Volume I. Earliest Times – 221 BCE: Preface; General introduction; Introduction; 1. The dawn of Chinese civilization; 2. The beginnings of Chinese civilization; 3. The flourishing of civilization in the Shang and Zhou; 4. Brilliant bronze culture; 5. The application and production of bronze; 6. Capitals, cities and commerce of the Shang and Zhou; 7. The origins and early development of Chinese script; 8. Religion and belief in the Shang and Zhou periods; 9. The development of education and the flourishing of scholarship; 10. The birth of Chinese literature and art. Volume II. Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties: Preface; Introduction; 1. Creation and development of a multiethnic centralized state; 2. The establishment and transformation of bureaucratic government; 3. Growth of the feudal economy; 4. The position and evolution of Ruist learning; 5. Abtruse learning in the Wei and Jin dynasties; 6. The introduction of Buddhism and the appearance of Daoism; 7. The foundation and development of historiography and geography; 8. Literature of the Qin, Han, Wei and Northern and Southern dynasties; 9. The full flourishing of the Arts; 10. Systemization of science and technology; 11. Social life. Volume III. Sui and Tang to mid-Ming Dynasties (581–1525): Preface; Introduction; 1. Fusion of southern and northern cultures and unification of the empire; 2. The silk road and cultural exchange between China and foreign lands; 3. Economic prosperity and the shift of the economic center of gravity to the south; 4. The development of the civil service examination system and the rise of the new literati class; 5. The perfection of the civil official system; 6. Ruism and new developments in religion; 7. The expansion of scholarship and the florescence of education; 8. The evolution of the northern peoples and their contribution to Chinese civilization; 9. A new period in the history of Chinese-foreign relations; 10. Science and technology and the development of the concept of science; 11. The downward movement of literature and its full florescence; 12. Artistic style and the spirit of the times; 13. Social life. Volume IV. Late Ming and Qing Dynasties (1525–1911): Preface; Introduction; 1. Economic development; 2. Proto-enlightenment trends and new elements in political culture; 3. Science and technology; 4. The establishment and growth of a multiethnic state; 5. Political development and people's livelihood; 6. Cultural awareness and achievement in the early and mid-Qing dynasty; 7. The eastward flow of western learning and the spread of Chinese civilization; 8. Religious belief: concepts and practice; 9. New directions in literature and the arts; 10. Order and disruption in social life; 11. Education in schools and in society; 12. The building of core cities and the emergence of regional differences; 13. The push for reform: the birth of modern culture.
