Background
Smith, Richard Joseph was born on October 30, 1944 in Sacramento. Son of Joseph Benjamin and Margaret Elaine (Stoddard) Smith.
(Despite efforts by Chinese governments to suppress their ...)
Despite efforts by Chinese governments to suppress their popularity, and the influence of Western ideas and science, almanacs have been one of the most widely distributed and read publications in Chinese societies all over the world. Perhaps no other single class of artifacts reflects more clearly the essence of inherited culture and its evolution in China in late imperial and modern times. Beautifully illustrated with block-prints and full-color covers, Chinese almanacs provide a unique insight into the structure, beliefs, hopes, and concerns of Chinese societies around the world. This perceptive introduction traces the almanacs' links with traditional calendars, astrology, and divination, and examines their importance as indexes of continuity and change, popular hopes and fears, aesthetic preferences, ethical concerns, and symbolic expression from the Tang dynasty to the present day.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195852885/?tag=2022091-20
( The Qing dynasty (1636–1912)—a crucial bridge between “...)
The Qing dynasty (1636–1912)—a crucial bridge between “traditional” and “modern” China—was remarkable for its expansiveness and cultural sophistication. This engaging and insightful history of Qing political, social, and cultural life traces the complex interaction between the Inner Asian traditions of the Manchus, who conquered China in 1644, and indigenous Chinese cultural traditions. Noted historian Richard J. Smith argues that the pragmatic Qing emperors presented a “Chinese” face to their subjects who lived south of the Great Wall and other ethnic faces (particularly Manchu, Mongolian, Central Asian, and Tibetan) to subjects in other parts of their vast multicultural empire. They were attracted by many aspects of Chinese culture, but far from being completely “sinicized” as many scholars argue, they were also proud of their own cultural traditions and interested in other cultures as well. Setting Qing dynasty culture in historical and global perspective, Smith shows how the Chinese of the era viewed the world; how their outlook was expressed in their institutions, material culture, and customs; and how China’s preoccupation with order, unity, and harmony contributed to the civilization’s remarkable cohesiveness and continuity. Nuanced and wide-ranging, his authoritative book provides an essential introduction to late imperial Chinese culture and society.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442221933/?tag=2022091-20
(Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) sailed to China in 1874, a...)
Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) sailed to China in 1874, and for the next thirty-five years he labored loyally in the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service, becoming one of its most able commissioners and acquiring a deep knowledge of China's economy and foreign relations. After his retirement in 1909, Morse devoted himself to scholarship. He pioneered in the Western study of China's foreign relations, weaving from the tangled threads of the Ch'ing dynasty's foreign affairs several seminal interpretive histories, most notably his three-volume magnum opus, The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (1910-18). At the time of his death, Morse was considered the major historian of modern China in the English-speaking world, and his works played a profound role in shaping the contours of Western scholarship on China. Begun as a labor of love by his protégé, John King Fairbank, this lively biography based primarily on Morse's vast collection of personal papers sheds light on many crucial events in modern Chinese history, as well as on the multifaceted Western role in late imperial China, and provides new insights into the beginnings of modern China studies in this country. Half-finished when Fairbank died, the project was completed by his colleagues, Martha Henderson Coolidge and Richard J. Smith.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813160022/?tag=2022091-20
(Ten essays explore the boundaries between the metaphysica...)
Ten essays explore the boundaries between the metaphysical and human action in the philosophies of Chinese thinkers of the 17th to the 20th centuries. Some focus on individuals or groups, while others discuss broad patterns of thought and behavior; some consider only the elite culture or only popula
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824814436/?tag=2022091-20
(For nearly two thousand years the Chinese emperor, ruler ...)
For nearly two thousand years the Chinese emperor, ruler of "All under heaven", demanded the obedience not only of his subjects in China but also of tributary peoples throughout the known world. This work explores the history of Chinese map-making, giving special emphasis to the political, military, and administrative uses of maps, the images of foreign "barbarians" seen in maps and encyclopaedias, and the role of these materials in the maintenance of China's image of itself as the Middle Kingdom.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195859499/?tag=2022091-20
(Providing an analysis of Chinese divination as a means of...)
Providing an analysis of Chinese divination as a means of organizing and interpreting "reality", Richard Smith examines a wide variety of mantic techniques - from the use of the hallowed "Yjing" to such popular practices as siting (geomancy), astrology, numerology, physiognomy, the analysis of written characters, meteorological divination, the use of mediums (including spirit-writing), and dream interpretation. As he explains the pervasiveness and tenacity of divination in China, the author explores not only the connections between various mantic techniques but also the relationship between divination and other facets of Chinese culture, including philosophy, science and medicine. He discusses the symbolism of divination, its aesthetics, its ritual aspects, and its psychological and social significance, pointing out that in traditional China divination helped to order the future, just as history helped to order the past, and rituals the present.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813377536/?tag=2022091-20
Smith, Richard Joseph was born on October 30, 1944 in Sacramento. Son of Joseph Benjamin and Margaret Elaine (Stoddard) Smith.
Bachelor, University of California, Davis, 1966; Master of Arts, University of California, Davis, 1968; Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, Davis, 1972.
Lecturer, Chinese U. Hong Kong, 1972-1973; lecturer, University of California, 1972-1973; assistant professor of history, Rice U., Houston, 1973-1978; associate professor, Rice U., Houston, 1978-1983; professor, Rice U., Houston, since 1983; Minnie Stevens Piper professor, Rice U., Houston, 1987; Sarofim Distinguished Teaching professor, Rice U., Houston, 1993-1995. Adjunct Professor University Texas, Austin, since 1983. Consultant Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, since 1985, National Endowment for Humanities, Washington, since 1983, various music, Houston, Boston, New York City, since 1987.
(Providing an analysis of Chinese divination as a means of...)
(Providing an analysis of Chinese divination as a means of...)
(Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) sailed to China in 1874, a...)
(Despite efforts by Chinese governments to suppress their ...)
(For nearly two thousand years the Chinese emperor, ruler ...)
( The Qing dynasty (1636–1912)—a crucial bridge between “...)
(Ten essays explore the boundaries between the metaphysica...)
(Book by Fairbank, John King, Coolidge, Martha Henderson, ...)
(Book by Smith, Richard J)
Adjunct member Houston Museum Fine Arts, since 1986. Guest curator Children's Museum, Houston, 1987-1989, 91—. President Texas Foundation for China Studies, Houston, 1988-1993.
Member Association for Asian Studies (president Southwest conference 1990-1991), Asia Society (board directors Houston Center since 1976), Houston-Taipei Society (board directors since 1990), National Committee on United States-China Relations, National Council on Asia in Schools, Phi Kappa Phi.
Married Alice Ellen Weisenberger, July 1, 1967. 1 child, Tyler Stoddard.