the Cambridge China Library Chinese Culture and Military

This is the first English translation of Lei Haizong's study of the Chinese army, reappraising Chinese civilisation from a military perspective. Born out of concern for China's military circumstances during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Lei traces the development of military culture from the ancient world to the 1930s. Completed during the second year of the war, Lei wrote in direct proximity to harrowing events that were taking place in China, attempting to lay out a more hopeful path which resonated greatly with its readership at the time. Avoiding traditional national narratives and employing a new system of periodisation that uses neither dynastic cycles nor Western ideas, Lei's study emphasises unique features of Chinese history whilst embracing the broader global context. Although today China has risen as a global military power, Lei's work stands as a powerful assessment of Chinese military history from the stance of scholar writing during the Japanese occupation.