To browse Academia. Angela Schottenhammer. Zeitenwenden: Historische Brueche in asiatischen und afrikanischen Gesellschaften. Johannes L Kurz. The paper deals with the creation of the term 'Five Dynasties and Ten States' by Song historians to denote the period directly preceding the Song.
Thomas Jansen. The period of Early Medieval China, roughly the centuries between and AD, is generally acknowledged to be a time of dramatic socio-political transformation as well as great cultural achievements.
However, the precise nature of this transformation is still poorly understood, despite the lasting impact it had on the trajectory of Chinese history and culture. It was during these four hundred years of conquest, colonisation, and the assimilation of huge non-Chinese populations that China gradually consolidated into the integrated empire we think of today. A meritocracy arose as cultural accomplishments were elevated as the new criterion for social position, thus transforming a social hierarchy primarily based on birth to one that greatly valued talent.
The study of Early Medieval China further provides rich evidence on how culture, religion, and politics worked together in the crafting of a new cultural identity, both in the northern and southern half of the divided empire.
Hence it is of great interest to historians who want to engage theoretical issues of cultural identity, the re-invention of tradition or the process of nation building in a comparative perspective.
