Civil-Military Relations in Chinese History: From Ancient China to the Communist Takeover (Asian States and Empires) - Hardcover

"In sum, the volume includes a selection of essays of diverse quality and focus. Each essay adduces useful information for researchers and students of Chinese military history.This volume is nonetheless an important contribution to the literature and is worth the time and effort it takes to read it."

-Shu-hui Wu, Professor of Chinese History, Mississippi State University

Journal of Chinese Military History 4 (2015) 210-213

Modern studies of civil--military relations recognise that the military is separate from civil society, with its own norms and values, principles of organization, and regulations. Key issues of concern include the means by which – and the extent to which – the civil power controls the military; and also the ways in which military values and approaches permeate and affect wider society. This book examines these issues in relation to China, covering the full range of Chinese history from the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties up to the Communist takeover in 1949. It traces how civil--military relations were different in different periods, explores how military specialization and professionalization developed, and reveals how military weakness often occurred when the civil authority with weak policies exerted power over the military. Overall, the book shows how attitudes to the military’s role in present day Communist China were forged in earlier periods.