China: A History

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In this case, what he suddenly sees, in the light of the moon while he’s in his mad state, is that the whole of Chinese culture has consisted of cannibalism. He looks between the lines of the great Confucian classics of literary tradition, and sees that the secret message is “go and eat people”. This is clearly a metaphor for Confucian thinking – for the old-fashioned way in which Chinese society had been bound up in expectations of the past, which had almost become encrusted on society and from which they needed to break free. How can an amateur historian begin to understand a country of which the official Cambridge History (begun in the 1960’s) is at 16 books and growing? For perspective, the Cambridge historical analysis is still publishing volumes on the Sui and T’ang dynasties (ending around 900AD) forty years after publishing volumes on the 1800’s.

I am sure there are many other such interesting questions which can be answered by referring them to China’s history. And for that exact purpose anyone who wants to have a ‘more than average awareness’ of world history and more so, how it shapes contemporary world, this book is a GOOD read.Hansen, Valerie (2010). "The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China, And: The Cambridge History of China, Volume 5 Part One: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279 (Review)". Journal of Song-Yuan Studies. 40 (1): 131–140. doi: 10.1353/sys.2011.0005. S2CID 161816743. Let’s once more pull the lever on our time machine and leap forward to the summer of 1988, when a six-part documentary aired on Chinese television called “River Elegy”. As your fourth choice you’ve chosen its script in English translation. Tell us why you chose this, and what impact the documentary had on its time. The incredible revival of religion in China began in 1982. The Communist Party allowed the small-scale practice of religion under strict government watch. Today, over 300 million Chinese now practice a faith and villages and cities are dotted with churches, temples and mosques. Johnson delved into this resurgence, spending six years living with three religious communities, including Protestants, Buddhists and Daoists. He speaks to Chinese locals to get their perspective on spirituality and discovers a great reawakening of faith in China.

Sui and T'ang China, 589–906 AD, Part 1 (edited by Twitchett), September 1979. ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9. This volume covers the political history of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The tremendous research is the five-star element in this book. The author referenced many written records that were used to compile this book, and readers are treated to a history that offers the facts as well as includes the human element. The famous and the not-so-well-known are all featured here. The written records left by China’s previous inhabitants lent a personal side as we gained a deeper knowledge of how history affected the people living at that time, which is not usually seen in other books. Michael Wood has travelled the length and breadth of China producing a magisterial new book that combines a sweeping narrative of China's story with the stories of its people, the history of its landscape and commentary from his extensive travel journals. He begins with a look at China's prehistory--the early dynasties, the origins of the Chinese state, and the roots of Chinese culture in the teachings of Confucius. He looks at particular periods and themes that are being revaluated by historians now such as The Renaissance of the Song with its brilliant scientific discoveries. He offers a revaluation of the Qing Empire in the 18th century, just before the European impact, a time when China's rich and diverse culture was at its height. Wood takes a new look at the encounter with the West, the Opium Wars, clashes with the British and the extraordinarily rich debates in the late 19th century as to which path China should take to move forward into modernity.A final critique I have is the link between the terra-cotta army and the Hellenistic world; as if a certain form of artistic expression and quality would not have been achievable without influence from art from "The West". Still an amazing book, with many sneak peeks in life during the various dynasties, while not loosing view of the broader history of the country. This ground-breaking book gives a voice to the silent generation, sharing the untold stories from the 20th century history of China. Renowned author Xinran travels across the country, speaking to grandparents and great-grandparents. These are the people who experienced the astounding changes of China in two key periods; after 1912 when five thousands years of feudal rule ended, and after 1949 when Mao Zedong rose to power. The book’s subjects bravely share their experiences, struggles and dreams, many for the first time. Many also still fear repercussions for speaking out. The other thing that I like about the book is that even though it’s not about this, there are some characters sprinkled in that move between China and the United States. There’s some cross-cultural understanding or misunderstanding. Te-Ping Chen is a very good journalist, and a very talented writer of fiction as well. It would be a perfect book club book. It’s hard to say how old Chinese culture actually is, but it’s one of the oldest that still has a presence in the modern world. Legends claim that the earliest rulers in China were the Xia Dynasty, from 2100 to 1600 B.C., with Yu as the first emperor, but there is little proof that the dynasty actually existed. Below is a timeline of one of the great cradles of civilization. Shang Dynasty, Confucius Between 20-30 million dead after the Taiping rebellion, while the 1907 famine led to 25 million dead; its amazing that the dynasty managed to keep on ruling in the face of such disasters

A Syrian monk arriving in the imperial capital and being allowed to build a church looked after by 21 priests in 654 Now, that wartime experience is used in a rather different way. Instead China is portrayed as having been part of a wartime alliance against fascism, and capable of being a cooperative and useful actor in the world community. Which of course suits China very well at a time when it wants to be seen today as a major player in the UN, as a country that takes part in peacekeeping operations and which has a cooperative rather than a confrontational role in international society. As one of the oldest preserved books in China and a timeless classic, The Art of War has influenced countless politicians, executives, military figures and anyone looking to master the art of conflict and become a better leader. Written by the warrior-philosopher Sun Tzu over 2,000 years ago, the author famously states that conflict is an inevitable part of life, but “to win without fighting is best.” This masterful book also delves into China’s history and it’s a must-read for anyone looking to learn more about the politics and psychology of conflict in China and the world. Republican China, 1912–1949, Part 1 (edited by Fairbank and Twitchett), September 1983. ISBN 978-0-521-23541-9. Xinran pays tribute to these incredible men and women who lived through war, revolution, famine and urbanisation. They watched China transform from an agricultural state to a modern country with over 1.3 billion people. You’ll meet ordinary, yet fascinating people; taxi drivers, teachers, shoe menders, a herbalist, lantern makers, an acrobat, Red Guards, a naval general and many more, all ranging in age from their seventies to nineties. While they were once forced to be the silent generation, their precious stories will now live on in this remarkable work of oral history.A.D. :Kublai Khan- The grandson of Genghis conquered the Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty, unifying China and bringing Mongolia, Siberia and parts of the Middle East and even Europe into the Chinese Empire. EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF: Best of China with Yangtze Cruise 4. Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang Image credit: Penguin Random House

You follow the factory girls throughout their days: in the dorms, the karaoke bars, the eateries, and the hospitals. You get a firsthand view of what it’s really like to be a woman in China in the twenty-first century.It’s all in there. I used it as a textbook, and it seemed to work quite well. It’s sort of an anti-textbook, but those are the textbooks that I like to use. It’s not in the grade school textbook genre, in which it’s all names and dates. It gives you lots of information, but it’s carried forward by gripping tales and nicely crafted profiles. Kublai Khan introduced paper money, met with Marco Polo, brought the first Muslims to the country and attempted to conquer Japan. He is not someone who argues that the Communist revolution and what came after it has failed completely, or that there was no point in having it. That rather disillusioned viewpoint has been heard from Chinese scholars – many of them have, perhaps sensibly, gone into exile in Hong Kong or elsewhere. Wang Hui says that’s not true, there are still things that the Chinese revolution has brought in terms of progress and modernisation that we need to appreciate. At the same time, we need to understand the limitations of what that first set of revolutions was able to bring about and think about what’s realistic.