambridge University Library possesses the only known copy, we read that they reached this spot, originally the home of the Su-shên tribe, as fugitives from Korea; further, that careless of death and prizing valour only, they carried naked knives about their persons, never parting from them by day or night, and that they were as "poisonous" as wolves or tigers. They also tattooed their faces, and at marriage their mouth...

Professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge,

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First published in 1912, Herbert Allen Giles provides in "China and the Manchus" a very short summary of the history of China under the Manchu rule. He covers the historical period from roughly the 17th Century to the start of the 20th Century and he does so in a very efficient, if brief manner.Giles provides an overview of how the Manchus became an influence and a danger on the borders of China, how they found themselves in a position to take over from the Ming Dynasty and how the...

The growing interest both in this country and abroad in the historical study of religions is one of the noticeable features in the intellectual phases of the past decades. The more general indications of this interest may be seen in such foundations as the Hibbert and Gifford Lectureships in England, and the recent organization of an American committee to arrange in various cities for lectures on the history of religions, in the establishment of a special department for the subject at the ...

China is home to two major world religions, Confucianism and Taoism, and also played an important role in the historical development of a third, Northern Buddhism. Eventually, Confucianism became the state religion, and, purged of metaphysical aspects, the dominant Chinese religion until the 20th century. Other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, have all had indigenous expressions as well.In "Confucianism and its Rivals", which was originally delivered as one of...