Conclusion

In China, as in other regions of the world, violence had to be brought under control as a prerequisite for building a complex society. However, maintain­ing peace and stability in the world's largest polity presented a daunting challenge.

Although warfare forged their earliest states, Chinese nevertheless dee­ply mistrusted violence. Early on, the elite recognised the potential for chaos implicit in the routine application of brute force. In reaction, religion, ethics and literature all counselled caution. As the Chinese state developed, thinkers crafted ideologies and institutions that allowed orderly rule and minimised the application of violence. Behavioural norms also adopted these pacific values, and the elite increasingly prided themselves on their gentle manners.

Nevertheless, violence remained a part of society, so it had to be con­fronted and understood. Writers sought to explain violence in ways that made it not just comprehensible, but also potentially manageable. China's trove of historical discourse depicted the destructive violence of past eras not as random occurrences, but as meaningful episodes subject to cause and effect. In discussing violence, they emphasised the possibility of overcoming it by cultivating morality and building institutions.

Often these rhetorical strategies succeeded. Even when dealing with foreign peoples, Chinese rulers encouraged potential foes to accept ritual norms, ethics and the Chinese worldview celebrating order. Agricultural societies on China's margins usually accepted these values, as peaceful relations with their colossal neighbour served their own interests. However, when dealing with northern pastoralists, who organised their societies according to very different principles, Chinese ideals often failed to protect them from razzias and invasions.

Violence played a fundamental role in China's social dynamics as well. Although historians most often emphasise how violence served the interests of the state and elite, disadvantaged groups could also sometimes direct it to serve their own ends. A wife could gain power within the family by threaten­ing to humiliate her husband by publicly abusing him. And sons and daugh­ters-in-law might mutilate themselves or even commit suicide to act out their virtue dramatically. For some, public acclaim seemed worth these terrible sacrifices. In sum, violence has remained a perennially powerful force in China. Whether it was suppressed or utilised depended on the particular interests of individuals or groups.