Mark Edward Lewis (; born September 25, 1954) is an American

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

and historian of

ancient China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

Life and career

Mark Edward Lewis was born on September 25, 1954. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and studied Chinese at the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP). His dissertation, entitled "The Imperial Transformation of Violence in Ancient China," was written under the Chinese-American historian

Ho Ping-ti Ping-ti Ho or Bingdi He (; 1917–2012), who also wrote under the name P.T. Ho, was a Chinese-American historian. He wrote widely on China's history, including works on demography, plant history, ancient archaeology, and contemporary events. He t ...

. He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows. Since 2002 he has been

Kwoh-Ting Li Li Kwoh-ting (; 28 January 1910 – 31 May 2001) was a Taiwanese economist and politician best known as the "Father of Taiwan's Economic Miracle" and referred to by the New York Times as the "Godfather of Technology" in Taiwan for his work in tra ...

Professor in

Chinese Culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Previously he was a Reader at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was a Humboldt Research Award Fellow for one year at the University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.

Online Course

He has created a
online course
for learning classical Chinese and reading early Chinese philosophers. It is free and open to anyone.

Monographs

''Honor and Shame in early China''. Cambridge University Press, 2021. ''China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. ''China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. ''The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. Awarded the Prix Stanislas Julien by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres of the Institut de France, 2009. ''The Flood Myths of Early China''. State University of New York Press, 2006. ''The Construction of Space in Early China''. State University of New York Press, 2006. ''Writing and Authority in Early China''. State University of New York Press, 1999. Awarded the Prix Budget by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres of the Institut de France, 2002. ''Sanctioned Violence in Early China''. State University of New York Press, 1990.

Articles

"Early Imperial China, from the Qin and Han through the Tang." In ''Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States''. Ed. Andrew Monson and Walter Scheidel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. "Mothers and Sons in Early Imperial China." In ''Extrême Orient, Extrême Occident''. 2012. "Swordsmanship and the Socialization of Violence in Early China," in ''From Athens to Beijing: West Meets East in the Olympic Games''. Ed. Susan Brownell. New York: Athlone. 2012. "Historiography and Empire," in ''Oxford History of Historical Writing'', Vol 1. Ed. Grant Hardy and Andrew Feldherr. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011
online
"Evolution of the Shang Calendar," in ''Measuring the World and Beyond: The Archaeology of Early Quantification and Cosmology''. Ed. Colin Renfrew and Iain Morley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. "The Mythology of Early China," in ''Rituels, pantheons et techniques: Histoire de la religion chinoise avant les Tang''. Ed. John Lagerwey. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2009. "Gift Exchange and Charity in Ancient China and the Roman Empire," in ''Institutions of Empire: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient Chinese and Mediterranean History''. Ed. Walter Scheidel. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009. "Writing the World in the Family Instructions of the Yan Clan." ''Early Medieval China: Essays in Honor of Albert E. Dien'' Volumes 13-13: Part 1. 2007. "The Just War in Early China," in ''The Ethics of War in Asian Civilizations''. Ed. Torkel Brekke. London: Routledge, 2006. "Writings on Warfare Found in Ancient Chinese Tombs," ''Sino-Platonic Papers'' 158 (August 2005). "Custom and Human Nature in Early China." ''Philosophy East and West'' 53:3 (July 2003). "Dicing and Divination in Early China." ''Sino-Platonic Papers''. 121 (July 2002). "The Han Abolition of Universal Military Service," in ''Warfare in Chinese History''. Ed. Hans van de Ven. E. J. Brill, 2000. "The City-State in Spring-and-Autumn China," in ''A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures''. Ed. M. H. Hansen. Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter 21. The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2000. "The Feng and Shan Sacrifices of Emperor Wu of the Han," in ''State and Court Ritual in China''. Ed. Joseph McDermott. Cambridge University Press, 1999. "Political History of the Warring States," in ''The Cambridge History of Ancient China''. Ed. Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy. Cambridge University Press, 1999. "The Ritual Origins of the Warring State." ''Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient'' 84:2 (1997). "The Warring State in China as Institution and Idea," in ''War: A Cruel Necessity?'' Ed. Robert A. Hinde. I. B. Tauris, 1995. "Les rites comme trame de l'histoire," in ''Changement et idées de changement en Chine''. Ed. Vivienne Alton. Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, 1994. "The Suppression of the Sect of the Three Stages: Apocrypha as a Political Issue," in ''Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha''. Ed. Robert Buswell, ed., University of Hawaii Press, 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Mark Edward University of Chicago alumni Stanford University Department of History faculty 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 1954 births Living people American sinologists American male non-fiction writers