Author Description

Asia As We Know It Today Is The Product Of A Vast Range Of Polity Expansions Over Time. Whether We Examine The Guptas, Cholas, Marathas Or Mughals In South Asia, The Chinese Polities, Nanzhao, The Tibetans, Khitan, Jin, Mongols, Koreans, Japanese Or Manchus In East Asia, Or The Khmers, Vietnamese, Javanese, Thai, Or Burmans In Southeast Asia, Aspects Of The Effects Of These Expansions Are Still Evident In The Region Today. However, This Fact Is Not Reflected In The Longstanding And Widely Held View That East Asian Polities Were Not Interested In Expanding Their Territory. In Contrast, This Book Suggests That East Asian Political Leaders Were Indeed Concerned With Territorial Control And Expansion, Whether For Political Or Strategic Advantage, Trade Purposes, Defence Needs, Agricultural Expansion Or Increased Income Through Taxation. It Explores The Historical Experiences Of Polity Expansion Across Asia, Specifically In East And Southeast Asia, And Reveals How The Ways In Which Asian Polities Grew Were Incredibly Diverse In Nature. The Chapters Draw On Historical Examples To Highlight The Centrality Of The Connections Between Imperial Expansion, Centralized Political Structures, And Territorial Integration To A Comprehensive Understanding Both The Past And The Present In East Asia. In Doing So, They Interrogate Key Ideas Such As Imperialism And Colonialism, And The Applicability And Relevance Of Such Terminology In Asian Contexts, Both Historical And Contemporary-- Asian Expansions: An Introduction / Geoff Wade -- Why Do Empires Expand? / Peter C. Perdue -- Asian States And Overseas Expansion, 1500-1700: An Approach To The Problem Of European Exceptionalism / Tonio Andrade -- The Native Office System: A Chinese Mechanism For Southern Territorial Expansion Over Two Millennia / Geoff Wade -- The Southeast Asian Mainland And The World Beyond: Rethinking Assumptions / Victor Lieberman -- The Thirteenth Province: Internal Administration And External Expansion In Fifteenth Century Dai Viet / John K. Whitmore -- The Vietnamese Empire And Its Expansion 980-1840 / Momoki Shiro -- Siamese State Expansion In The Thonburi And Early Bangkok Periods / Koizumi Junko -- Politics Of Integration And Cultures Of Resistance: A Study Of Burma's Conquest And Administration Of Arakan / Jacques P. Leider -- Re-evaluating State, Society And The Dynamics Of Expansion In Precolonial Gowa / William Cummings. Edited By Geoff Wade. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 23-252) And Index.