James Peter Geiss (14 March 1950 – 19 December 2000) was an American scholar who published several books and articles onChinese history, specifically on theMing dynasty (1368-1644 CE).
A graduate ofWilliams College andPrinceton University, he completed his doctoral dissertation,Peking under the Ming (1368-1644) in 1979.
He published two chapters in volume 7 ofThe Cambridge History of China, focusing on thehistory of the Ming dynasty. His contributions "TheCheng-Te Reign" and "TheChia-Ching Reign" (1988) were complemented by the more specialized studies "On the significance of the reign title Chia-ching" (1990) and "TheLeopard Quarter [zh;wuu] during the Cheng-te reign" (1987), both inMing Studies. He published the latter in the Chinese language as "Ming Wuzong yu Baofang" (明武宗与豹房, 1988) in thePalace Museum Journal (故宫博物院院刊), an article taken very seriously by Chinese scholars. He collaborated withChu Hung-lam to translate original Chinese texts for Louise Levathes's popular book,When China Ruled the Seas (1994) .
With Naiying Yuan and Haitao Tang, he co-authored several textbooks onclassical Chinese, notablyThe Grammar of Classical Chinese: A Basic Introduction,Classical Chinese: A Basic Reader (1994),Readings in Classical Chinese Poetry and Prose (1994),Selections from Classical Chinese Historical Texts (1993), andSelections from Classical Chinese Philosophical Texts (1993). After his death in 2004 thePrinceton University Press published new versions of all volumes asClassical Chinese: A Basic Reader, revised and updated by Geiss's coauthors Yuan and Tang.
The James P. Geiss Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to support research in Ming studies, was established in his honor in 2001.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
 | This biography of an American historian born in the 1950s is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
