James Geiss

Who was James Geiss?

James Peter Geiss was an American scholar who published several books and articles on Chinese history, specifically on the Ming Dynasty.

A graduate of Williams College and Princeton University, he completed his doctoral dissertation, Peking under the Ming in 1979.

He published two chapters in the Cambridge history of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 Part I, “The Cheng-Te Reign” and “The Chia-Ching Reign”, which were complemented by the more specialized studies “On the significance of the reign title Chia-ching” and “The Leopard Quarter during the Cheng-te reign”, both in Ming Studies. He published in the Chinese language “Ming Wuzong yu Baofang” in the Gugong Bowuyuan Yuankan 故宫博物院院刊, an article taken very seriously by Chinese scholars. He collaborated with Chu Hung-lam to translate original Chinese texts for Louise Levathes' popular book, When China Ruled the Seas .