Peter Kees Bol approfondisce le transizioni intellettuali e le pratiche culturali delle élite cinesi, sia a livello nazionale che locale, attraverso i secoli. La sua erudizione esplora come queste élite si confrontarono con i testi classici e navigarono in paesaggi culturali in evoluzione. Bol combina in modo unico l'indagine storica con l'analisi geo-spaziale avanzata, aprendo la strada a nuovi metodi per comprendere il passato profondo della Cina. Il suo lavoro offre profonde intuizioni sull'evoluzione della cultura e della società cinese, inquadrate in un sofisticato contesto geografico e storico.
In premodern China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, just as in the far less culturally cohesive countries composing the West of the Middle Ages, enslavement was an assumed condition of servitude warranting little examination, as the power and profits it afforded to the slaver made it a convention pursued unreflectively.
Bridges, the least known and understood of China's many wonders, are one of its most striking and resilient feats of architectural prowess. Chinese Bridges brings together a thorough look at these marvels from one of the world's leading experts on Chinese culture and historical geography, Ronald G. Knapp.While many consider bridges to be merely utilitarian, the bridges of China move beyond that stereotype, as many are undeniably dramatic, even majestic and daring. Chinese Bridges illustrates in detail 20 well-preserved ancient bridges, along with descriptions and essays on the distinctive architectural elements shared by the various designs. For the first time in an English-language book, Chinese Bridges records scores of newly discovered bridges across China's vast landscape, illustrated with over 400 color photographs, as well as woodblock prints, historic images, paintings and line drawings.