An Interpretation Of Chinese Social History

In 2007, "Emperor and Ancestor:State and Lineage in South China" by David William Faure (1947-) was published by Stanford University Press. In 2009, it was published in mainland china, and Puk Wing Kin, translated it into Chinese, named "huangdi yu zuzong.-huanan de guojia yu zongzu". This book illustrates the relationship between the lineages of south China and their state after the 16th century. Dr. Faure constructs a Chinese history from Sung dynasty to modern period by a dynamic interaction approach. Meanwhile, the lineage here is beyond the meaning of text. Actually, he wants to explain the lineage as the practical function of society. Furthermore, his ambition is to answer what is south China.This paper intends to clarify the academic background and features of the" Emperor and Ancestor". In the first part, it discusses the academic background in the view of Dr. Faure’s academic career from three aspects:the influence of the oversea Chinese Study, the development of the Hong Kong Study and the contact between scholars.. In the second part, it analyses, the academic features, including the content, the approach and the applied theories. In the third part, this paper illustrates its influence and critiques which show the contribution and innovation of this book in field of social history study.