In the eleventh century, the cities of the Song Empire (960-1279) emerged into writing. Literati in prior centuries had looked away from crowded streets, but literati in the eleventh century found beauty in towering buildings and busy harbors. Their purpose in writing the city was ideological. On the written page, they tried to establish a distinction that eluded them in the avenues and to discern an immanent pattern in the movement of people, goods, and money. By the end of the eleventh century, however, they recognized that they had failed in their efforts. They had lost the Way in the city. Urban Life and Intellectual Crisis in Middle-Period China, 800-1100 reveals the central place of urban life in the history of the eleventh century. Important developments in literary innovation and monetary policy, in canonical exegesis and civil engineering, in financial reform and public health, converge in this book as they converged in the city.

About the Author
Christian de Pee in Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Writing of Weddings in Middle-Period China: Text and Ritual Practice in the Eighth through Fourteenth Centuries and a co-editor of Senses of the City: Perceptions of Hangzhou and the Southern Song (1127-1179).

Reviews
Honourable Mention for the Joseph Levenson Prize (China, pre-1900) at the AAS 2024 Book Awards

"This is a challenging and significant book that should have a lasting impact on middle period scholarship."
- Hugh Clark, Journal of Chinese History, Cambridge University Press (2023)





Book Information
ISBN 9789463721660
Author Christian de Pee
Format Hardback
Page Count 290
Imprint Amsterdam University Press
Publisher Amsterdam University Press