Chinese History: A New Manual

Chinese History: A New Manual

Cover of Chinese History: A New Manual, Enlarged Sixth (Fiftieth Anniversary) Edition, Volume 1 (2022)
Author	Endymion Porter Wilkinson
Language	English
Published	2022
Publisher	Harvard University Asia Center
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print
ISBN	9780674260184
Preceded by	Preliminary edition: The History of Imperial China: A Research Guide (1973); 1st edition: Chinese History: A Manual (1998); 2nd edition: Chinese History: A Manual, Revised and enlarged (2000); 3rd edition: Chinese History: A New Manual (2012); 4th edition (2015); 5th edition (2017); 6th (50th anniversary) edition (2022)

Chinese History: A New Manual (Chinese: 中國歷史新手册; pinyin: Zhōngguó lìshǐ xīn shǒucè), written by Endymion Wilkinson, is an encyclopedic guide to Sinology and Chinese history. The New Manual lists and describes published, excavated, artifactual, and archival sources from pre-history to the twenty-first century, as well as selected up-to-date scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages. Detailed annotations evaluate reference and research tools and outline the 25 ancillary disciplines required for the study of Chinese history. Introductions to each of the chapters and interspersed short essays give encyclopedic and often witty summaries of major topics for specialists and general readers, as well as directives on the uses of history and avoidance of error in thought and analysis.

Since its first appearance in a preliminary version in 1973, Wilkinson's manual has been continuously in print (selling on average 700 copies a year). During this time it has grown from 70,000 to over 1.7-million words. The sixth edition, issued in two volumes, has been enlarged to cover digital tools and the time period extended from prehistory to the end of the Maoist era (1978). Volume 1 covers topics and scholarship, Volume 2 presents primary and secondary sources arranged by period.

The New Manual received the Prix Stanislas Julien for 2014 in recognition of outstanding scholarship on Asian culture.