A Selected Bibliography of Secondary Sources

This bibliography section of this book Male Friendship in Ming China contains secondary sources, list of reference articles and books. Friendship was an ambiguous concept in late imperial Chinese culture. In orthodox Confucianism, friendship was a relationship unsanctioned by the core Confucian values prioritizing state and family, and as such it was viewed with suspicion and often considered a potential threat. This is probably why among the so-called “five cardinal human relationships”, friendship was traditionally deemed the least essential. To better understand the ambivalence and ambiguities associated with friendship in traditional Chinese culture, a brief look at its early history is in order. Keywords: Chinese culture; male friendship; Ming China

Ambivalence · Art · Bibliography · China · Friendship · History of China · Literature · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology