Why China Did Not Have a Renaissance–And Why That Matters: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue by Thomas Maissen and Barbara Mittler
Luke Clossey
Reviewed by: Why China Did Not Have a Renaissance–And That Matters: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue by Thomas Maissen and Barbara Mittler Luke Clossey (bio) Mittler. Dialogue. Critical Readings in Global Intellectual History 1. Oldenbourg: De Gruyter, 2018. xvii, 238 pp. Hardcover $79.99, isbn 978-3-11-057639-9. In 1907 young D. T. Suzuki described the Song Dynasty as "renaissance," when after "long slumber of one thousand years" Buddhism "stirred up [End Page 220] Chinese nerve to respond new stimuli."1 poetically reattaching concept other cultural, sometimes social, movements, such inventive scholars have made "renaissance" do heavy labour, often far from home. Rebirth gets reborn, again again. Although half century Jules Michelet brought Italian into our professional lexicon saw its casual use variety contexts (such Robert Brown's 1894 reference an "African renaissance" fuelled imperialist "philanthropy, greed, love science"),2 renaissance production reached stage with American historian Dana C. Munro's 1906 essay proposing "Renaissance Twelfth Century."3 If we look at English, German, French works, 1930s Byzantine, Carolingian, (American) Southern Renaissances were commonplace historical scholarship, pioneer entrepreneurs had Provence, Scotland, Yiddish, Ottonians. 1914, William Nesbit could not resist "Sumerian renaissance," Mesopotamia twenty-first b.c. rediscovered twenty-third b.c.4 Since then has found footholds wider world more recent periods: We Bengali, Tamil, American, Arabic (Al-Nadha), (European) Neo-, Nepal Bhasa, Harlem, San Francisco, (British) Urban, Native Maori. With that professionalization proliferation came reflection, doubt, embarrassment, or insistence, about re-purposing term for so Alberti's Florence. A 1918 article refers "Hawaiian Renaissance, whatever may be."5 Thirty years first appearance "Timurid Jean Aubin questioned both words: "Mais, au fait, de quoi? Et en quoi timouride?"6 Even Munro anticipated doubt offered defence: His "twelfth-century Renaissance" was "misleading" "narrow sense" classical revival, but "justified" "true," wider, "meaning life."7 Robin Cormack concluded his chapter on "Middle Byzantine Art" calling "clear vision" concept's "strengths weaknesses frame understanding."8 science-fiction novel, cardinal Borgia Apartments thirty-second still insists "we are midst every bit real" original.9 This volume, series "Critical History," is striking ways. It history, philosophy history history. dialogue—one well aware intellectual rhetorical importance dialogue Western traditions—between sinologist Renaissance historian. The cover illustration collage Foyin Aristotle dialogue, radical juxtaposition two philosophers some 1,300 apart, images 221] 450 apart. book chosen launch this quest debates different regions, genres. Beyond titular question, it asks how global way unobstructed Eurocentric norms, old think through problems. I picked expecting investigation searches Renaissance-approximate periods, evaluates whether they count, explains why economic terms. Such enterprise would complement Journal World arguing many "breakthroughs" associated by...
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