Marco Polo's famous book about his journey to China, written in 1298, continues to be a subject of considerable controversy. One recent book on the subject argues that Marco Polo never went to China at all, and other scholars have pointed out apparent mistakes and important omissions in Marco's writings, including his failure to mention the Great Wall, and his apparently erroneous description of the course of the Yellow River. This book re-examines Marco Polo's book. It argues convincingly that he did indeed go to China, and that the apparent errors and omissions are all explicable - for...

The study of the prehistory of East Asia is developing very rapidly. In uncovering the story of the flows of human migration that constituted the peopling of East Asia there exists widespread debate about the nature of evidence and the tools for correlating results from different disciplines.

Drawing upon the latest evidence in genetics, linguistics and archaeology, this exciting new book examines the history of the peopling of East Asia, and investigates the ways in which we can detect migration, and its different markers in these fields of inquiry. Results from different...

Analyses Asian historical experiences of polity expansion, examining the motives, mechanisms and justifications for territorial expansion by Asian polities from premodern times.

This book presents the first translation into English of the full text of the Kaogong ji. This classic work, described by the great scholar of the history of Chinese science and technology Joseph Needham as "the most important document for the study of ancient Chinese technology", dates from the fifth century BC and forms part of the Zhouli (The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty), one of the great Confucian classics. The text itself describes the techniques of working and the technologies used by over twenty different kinds of craftsmen and artificers, such as metal workers, chariot makers, weapon...

Discussing the work of key women writers, this book considers the perceptions of women in China in the early modern period. It examines the place of women in the cultural elite and in society more generally, outlines the experiences of particular women, and explores women's changing roles.

Asia as we know it today is the product of a wide range of polity expansions over time. Recognising the territorial expansions of Asian polities large and small through the last several millennia helps rectify the fallacy, long-held and deeply entrenched, that Asian polities have been interested only in the control of populations, not in expanding their command of territory.

In countering this misapprehension, this book suggests that Asian polities have indeed been concerned with territorial control and expansion over time, whether for political or strategic advantage, trade...