The Halberd at Red Cliff: Jian’an and the Three Kingdoms by Xiaofei Tian (review)

Published by the Harvard-Yenching Institute HJAS 80.2 (2020): 571–577 of the southwest are very much part of Steinhardt’s story, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia are not. To glide past them is to glide past controversy—a politically astute account is not exactly comprehensive. Chinese Architecture is an invaluable contribution to the field. This well-written epic overview of China’s monumental building tradition will not likely be surpassed in its central endeavor anytime soon. Most emerging and midcareer scholars cannot hope to master for themselves the subject matter of this book in a more comprehensive way, given the declining research opportunities contemporary academia presents. This book is a worthy crown to Steinhardt’s remarkable career of scholarship. Where one path has reached its logical termination, however, others may begin.