Etienne Balazs (1905–1963)

The title of this book is a bit misleading, since the book is not a general treatment of Chinese political theory and administration. It is instead a publication of three lectures published posthumously without much editing by the author. The first two lectures deal with Chinese political thought in the 17th century. They begin with a few general comments followed by a more detailed presentation of three authors and their main works. The second part discusses only one work, Wang Hui-tsu's manual of practical government from 1793. Although the lectures were short, easy to read and fairly interesting, this book clearly holds most value for professionals in Chinese studies. General readers with an interest in Chinese political history should consult the author's other selection in English, Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy, before this one.… (mehr)

A collection of translated articles mostly from the 1940s and 1950s. That might not sound too promising, but there are many insights here that are neither esoteric nor outdated. The author nicely portrays the unique aspect of Chinese imperial government: "rule by scholars". Good chapters on Chinese historiography emphasize the dominance of the scholarly perspective in official histories and the inability of western sinologists to bypass this perspective. The later essays deal mostly with specific Chinese philosophers, so they are probably of less interest to the general reader. But this is in any case a very informative supplementary work if you're reading up on Chinese history.… (mehr)