Rating: 
Summary: Two thumbs up!
Review: This book is being used in my college Chinese Civilization class and is known to be the best book for the course as for contents and illustrations. Couldn't stop reading.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to read, beautiful to look at
Review: This presents a very good overview of Chinese history that is both understandable and enjoyable. The pictures and photos add much depth to what can sometimes seem a linear reading of history. After you read this book, you will want to board a plane for Xian.1) First, the dynasties in chronological order: Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Lio, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing. 2) Zhou (770-240BC) is an era of constant warfare and power struggles. Confucius and Lao-tzu (creator of Daoism) are born during this period. Their writings have an enormous impact on Eastern thought and governance. The famous terracotta warrors also date back to Zhou. 3) Qin (221-206BC) and Han (202BC-220AD). This is the start of China as an empire. (pg 60) Trate routes reach all the way to Turkey, The population is 58M in 2AD (slightly larger than contemporary Rome). The great wall starts construction. 4) Tang (581-907) unifies what is now considered modern China.
They link Northern and Southern China by huge canals and inter-regional trade floursihed. Chang'an becomes the world's largest city. Culture and the arts start to thrive. 5) Song (907-1276) is not able to control East Asia like Tang or Han. They broker deals with neighboring states for a shaky peace. The status quo continues. By the 11th century, China is outpacing Europe in terms of "agricultural productivity, industrial technology, and sophistication of commercial organization." (161) 6) Ghengis Khan (1162-1227) creates huge lightning force of calvary that eventually covers 2/3 of Asian continent. Some of the cities under his (and grandson's) control: Beijing, Lhasa, Moscow, Kiev, Ormuz, and Baghdad. The divisions between Mongol ruling class and Chinese are kept clear by law, status, and language. The Chinese resent this alien rule. 7) Ming (1368-1644) is founded by Taizu, who is was the first commoner to become emperor in 1,500 years. (191) The population continues to grow, but the country is not entirely under control. Mongols attack from the North, while the Japanese attack from the east. 8) Manchus (1644-1900) from Manchuria (east of Mongolia, above Korea) create the Qing dynasty. They govern efficiently. They force their subjects to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (shaved heads with braided hair in the back) as a symbol of their loyalty. Trade with Europe increases exponentially. By 1800, Europe was buying 1/7 of all Chinese tea. This eventually leads to the Opium wars. Various colonial powers all vy for a piece of China. 9) Sun Yatsen, Chang Kaishek, Mao Zedong round out the rest of this beautifully illustrated book.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to read, beautiful to look at
Review: This presents a very good overview of Chinese history that is both understandable and enjoyable. The pictures and photos add much depth to what can sometimes seem a linear reading of history. After you read this book, you will want to board a plane for Xian. 1) First, the dynasties in chronological order: Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Lio, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing. 2) Zhou (770-240BC) is an era of constant warfare and power struggles. Confucius and Lao-tzu (creator of Daoism) are born during this period. Their writings have an enormous impact on Eastern thought and governance. The famous terracotta warrors also date back to Zhou. 3) Qin (221-206BC) and Han (202BC-220AD). This is the start of China as an empire. (pg 60) Trate routes reach all the way to Turkey, The population is 58M in 2AD (slightly larger than contemporary Rome). The great wall starts construction. 4) Tang (581-907) unifies what is now considered modern China.
They link Northern and Southern China by huge canals and inter-regional trade floursihed. Chang'an becomes the world's largest city. Culture and the arts start to thrive. 5) Song (907-1276) is not able to control East Asia like Tang or Han. They broker deals with neighboring states for a shaky peace. The status quo continues. By the 11th century, China is outpacing Europe in terms of "agricultural productivity, industrial technology, and sophistication of commercial organization." (161) 6) Ghengis Khan (1162-1227) creates huge lightning force of calvary that eventually covers 2/3 of Asian continent. Some of the cities under his (and grandson's) control: Beijing, Lhasa, Moscow, Kiev, Ormuz, and Baghdad. The divisions between Mongol ruling class and Chinese are kept clear by law, status, and language. The Chinese resent this alien rule. 7) Ming (1368-1644) is founded by Taizu, who is was the first commoner to become emperor in 1,500 years. (191) The population continues to grow, but the country is not entirely under control. Mongols attack from the North, while the Japanese attack from the east. 8) Manchus (1644-1900) from Manchuria (east of Mongolia, above Korea) create the Qing dynasty. They govern efficiently. They force their subjects to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (shaved heads with braided hair in the back) as a symbol of their loyalty. Trade with Europe increases exponentially. By 1800, Europe was buying 1/7 of all Chinese tea. This eventually leads to the Opium wars. Various colonial powers all vy for a piece of China. 9) Sun Yatsen, Chang Kaishek, Mao Zedong round out the rest of this beautifully illustrated book.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure to Read
Review: This richly illustrated book (the maps are detailed and in color) is a fantastic survey of China's history from prehistory to present day. And it doesn't suffer from paying excessive attention to the modern era either, which is a fault in many Chinese histories (including Fairbank's). Excellent. Ebrey is a Sung specialist and a social historian with a PhD from Columbia. Customers who are wondering whether this book is worth the price may do well to ask themselves if China is important enough to merit study. I'm afraid it is. China is the world's second largest economy, according to the CIA, worth $6 trillion in Purchasing Power Parity and almost 60% as large as America's. (In nominal GDP China is in fifth place, just ahead of France.) According to the World Trade Organization, China is now the world's fifth largest trader (in both exports and imports of goods and services), after the US, Japan, Germany, and France, and just ahead of Britain, which is sixth. (If the EU is counted as one unit, China is fourth.) China has the world's third largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, and has a highly developed ballistic missile technology (which is also reflected in its well-developed space program). The Pentagon believes China will improve its nuclear deterrence in both quality and quantity. China is one of the world's largest oil producers, with proven crude oil reserves larger than America's, according to the US Dept of Energy. Needless to say, China is the third largest country in territory (America is almost exactly the same size) and the largest in population, and has the veto on the UN Security Council. Two key facts make China particularly important in the future: its economic growth rate, which is the fastest in the world, and its population growth rate, which is kept under control (which is in fact lower than America's) and thus will help raise the average standard of living. In either respect can India, China's closest competitor in the future, compete. By one estimate China's economy will be equal in size to America's in twenty years' time. (See Gregory Chow's "China's Economic Transformation" available here on amazon.com.) So China is a very important country, both politically and economically, and will be increasingly important in the future. Some people are already calling China the second most important country in the world. But what fascinates many people is the fact that China has lasted so long as a country. Indeed China's history as a unified state is ten times as long as the United States's own. China is one of the most ancient of civilizations. Unlike some of them - such as Babylon - China not only has survived, but it is still thriving. People like Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and Jack Welch are already predicting China to become a superpower within a generation. To understand such an important country, one must know something about its history. And this book is an excellent guide. I recommend it to all who wish to know more about China. I have yet to find a general historical survey of China as accurate and suitable for the beginners as it is fun and pleasurable to read, as this book.
Rating:
Summary: Concise and incisive: A highly readable summary
Review: With more than a billion people and 5,000 years of history, it's not surprising that most books on the History of China cover a brief period in excruciating depth. Patricia Ebrey's book is a deliciously self-aware overview, that delivers just what it promises: It covers all the issues and the illustrations are carefully chosen to amplify the text (not just a bunch of photos bound in the middle of the book). The book is beautifully printed--in China, of course! Ebrey gets across the important point that we look to China and want a simple, linear summary, when China is complex and decidedely non-linear. (The Cultural Revolution as much happened to Mao as it was caused by him, for example). Moreover, she explains how our Western world view needs to see certain things (we always want the good guys to win in the end--perhaps they won't). This book would be great for a student at any level from High School library on to college. It could be used as a text and I'm also recommending it to US business people working with China. It's a wonderful introduction to the culture. The only quibble is that the Anglo pronunciation of pinyin isn't explained with a reference (for example, Qing Dynasty is pronounced "Ching" but you can't find that here). The pricing is very attractive too.
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