Routledge Ts'ao P'i Transcendent: Political Culture and Dynasty-Founding in China at the End of the Han Hardcover – Illustrated, 19 November 1998

While an academic work that will not exactly thrill the passions of most readers, this book remains a marvel of academic achievement. It is one of the few English language books on the subject of the Three Kingdoms period of China, and takes the reader into the weeds of the formation of early Wei court culture. Both the decline of the Han and the seeds for the Wei-Jin transition are discussed, but the main heart of Cao Pi Transcendent is the development of the culture of Wei and its relationship with its predecessor. I loved the book, and though I found some of the assertions pulled from too limited a textual foundation, you can be assured that no stone was left unturned in the making of this scholarly discourse.Though I give this book top marks, this was a bit of a challenge to read at times. You shouldn't read this if you do not have some foundation in early medieval Chinese history, and a decent grasp of the Three Kingdoms period in particular. This book assumes you know most of what you need to, and you'll have a tough time if this is your introduction to the subject material. Another issue, for me at least, is that in spite of its relatively recent publication date (1998), it uses the wade-giles pronunciation. This can lead to a great deal of confusion if you came to the study of China and Chinese related topics within the past twenty years.