Feudalism

Name: Feudalism
ISBN: 9787214270337

Feng Tianyu / 孙江Jiangsu People's Publishing House · ChinaFeb 2023

4.3

Word count: 81K words
Chapters: 26
ISBN: 9787214270337

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Summary

This book traces the concept of "fengjian" across time and across Chinese and Western contexts, and is divided into five parts. Part One examines its classical meanings. Part Two explores cross-cultural commensurability, tracing the eastward spread of the European concept of feudalism and the establishment of the new term "fengjian" in Meiji Japan and late Qing China. Part Three addresses the mismatch between name and reality, arguing that modern figures erred by placing the more than two thousand years from Qin through Ming and Qing—characterized by monarchical centralization and a landlord–owner-farmer economy—within a "feudal age." Part Four clears the ground by returning to foundational texts to restore the original meaning of Marx and Engels's theory of feudalism. Part Five proposes a name that matches reality, suggesting that the dominant social formation from Qin to Qing be called a "patriarchal landlord autocratic society," or for short the "age of imperial power," so as to reflect the true character of premodern Chinese society and provide a more accurate prehistory for China's modernization with Chinese characteristics.

Editor's review

Feudalism is the summation of Feng Tianyu's late-career scholarship, weighing far more than the average popular history. Taking "fengjian" as its pivot, the book conducts a semantic archaeology and historical analysis that spans past and present, China and the West. Feng does not stop at sorting out the traditional Chinese concept of fengjian; he places it within the grand coordinates of global civilizational history and compares it minutely with feudal systems in Western Europe and Japan, revealing the complex process by which the term was misread, generalized, and ideologized in modern Chinese discourse. This approach—the history of concepts—gives the book both the depth of intellectual history and the rigor of historical scholarship. Reading it is like following a wise guide to reexamine the historical narratives and discursive systems we take for granted, and to understand the historical roots of many contemporary issues. For readers who wish to go beyond simple historical verdicts and pursue deeper understanding, the book offers not just historical knowledge but a critical tool of thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in exploring core concepts of Chinese history and their modern transformation
Students and scholars of intellectual history, historiography, or conceptual history
Advanced enthusiasts seeking to move beyond textbook history and build an independent framework of thought
Readers who want a macro perspective on comparative Chinese-Western institutions and the evolution of social formations

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for light, story-driven history or quick, bite-sized facts
Those with little patience for or interest in rigorous academic argument and conceptual analysis

Reading tips

Read the preface and introduction first to grasp the book's central questions and methodology
Keep a notebook while reading to map how the concept of fengjian evolved in Chinese, Western, and Japanese contexts
Reflect against the basic background of modern Chinese history to appreciate the era's forces behind the conceptual reconstruction

About the publisher

Jiangsu People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1953

Jiangsu People's Publishing House is known for works in history, literature and the social sciences. Judging from its catalog, it focuses on modern Chinese history, classical literary appreciation and scholarly research. Representative titles include historical works such as Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation and the National Revolution, 1924–1927 and A Record of Combat on the Front Lines of China's War of Resistance Against Japan, literary and visual documents such as Sun Wen's Illustrated Complete Dream of the Red Chamber, and scholarly collections such as Chen Yinke's Collected Works of Hanliu Hall. Translations such as The Dust Bowl and Anti-Intellectualism in American Life reflect an interest in overseas social and cultural studies. Its authors include historians Wang Qisheng, Huang Yuzhang and Guo Rugui, as well as figures associated with classical literature such as Cao Xueqin and Sun Wen. Common categories include history, literary appreciation, essays and miscellaneous writings, and social-science and cultural titles, showing a balance between historical scholarship and literature and between academic and popular publishing. Because public information is limited, this overview is based only on the books in the catalog.

版权信息
弁言
题记
第一章古义演绎
第一节 “封建”本义
第二节秦至清的“封建论”
第三节《文献通考》及其续编的《封建考》
第二章中外通约
第一节西欧中世纪社会及其术语feudalism厘定
第二节欧日封建制的“酷似”
第三节新名“封建”在日本的确立
第四节清末民初采用融通古义与西义的新名“封建”
第三章名实错位
第一节五四时期陈独秀的“泛封建”说
第二节苏俄及共产国际以“半封建”指称现实中国
第三节中国社会史论战中的“泛封建”
第四节从毛泽东著作看泛化封建观的定型过程
第四章正本清源
第一节马克思的“封建”论
第二节关注中国史自身特点的学者质疑泛化封建观
第五章制名指实
第一节历史分期命名标准刍议
第二节秦至清：“皇权时代”
结语
主要参考文献
学衡尔雅文库书目

FAQ

How does this book differ from the "feudal society" taught in textbooks?

The book's core is precisely a systematic analysis and critique of the "feudal society" narrative found in textbooks. Through detailed historical evidence, Feng Tianyu argues that labeling Chinese society from Qin to Qing as "feudal" is a later construct based on a particular theoretical framework, and that it differs significantly from both the classical Chinese meaning of fengjian and Western European feudalism. He reveals the scholarly and political motives behind this conceptual generalization.

Does reading this book require a strong academic background?

Feng Tianyu writes clearly and accessibly; the issues are profound, but the exposition is lucid. Anyone with high-school-level history knowledge and a basic interest in intellectual questions can follow it. Of course, familiarity with the relevant scholarly background will make the reading richer. The book is above all a bridge between specialized research and public knowledge.

What are the book's main value and distinctive features?

Its value lies in "clearing the ground" and "providing a method." It not only clarifies a key historical concept but also demonstrates how to critically examine grand narratives we take for granted. Its distinctive feature is the combination of solid classical Chinese scholarship with an international comparative perspective, elevating conceptual history to a level of mutual learning among civilizations and showing a historian's sense of problems and contemporary concern.

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About the author

Feng Tianyu Author · China · 1942–2023

Feng Tianyu (1942–2023) was a native of Hong'an, Hubei, and a senior professor of humanities and social sciences at Wuhan University. A renowned historian of culture, he was a leading figure in the study of Chinese cultural history. He graduated from Wuhan Normal College in 1964, taught at Hubei University from 1979, and moved to Wuhan University after 1994, where he founded the Center for Traditional Chinese Culture Studies. He proposed the theories of "cultural ecology," "cultural classics," and "historical-cultural semantics," and wrote such works as A History of Chinese Culture, The Formation History of Chinese Culture, A Critical Study of "Feudalism," and The Collected Works of Feng Tianyu. His writings, mostly in the categories of culture and history, explore the formation, evolution, and core concepts of Chinese civilization, combining scholarly depth with readability and exerting a profound influence on the field of cultural history.

孙江 Author

Sun Jiang is an author about whom limited public information is available. His research and writing largely center on history, thought, and law. Ten of his works are included in the library, spanning categories such as history, social sciences, culture, world history, law, and Eastern philosophy. Representative works include Reexamining China's "Modernity," Integrating East and West: A Century of Classic Essays from the Xueheng School, and Studies in the History of Asian Concepts (Vol. 9), as well as National Language, Feudalism, Science, Utilitarianism, and Rule of Law. These works suggest that he prefers to approach historical and intellectual questions through key concepts, tracing how ideas evolve within a comparative Chinese-Western framework. His writing combines scholarly rigor with readability and is suited to readers interested in modern China, conceptual history, and intellectual and cultural questions.