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Book Review
Asia
Alan J. Berkowitz. Patterns of Disengagement: The Practice and Portrayal of Reclusion in Early Medieval China. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 2000. Pp. xii, 296. $55.00.
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The study of the individual in the making of Chinese history and civilization has in recent years experienced renewed vigor in the world of Chinese studies in this country. Although the main focus of the recent research trend has been on the well-established research domains of the individual and society, the individual and the state, and the life and life history of the individual, the methodological approaches have been much refined and broadened and the interpretive frameworks expanded to include interdisciplinary perspective. For instance, psychoanalytic techniques and dream analysis have been added to produce new insights into character, personality, and behavioral patterns. Equally important is the use of social-mobility theory, class theory, and collective-action theory to examine and interpret the roles of certain individuals in critical political, social, and intellectual movements. The author of the book under review, however, has chosen to follow more traditional paths. Alan J. Berkowitz seeks to trace the formulation and portrayal of the practice of reclusion in China from the earliest times through the sixth century. |
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