1. Preface: the problems and the dangers 2. A formative period in Chinese historiography 3. The deep roots of Chinese Marxism 4. The foundations of Chinese history 5. The progress of thought, in China and abroad 6. The first dynasties 7. The age of Confucius and the classics 8.

The first unification of China: its political and social background 9. The Great Han empire 10. China and Asia in the Middle Ages 11. The meaning of 'Middle Ages' 12. Fron Han to T'ang: Chinese society in teh Third to the Sixth centuries 13. Northern and Southern Dynasties 14. Basis problems of T'ang society 15. The Great T'ang empire 16.

The five dynasties and the rise of Sung 17. Traitors and aliens: the fall of the Sung and the Mongol occupation 18. Antecedents of the Modern period 19. The Manchus and the Moderns of the Sung and the Mongol occupation 18. Antecedents of the Modern period 19. The Manchus and the Moderns.