Ordering the Myriad Things: From Traditional Knowledge to Scientific Botany By Nicholas K. Menzies. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2021. 312 pp. $ 99.00 (cloth) $30.00 (paper)

Abstract

imperial center alongside the ways urban residents managed essential tasks. “Urban Culture and Daily Life” encompasses descriptions of cities and urban life, and in this section Lincoln attempts to convey how the experience of inhabiting a city might differ from that of the countryside. The structure of the book is logical, and China specialists will find it useful for the way it crystallizes important themes. Each chapter includes helpful maps and suggestions for further reading. Those unfamiliar with Chinese history, however, may find the early chapters particularly challenging. The “Urban System” section of Chapter 1, for example, describes developments from the earliest settlements to the Han Dynasty, but the “Urban Planning and Governance” and “Urban Culture and Daily Life” sections then jump around within that vast timespan, leaving the reader a bit dizzy. The organization and argument become more manageable in later chapters, where the time periods are much shorter. Lincoln’s textbook is an extremely useful tool, but you will want to use it with care. It is schematic rather than encyclopedic, and despite its wide scope, the emphasis lies mainly on recent developments. If you are looking for an introductory text, or if you are considering assigning chapters of this book in global urban history courses, you would be wise to devote time to helping students navigate the early chapters. More advanced students will appreciate the book’s many strengths on their own. For my part, I admire how Lincoln foregrounds the historical legacies of administrative centralization, economic interconnection, and cultural production in China today while still conveying the many transformations of Chinese urban forms.