Sovereignty in China: A Genealogy of a Concept Since 1840 By Maria Adele Carrai. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2019. xv + 274 pp. $94.60 (cloth).

Abstract

ing the details of each subject in question that one can reach a more nuanced view of what was unique or common, so that no facile generalizations are made regarding the two cultures. What one used to consider unique to one culture may turn out to be not so unique, and vice versa. This is not to say that the author has reached any definitive conclusion or exhausted every possible explanation in the comparison between Egypt and China. Experts on each side of the comparison could certainly raise numerous quibbles about the details of facts and question the appropriateness of particular comparisons. Yet the purpose of review for these kind of books is to identify the major contributions of the author, pointing out the possible future direction of research that the book may initiate. The author has effectively demonstrated that meaningful comparison between different cultures can be done as long as one follows a principle, in this case structural similarities in cultural-historical developments, and, of course, done enough work on both sides. To compare an apple with an orange could indeed be fruitful, as new appreciation of the taste of each could, when one cuts into the fruit, emerge from a comparison. Where or in what direction should students who are interested in doing comparative work go? I would suggest that comparison for the sake of comparison would not do. There needs to be a genuine interest and passion in seeing humanity as a whole, and different historical traditions as variations of a central theme. If human beings belong to one species, what is the meaning of similarities and differences that we observe, and how should we as students of humanity position ourselves when equipped with some understanding derived from comparison? Professor Barbieri-Low’s new book certainly provides numerous clues to the possible answer to this question, and further elaborations should be encouraged.