Bowring, Richard. The Religious Traditions of Japan, 500–1600. 2005. A wide-ranging study that puts Buddhism in the context of local cults.

Chaffee, John W. The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China: A Social History of Examinations. 1985. Documents the extensive impact of the examination system and the ways men could improve their chances.

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period. 1993. Overview of the many facets of women’s lives, from engagements to dowries, child rearing, and widowhood.

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, and James B. Palais. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, 2d ed. 2009. Textbook with strong coverage of this period.

Egan, Ronald. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. 1994. A sympathetic portrait of one of the most talented men of the age.

Farris, Wayne W. Heavenly Warriors. 1992. Argues against Western analogies in explaining the dominance of the samurai.

Friday, Karl F. Hired Swords. 1992. Treats the evolution of state military development in connection with the emergence of the samurai.

Hansen, Valerie. Changing the Gods in Medieval China, 1127–1276. 1990. A portrait of the religious beliefs and practices of ordinary people in Song times.

Ko, Dorothy, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott, eds. Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. 2003. Addresses both the elements that the East Asian countries shared and the ways they diverged.

Kuhn, Dieter. The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China. 2009. An accessible overview that is especially strong on economic history and material culture.

Lorge, Peter. War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795. 2009. Examines dynasties as military powers.

Morris, Ivan. The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan. 1964. An engaging portrait of Heian culture based on both fiction and nonfiction sources.

Rossabi, Maurice. China Among Equals. 1983. Essays on Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan, as well as Korea.

Seth, Michael J. A Concise History of Korea. 2006. Readable and engaging overview of Korean history.

Souyri, Pierre François. The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society. 2001. A thought-provoking analysis of both the social system and the mentalities of Japan’s Middle Ages.