harbinger of modernity. Tunisian Cave Village Empties Out in Face of Drought and Modernity’s Draw

Tunisian Cave Village Empties Out in Face of Drought and Modernity’s Draw For 1,000 years, homes dug into a desert cliff have sheltered farmers and herders from heat and cold. But an exodus threatens its future. 5 MIN READ Early Modern Classicism and Late Imperial China (2007)

Elman, B. A.

Abstract

Most historians treat late imperial China, 1400-1900, as a time of fading and decay. Indeed, viewed backwards from the Opium War (1839-1842) and Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), events before 1800 appear to have left China unprepared for modernity. But the 17th and 18th centuries can be considered not only as a 'late imperial' prelude to the end of traditional China, but as an 'early modern' harbinger of things to come.