Peter Kees Bol erforscht die intellektuellen Übergänge und kulturellen Praktiken Chinas von nationalen und lokalen Eliten über Jahrhunderte hinweg. Seine Forschung untersucht, wie diese Eliten sich mit klassischen Texten auseinandersetzten und sich in sich wandelnden Kulturlandschaften bewegten. Bol verbindet auf einzigartige Weise historische Forschung mit fortschrittlicher Geodatenanalyse und leistet Pionierarbeit bei neuen Methoden zum Verständnis der tiefen chinesischen Vergangenheit. Seine Arbeit bietet tiefgreifende Einblicke in die Entwicklung der chinesischen Kultur und Gesellschaft, gerahmt in einem anspruchsvollen geografischen und historischen Kontext.
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.