Stephen Platt | |
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Occupation | Author, historian |
Employer | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Stephen R. Platt is an American historian and writer. He is currently a professor of Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. [1]
Platt holds a PhD in Chinese history from Yale University (2004). His area of expertise is in modern China, especially in the nineteenth century and the Qing dynasty's foreign relations. [2]
In 2007 he published Provincial Patriots: The Hunanese and Modern China. [3]
Platt's books Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom and Imperial Twilight (examine East-West relations in China during the 19th century, focusing on the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and the period leading up the First Opium War (1800-1842).[ citation needed ]
He published Imperial Twilight in 2018, and Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom in 2012. [3]
Platt has also written for The New York Times , Chinafile, The Atlantic , The Wall Street Journal , and Late Imperial China . [3]
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted from 1850 to 1864, although following the fall of Tianjing the last rebel army was not wiped out until August 1871. After fighting the bloodiest civil war in world history, with over 20 million dead, the established Qing government won decisively, although at a great price to its fiscal and political structure.
The Opium Wars were two wars waged between the Qing dynasty and Western powers in the mid-19th century. The First Opium War, fought in 1839–1842 between Qing China and the United Kingdom, was triggered by the dynasty's campaign against the British merchants who sold opium in China. The Second Opium War was fought between the Qing and the United Kingdom and France, 1856–1860. In each war, the European force's modern military technology led to easy victory over the Qing forces, with the consequence that the government was compelled to grant favourable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations and territory to the Europeans.
Sinocentrism refers to the worldview that China is the cultural, political or economic center of the world. It may be considered analogous to Eurocentrism.
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its motto "All the best stories are true", the prize covers current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. The competition is open to authors of any nationality whose work is published in the UK in English. The longlist, shortlist and winner is chosen by a panel of independent judges, which changes every year. Formerly named after English author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the award was renamed in 2015 after Baillie Gifford, an investment management firm and the primary sponsor. Since 2016, the annual dinner and awards ceremony has been sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest was a Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Dutch embassy to China under the tributary system.
Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes was a French merchant-trader, ambassador and scholar, born in Paris. He was the son of French academician and sinologue, Joseph de Guignes. He learned Chinese from his father, and then traveled to China where he stayed for the next 17 years and returned to France in 1801.
The Battle of Jiangnan (1860), also known as the Second rout of the Jiangnan Battalion was a battle between the Qing government's Green Standard Army and the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during the Taiping Rebellion. The Green Standard Army twice attempted to besiege Nanjing, capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but was unable to break through. To break the siege of Nanjing, the Taiping forces maneuvered to divert Qing forces by sacking Hangzhou, before quickly moving back to Nanjing to counter-encircle the Qing siege forces and routing the Green Standard Army garrison completely, breaking the siege of Nanjing.
Battle of Changzhou occurred during the Taiping Rebellion. It was won by the Qing dynasty, who regained control over all of Jiangsu.
Auguste Léopold Protet was a French Navy admiral. He founded Dakar, fought in the Second Opium War, and was killed in the Taiping Rebellion at the Fengxian District of Shanghai on the afternoon of 17 May 1862.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel state in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Qing dynasty by Hong Xiuquan and his followers. The unsuccessful war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion. Its capital was at Tianjing.
The Second Battle of Taku Forts was a failed Anglo-French attempt to seize the Taku Forts along the Hai River in Tianjin, China, in June 1859 during the Second Opium War. A chartered American steamship arrived on scene and assisted the French and British in their attempted suppression of the forts.
The Cundill History Prize was founded in 2008 by Peter Cundill to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The prize is presented annually to an author who has published a non-fiction book in the prior year that is likely to have profound literary, social, and academic impact in the area of history. At a value of US$75,000, the Grand Prize is claimed to be the richest non-fiction historical literature prize in the world. In addition, two "Recognition of Excellence" prizes of US$10,000 each are awarded. The winners of the prizes are selected by an independent jury of at least five internationally qualified individuals selected by McGill University. The Cundill Prize in History at McGill is administered by McGill University's Dean of Arts, with the help of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC).
Julia Lovell is a British scholar and prize-winning author and translator focusing on China.
The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the Tiandihui in the Guangdong province of South China.
The Battle of Anqing (安慶之戰) was a prolonged siege of the prefecture-level city of Anqing in Anhui, China, initiated by Hunan Army forces loyal to the Qing Dynasty against the armies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The siege began in September 1860 and ended on September 5, 1861, when imperial forces under the command of Zeng Guoquan breached the walls of the city and occupied it.
Events from the year 1860 in China.
The Occupation of Ningbo was the five-month period in 1861 and 1862 during which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom successfully occupied the city of Ningbo during the Taiping Rebellion. British and French support eventually allowed the Qing to retake the city.
He Chun or Her Chyun was a Manchu nobleman and military commander of the Qing dynasty. He Chun was a commander of the northern encampment of the Army Group Jiangnan, a unit of the Green Standard Army tasked to defeat the Taiping rebellion. The northern encampment was based near Yangzhou, before the attack on attack on the Taiping capital, Tianjing (Nanjing). However during the Battle of Jiangnan (1860) he was killed the attack on Nanjing.
Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age is a history book by Stephen R. Platt relating the events during the lead-up to the First Opium War of 1839–1842. The book was well-received by critics, who were generally supportive of the conclusions Platt reached in the book.
Marla Miller is an American public historian.