Studies on the Jurchens and the Chin Dynasty (review)

io8 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. i, Spring 1999© 1999 by University ofHawai'i Press wrong line in order to achieve their professional goals—Feng no longer searches for archetypal stories for political reasons alone. Instead, as a journalist operating in a post-Mao commercial setting, he finds his "answers that lay claim to truth" in accounts that possess a definite market appeal in addition to "memorializing the past and offering inspiration for the future" (p. ix). It should be noted that some ofthe stories published here have appeared earlier in a different translation in Feng Jicai, Voicesfrom the Whirlwind: An Oral History ofthe Chinese Cultural Revolution (New York: Pantheon Books, 1991)· Both collections are excellent and equally suited for classroom use. This one also includes a number of useful appendixes, including a chronology of events and potted biographies ofkey figures ofthe Cultural Revolution. Michael Schoenhals Lund University Associate Professor Michael Schoenhals is Director ofthe Centrefor East and SoutheastAsian Studies and editor o/China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1996). Herbert Franke and Hok-lam Chan. Studies on the furchens and the Chin Dynasty. Variorum Collected Studies Series, vol. 591. Aldershot (England) and Brookfield (Vermont): Ashgate Publishing Co., 1997. xiv, 374 pp. Hardcover $116.95, isbn 0-86078-645-5. Recent decades have seen considerable advances in Jurchen/Jin studies in the West, much of it due to the efforts of the two contributors to this volume. The authors explain in their preface that this is thanks in no small part to Herbert Franke's mid-1960s discovery ofmaterials on the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) that had been left at the University ofWashington by Feng Chia-sheng after the latter's return to China. This led in turn to a Jin Dynastic History Project, assisted by the American Council ofLearned Societies, which spurred several scholars, including Franke and Hok-lam Chan, to devote at least a portion oftheir energies to this important and somewhat neglected subject. It is always good news when capable scholars turn their attention to a subject sorely in need of examination. The only disheartening note in this tale is that Franke and Chan have had to abandon their plans for a volume that would parallel in design—and doubdess would have been a worthy companion to—the im- Reviews 109 portant and comprehensive study History ofChinese Society, Liao (907-1125), published in 1949 by Karl Wittfogel and Feng Chia-sheng. Instead, we must make do with the monographs and articles that Franke, Chan, and their colleagues have written for us (and, we hope, will continue to write). These provide a wealth of information and insight on a hitherto poorly understood period in East Asian history. The present collection comprises ten articles—seven by Franke and the remainder by Chan—and includes an index. As is the custom with this series, the articles have not been repaginated, and so will be referred to by their assigned Roman numeral(s) and page number(s). We are particularly fortunate in this selection, as six ofthese articles were originally brought out in Festschrifts and other publications that may be difficult to come by. Three more were originally published in Zentralasiatische Studien, while one may be found in the pages ofthe Harvard Iournal ofAsiatic Studies. These articles, published between 1970 and 1992, do not comprise the two authors' complete works on the Jurchen/Jin, but do provide an interesting and at times fascinating look at many different facets of Jurchen/Jin history and culture. The first two articles are substantial, annotated translations by Franke. The first is ofthe monograph on the Jurchens in the third chapter ofXu Mengxin's fâ W^ San chao bei menghui bian 3|l§:|b!nI1Í1fí, which provides important information on early Jurchen history and culture—including descriptions ofJurchen customs, military organization, officials, and clan organization that are not found in other sources. This article includes three interesting and useful appendixes: a chronological list of early (961-1019) Song-Jurchen relations taken from the Song huiyao 5f?lH"||; a collection ofJurchen food recipes from two different sources; and a translation of the fragments of another...