| Introduction | 3 |
1 | Early Chinese Cosmopolitanism | 11 |
| The Idealized Chinese Worldview | |
| The Early Imperial Age, 206 B.C.-A.D. 581 | |
| Early Buddhism | |
| The Multicultural Ambience of Tang China, 618-907 | |
| Trade and International Exchange under the Tang | |
| The Exchange of Ideas under the Tang | |
| Diplomacy | |
| Foreign Religions | |
| Commercial and Maritime Expansion under the Song, 960-1276 | |
| The Mongol Yuan, 1276-1368 | |
| The Ming Empire, 1368-1644 | |
| The Advent of Europeans and the Impact of the Silver Trade | |
2 | China and Catholicism in the Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries | 55 |
| Late Ming China | |
| Qing Conquest, Ming Loyalism | |
| The Early Catholic Missions to China | |
| Jesuit Mission Policies | |
| Christianity, Religious Beliefs, and "Superstition" | |
| Breaking the Law | |
| The Decline of Catholic Influence in China | |
| Christianity and Buddhism: A Comparison | |
3 | Foreign Goods and Foreign Knowledge in the Eighteenth Century | 92 |
| War and Diplomacy in the High Qing | |
| Trade | |
| The Macartney Embassy | |
| China and European Arts and Sciences | |
| Astronomy and Mathematics | |
| Cartography | |
| Art and Architecture | |
| Artillery | |
| Chinese Abroad | |
| Origins of a Stereotype | |
4 | The Turning of the Tables, 1796-1860 | 129 |
| China in the Early Nineteenth Century | |
| Foreigners in China | |
| The First Opium War, 1839-1842 | |
| Chinese Mobilization | |
| The Treaty of Nanjing, 1842 | |
| The Rise of Shanghai | |
| Chinese Emigration | |
| The Taiping Rebellion | |
| The Russians, the British, and the French, 1856-1860 | |
5 | Shields and Swords, 1860-1914 | 166 |
| Decline and Fall | |
| The Foreign Presence | |
| New Diplomacy | |
| Christian Missionaries | |
| Military Reform | |
| Industrialization | |
| The Boxers | |
| Changes in Education | |
| Study Overseas | |
| Opium and Footbinding | |
| Early Popular Action against Foreigners | |
6 | Overcoming Habits of Mind, 1914-1949 | 207 |
| Empire to Republic | |
| China and Versailles | |
| New Culture, New Politics | |
| Work-Study | |
| The Guomindang, the Chinese Communists, and the Soviet Union | |
| Flirting with Fascism under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 | |
| Rural Reconstruction | |
| The Guomindang, the Communists, and Japan | |
| China and the Western Allies in World War Two | |
| Wartime Culture | |
| Aftermath of War | |
| Bringing Foreign Domination to an End | |
7 | Culture and Conflict, 1949-1997 | 247 |
| The Korean War | |
| New World Standing | |
| China and the Soviet Union | |
| China and the Vietnam War | |
| The Cultural Revolution | |
| Normalization of Relations with the United States | |
| After Mao | |
| The 1980s | |
| Christianity under the People's Republic | |
| Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang | |
| Adjusting Perspective | |
| Culture and the Nation | |
| Tiananmen, 1989 | |
| China after Tiananmen | |
| Conclusion | 283 |
| Notes | 287 |
| Further Readings | 293 |
| Index | 299 |
| Maps | |
1. | Contemporary China | xii |
2. | The World of Tang China | 22 |
3. | The World of Late Ming China | 50 |
4. | The Treaty Ports | 149 |