The Halberd at Red Cliff

“A persuasive and well-written claim about history. By offering a plausible historical reconstruction on how colligations can shape representations and social attitudes, [Tian] makes us reflect more carefully on the relation between imagination and knowledge, and on the different tools people have to make claims about the past.”—Pablo Blitstein, Journal of the American Oriental Society

“The book is a triumph of scholarship, both enjoyable and instructive to read. It will interest sinologists specializing in various disciplines and periods and should also interest scholars of traditional Europe who have a comparative bent, as well as anyone engaged by the question of how literary texts and historical figures regenerate their influence and power over time.”—Paul Kroll, Professor Emeritus of Chinese, University of Colorado, Boulder