In this major new study, Nicolas Tackett proposes that the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) witnessed both the maturation of an East Asian inter-state system and the emergence of a new worldview and sense of Chinese identity among educated elites. These developments together had sweeping repercussions for the course of Chinese history, while also demonstrating that there has existed in world history a viable alternative to the modern system of nation-states. Utilising a wide array of historical, literary, and archaeological sources, chapters focus on diplomatic sociability, cosmopolitan travel, military strategy, border demarcation, ethnic consciousness, and the cultural geography of Northeast Asia. In this ground breaking new approach to the history of the East Asian inter-state system, Tackett argues for a concrete example of a pre-modern nationalism, explores the development of this nationalism, and treats modern nationalism as just one iteration of a phenomenon with a much longer history.

中古中国的门阀大族主导了中国数个世纪，关于他们在十世纪的完全消失，长期以来困扰着历史学者。在本书中，谭凯利用新的数据手段分析了大批量的史料，解开了他们消失的谜团。他通过所掌握的地理信息系统（GIS）和社会网络分析手段，系统地探究了近数十年前出土的数千方碑志，其中大部分从未被学者研究过。谭凯广泛地采用了摘自墓志、散文和诗歌中的轶事，来丰富其论证，从而将一千年前的男女形象变得鲜活起来。《中古中国门阀大族的消亡》揭示了在七至八世纪的社会、经济和制度变迁下，唐代门阀大族比我们之前所认为的更加成功。只有在880年黄巢占领长安后伴随而来的三十年大动乱时期，他们的政治影响力才因大范围的肉体消灭而崩溃。