Meow Hui Goh

Textual Forces examines how political texts were forces of war, state-building, and inner- and inter-regime communication in early medieval China. Meow Hui Goh shows that these texts acted as vectors: pushing and pulling, stirring and moving, conjuring sensory and emotional affective states that animated individuals and the world around them. Covering prose from different regimes and states, from the battleground and the court, Goh traces the symbiotic relationship among the textual, bodily, and political aspects of Chinese life in the late Han through Three Kingdoms period. Interweaving literary, historical, and linguistic analysis, Goh offers a new framework for understanding the significance of the political prose of early medieval China. Goh complicates our understanding of textual authority in this era, shifting to a concept of textual forces that shows how these prose works exerted physical and emotive forces to arouse a wide range of reactions beyond political obedience. Textual Forces invites an imagination of premodern China infused as much by the senses, feelings and emotions effected through text as it was by the symbolic power of text.

Textual Forces examines how political texts were forces of war, state-building, and inner- and inter-regime communication in early medieval China. Meow Hui Goh shows that these texts acted as vectors: pushing and pulling, stirring and moving, conjuring sensory and emotional affective states that animated individuals and the world around them. Covering prose from different regimes and states, from the battleground and the court, Goh traces the symbiotic relationship among the textual, bodily, and political aspects of Chinese life in the late Han through Three Kingdoms period. Interweaving literary, historical, and linguistic analysis, Goh offers a new framework for understanding the significance of the political prose of early medieval China. Goh complicates our understanding of textual authority in this era, shifting to a concept of textual forces that shows how these prose works exerted physical and emotive forces to arouse a wide range of reactions beyond political obedience. Textual Forces invites an imagination of premodern China infused as much by the senses, feelings and emotions effected through text as it was by the symbolic power of text.

Designed for students who have completed at least two years of college Chinese, this thoroughly revised edition of All Things Considered bridges the gap between intermediate- and advanced-level Chinese. Lessons promote student discussion and include thought-provoking topics relevant to contemporary Chinese society, such as the increasing divisions between the rich and poor, the conflict between economic development and environmental protection, and changing attitudes toward sex and marriage. The first twelve lessons in the book are in dialogue form, while the remaining lessons are adapted from Chinese newspaper and magazine articles, exposing students to spoken and written styles of Chinese. Some topics appear in both the dialogues and articles sections, giving students ample opportunity for review and reinforcement, improving their overall grammar and vocabulary retention. With a new user-friendly format, All Things Considered juxtaposes text and vocabulary on adjacent pages. Grammar explanations and exercises have also been fully updated to meet student needs. * Third-year Chinese language textbook * Bridges the gap between the intermediate and advanced levels * Covers thought-provoking topics essential to contemporary Chinese society * Includes both dialogues and articles that reinforce grammar and vocabulary * Improved explanations and exercises * New user-friendly format