Tackett ingeniously explores the political and cultural space of the Northern Song period (960–1127 c.e.) to demonstrate the rise of a new Chinese identity remarkably similar to the early nationalisms of the Atlantic world. He succeeds in demonstrating the emergence of a national consciousness in the late eleventh century through careful use of textual and archaeological sources.
Tackett’s basic argument is that the interstate diplomacy governed by the Chanyuan Oath (1005), which, in the case of eleventh-century China, created a once-only ongoing exchange of embassies between Song China and the Khitan people’s Liao dynasty for close to 100 years (1005–1110s). Embassy exchanges exposed Chinese officials to the landscapes, ecologies, and culture of the Khitan (29–73, 246–275, 293–294).1 Not only were ambassadorial exchanges required by the treaty regime, but bilaterally agreed-upon borders were also created, both of which generated a national consciousness among the political, cultural, and social elite...