I. Guides to the State of the Field

The late Etienne Balazs began formulating plans for an international, collaborative study of the Sung period as early as 1949 and formally initiated the "Sung Project" in 1954. The Project was responsible for some of the most valuable reference tools in this guide. Its history is related in:

I.A. NEWSLETTERS AND BULLETINS

For current bibliography in Western languages, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as for abstracts of Western-language dissertations, reports on work-in-progress and scholarly activities, and research articles, see:

For the state of the field in the People's Republic of China, including PRC bibliography, publication news, and short articles of scholarly interest, see:

For subscription information contact the Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies.

I.B. RETROSPECTIVE ASSESSMENTS OF THE FIELD

A useful if dated introduction to Sung sources and to modern studies in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages is:

Note is taken here of the conference volume from the most recent International Conference on Sung History:

I.B.1. Scholarship in the People's Republic of China

For a comparative assessment of three periods in the development of Chinese Sung historical studies between 1950 and 1990, see:

For a useful introduction to PRC historical scholarship in 1980-1990 by a leading Chinese social historian, see:

and, for approximately the same period,

There are annual reviews of scholarship in

Since 1986 an annual review of historical studies has appeared. The sections on Sung history and their authors are noted here.

Since 1982 the national meeting of the Sung Studies Association in the PRC has published a conference volume with the title:

I.B.2. Scholarship in the Republic of China and Hong Kong

For a review of post-1949 scholarship in Taiwan and Hong Kong, see:

Also note the following comparative assessment of three periods of mainland and Taiwan historical studies, 1949-1990:

Although a periodic review devoted to Sung studies has yet to be established for scholarship in Taiwan and Hong Kong, bibliographies of recent work regularly appear in the Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies. State-of-the-field news and bibliographies, covering Sung studies and other fields, will also be found in

The Sung History Study Society publishes annually a volume reprinting important recent articles; occasionally the articles have been expanded or revised. This series appears under the title:

Vol. 11 contains an index to article titles for vols. 6-10 and an index to authors for vols. 1‑10.

I.B.3. Scholarship in Japan

For a review of major achievements and topics in Japanese Sung studies in the postwar period, see:

Also valuable as a bibliographic survey of Japanese Sung studies is

Of particular interest for its account of the history of Japanese Sung studies and the emergence of intellectual divisions among Japanese historians with regard to the Naitō hypothesis and the study of economic and social history, is:

An earlier version of this article includes a useful bibliography:

Note also the entries under I.C. below.

For a more general survey of the state of Japanese studies on the Five Dynasties, Sung, and Yuan, see:

Of great value is the annual review of the previous year's historical scholarship on Five Dynasties, Sung, and Yuan in Japan, usually appearing in Number 5 of each volume of:

The Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies has published translations of these retrospects, begining with the 1987 survey.

For additional reviews of Japanese scholarship see I.B.5, Scholarship in Particular Fields.

I.B.4. Scholarship in the West

On new developments in the American study of Sung history between 1983 and 1993, see:

On scholarship in the USSR, see:

Review articles of Soviet scholarship also appear in the Sung Studies Newsletter/Bulletin of Sung-Yuan Studies/Journal of Song-Yuan Studies.

I.B.5. Scholarship in Particular Fields

I.B.5.a. Intellectual History

A general review by a senior intellectual historian is

On Neo-Confucianism in particular see, for Japan:

for Western studies of Neo-Confucianism:

For one view of several recent studies of Sung intellectual history with a particular emphasis on Neo-Confucianism, see:

for China:

For Chinese scholarship on Chu Hsi, see:

On the changes in the evaluation of Chu Hsi in the PRC, see:

For Taiwan scholarship on Ssu-ma Kuang's Tzu-chih t'ung-chien, see:

For a review of scholarship on Buddhism and Taoism, see:

I.B.5.b. Literature and Art

For the last decade of Chinese scholarship on Sung poetry, see:

Note also:

For a review of recent work in art history see:

I.B.5.c. Social and Economic History

For Japanese studies of Chinese social history from the Sung through the Ch'ing periods, see:

For a review of recent work in social-economic history, including a lengthy bibliography, see:

The following introduces recent Chinese scholarship on marriage in the Sung

For an account of Japanese scholarship on the history of Chinese water utilization, see:

For studies on Sung cities, see:

For discussion on Wang An-shih's New Policies, see:

For Japanese scholarship on Sung fiscal history, see:

This article treats the fiscal situation of the whole empire and the fiscal institutions of the central government, river transportation and military provisioning, local finance, and the increasing integration of fiscal policy.

I.B.5.d. Other

For a discussion of policies in the early Sung period, see:

For studies on Yueh Fei, see:

I.C. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE STUDY OF SUNG HISTORY

The three Japanese studies listed below are essential introductions to the primary sources, references tools, and major secondary works for the study of Sung history.

Sudō Yoshiyuki's 周藤吉之 essay on the Five Dynasties and Sung periods in:

Included with this edition of the Guide is Chikusa Masaaki's 竺沙雅章 essay on Sung from:

Of particular value for social and economic history are Yanagida Setsuko's 柳田節子 and Ihara Hiroshi's 伊原弘 essays on the sources for Sung history and Chinese and Japanese studies, in

Translated into Chinese in

Again note Hasegawa's account of postwar Japanese Sung studies:

which cites the major reference works compiled by Japanese scholars and their studies of the examination and school system, bureaucratic system, and shih-ta-fu class.

The multi-volume series on Chu Hsi school Neo-Confucianism, the Shushigaku taikei includes a one-volume introduction to the sources for Chu Hsi studies:

Finally, note Fang Hao's discussion of 60 important primary sources:

and the discussion of several major primary sources in the bibliography of

Take note of the following excellent introduction to Yuan studies:

This reviews Yuan historical studies, abstracts scholarship in many different fields, and introduces primary sources, reference works, and research tools. There are indexes to secondary scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and European languages.

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