A Passion for Facts

Social Surveys and the Construction of the Chinese Nation-State, 1900–1949

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Asia
Cover of the book A Passion for Facts by Tong Lam, University of California Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tong Lam ISBN: 9780520950351
Publisher: University of California Press Publication: November 1, 2011
Imprint: University of California Press Language: English
Author: Tong Lam
ISBN: 9780520950351
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication: November 1, 2011
Imprint: University of California Press
Language: English

In this path-breaking book, Tong Lam examines the emergence of the "culture of fact" in modern China, showing how elites and intellectuals sought to transform the dynastic empire into a nation-state, thereby ensuring its survival. Lam argues that an epistemological break away from traditional modes of understanding the observable world began around the turn of the twentieth century. Tracing the Neo-Confucian school of evidentiary research and the modern departure from it, Lam shows how, through the rise of the social survey, "the fact" became a basic conceptual medium and source of truth. In focusing on China’s social survey movement, A Passion for Facts analyzes how information generated by a range of research practices—census, sociological investigation, and ethnography—was mobilized by competing political factions to imagine, manage, and remake the nation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this path-breaking book, Tong Lam examines the emergence of the "culture of fact" in modern China, showing how elites and intellectuals sought to transform the dynastic empire into a nation-state, thereby ensuring its survival. Lam argues that an epistemological break away from traditional modes of understanding the observable world began around the turn of the twentieth century. Tracing the Neo-Confucian school of evidentiary research and the modern departure from it, Lam shows how, through the rise of the social survey, "the fact" became a basic conceptual medium and source of truth. In focusing on China’s social survey movement, A Passion for Facts analyzes how information generated by a range of research practices—census, sociological investigation, and ethnography—was mobilized by competing political factions to imagine, manage, and remake the nation.

More books from University of California Press

Cover of the book Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes by Tong Lam
Cover of the book When Mandates Work by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Life Lived in Relief by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Climbin' Jacob's Ladder by Tong Lam
Cover of the book The Conscientious Gardener by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Dark Archive by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Eco-Sonic Media by Tong Lam
Cover of the book The Ghosts of Gombe by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Journeys by Tong Lam
Cover of the book A Malleable Map by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Hitchcock on Hitchcock, Volume 2 by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Sanitized Sex by Tong Lam
Cover of the book The Scholar Denied by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Biography of an Empire by Tong Lam
Cover of the book Changing Energy by Tong Lam
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy