and viewed their world. I will also try to situate these developments
within the context of world history, noting parallel or contrasting devel-
opments elsewhere, and paying particular attention to Chinese contacts
and interactions with other peoples and places. The sorry history of
imperialism in modern times has made the Chinese (and the rest of us,
too) more self-consciously nationalistic about their (and our) country
and its past. As Victor Mair has noted, modern nationalism and nar-
row academic specializations everywhere have led historians today to
downplay international, interethnic, and intercontinental contacts and
infl uences, especially in earlier times.^3 The popular assumption of Chi-
nese (and many Western) historians has been that China developed its
unique form of civilization without many outside infl uences or contri-
butions. I will challenge this assumption directly. I believe it is no deni-
gration of Chinese genius or ingenuity to note how often the Chinese
have borrowed institutions, inventions, products, and procedures from
non-Chinese outsiders, sometimes willingly and sometimes reluctantly
or by force, but all the while adapting them all to Chinese purposes.xvi Preface