The lives of emperors, the great battles, this or the other famous deed, matter less to us than the discovery of the great forces that underlie these features and govern the human element. Only when we have knowledge of those forces and counter-forces can we realize the significance of the great personalities who have emerged in China... -from the Introduction A radical new look at the history of the nation that may well shape the course of the 21st century, this significant exploration of China's past breaks with scholarly traditions to approach its subject with a fresh eye, one that relies less on romanticized mythologies of godlike emperors and more on modern archaeological discoveries and new, fluid theories of ethnography and anthropology. First published in 1950, A History of China is still one of the best sources for understanding the culture and peoples who today are increasingly influencing global society. WOLFRAM EBERHARD (1909-1989) was born in Germany traveled extensively in Asia; from 1948 to 1976, he was a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley. Among his many works examining Chinese folklore, fiction, culture, and history are A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols and China's Minorities: Yesterday and Today.