{"product_id":"the-chinese-overseas-from-earthbound-china-to-the-quest-for-autonomy-the-edwin-o-reischauer-lectures","title":"The Chinese Overseas: From Earthbound China to the Quest for Autonomy (The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Chinese overseas now number 25 to 30 million  yet the 2 000-year history of Chinese attempts to venture abroad and the underlying values affecting that migration have never before been presented in a broad overview. Despite centuries of prohibition against leaving the land and traveling and settling overseas  the \"earthbound\" Chinese--first traders  then peasants and workers--eventually found new sources of livelihood abroad. The practice of sojourning  being always temporarily away from home  was the answer the Chinese overseas found to deal with imperial and orthodox concerns. Today their challenge is to find an alternative to either returning or assimilating by seeking a new kind of autonomy in a world that will come to acknowledge the ideal of multicultural states.  In pursuing this story  international scholar Wang Gungwu uncovers some major themes of global history: the coming together of Asian and European civilizations  the ambiguities of ethnicity and diasporic consciousness  and the tension between maintaining ones culture and assimilation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44974534393909,"sku":"ByrdShop_067400986X","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674009868.jpg?v=1770839083","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-chinese-overseas-from-earthbound-china-to-the-quest-for-autonomy-the-edwin-o-reischauer-lectures","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}