What makes Ebrey’s work indispensable is its shift away from a purely "great man" version of history. While it includes the expected philosophical heavyweights like Confucius and Laozi, it excels in providing "social history" documents. These include:
The "Poor" condition copy, priced higher at £14.64, is likely a specific rare edition, while the "Good" copies at $6.56 are more standard later printings.
Understanding the vast, complex trajectory of Chinese history requires engaging directly with the words of the people who lived it. For decades, Patricia Buckley Ebrey’s Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook has served as the definitive English-language anthology of primary sources spanning from antiquity to the fall of the Qing dynasty.
: Early philosophies including Confucianism and Daoism.