20 Best Books On Chinese History (2023 Update)

John king fairbank was the west's doyen on china, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilization. it remains a masterwork without parallel. the distinguished historian merle goldman brings the book up to date, covering reforms in the post-mao period through the early years of the twenty-first century, including the leadership of hu jintao. she also provides an epilogue discussing the changes in contemporary china that will shape the nation in the years to come.

Winner of the 2012 cundill prize in historya gripping account of china’s nineteenth-century taiping rebellion, one of the largest civil wars in history. autumn in the heavenly kingdom brims with unforgettable characters and vivid re-creations of massive and often gruesome battles—a sweeping yet intimate portrait of the conflict that shaped the fate of modern china. the story begins in the early 1850s, the waning years of the qing dynasty, when word spread of a major revolution brewing in the provinces, led by a failed civil servant who claimed to be the son of god and brother of jesus. the taiping rebels drew their power from the poor and the disenfranchised, unleashing the ethnic rage of millions of chinese against their manchu rulers. this homegrown movement seemed all but unstoppable until britain and the united states stepped in and threw their support behind the manchus: after years of massive carnage, all opposition to qing rule was effectively snuffed out for generations. platt recounts these events in spellbinding detail, building his story on two fascinating characters with opposing visions for china’s future: the conservative confucian scholar zeng guofan, an accidental general who emerged as the most influential military strategist in china’s modern history; and hong rengan, a brilliant taiping leader whose grand vision of building a modern, industrial, and pro-western chinese state ended in tragic failure. this is an essential and enthralling history of the rise and fall of the movement that, a century and a half ago, might have launched china on an entirely different path into the modern world.

The history of china— brilliantly told and brought vividly to life through more than 6,000 years of artifacts and treasuresthis illustrated introduction to the history of china offers a fresh understanding of china’s progress from the neolithic age to the present. told in six chapters arranged chronologically, through art, artifacts, people, and places, and richly illustrated with expertly selected objects and artworks, it firmly connects today’s china with its internationally engaged past. from the earliest archaeological relics and rituals, through the development of writing and state, to the advent of empire, the author charts china’s transformation from ancient civilization into the world’s most populous nation and influential economy, offering historical insights and cultural treasures along the way. this accessible book presents an eclectic mix of materials including chinese theater, the decorative arts, costume, jewelry, and furniture-making, running through to the most recent diffusion of chinese culture.

This volume begins the historical coverage of "the cambridge history of china" with the establishment of the ch'in empire in 221 bc and ends with the abdication of the last han emperor in ad 220. spanning four centuries, this period witnessed major evolutionary changes in almost every aspect of china's development, being particularly notable for the emergence and growth of a centralized administration and imperial government. owing to their pioneer achievements and the heritage that they left for later empires, these dynasties have rightly been regarded as a formative influence throughout chinese history. important archaeological discoveries of recent years have made a new approach possible for many aspects of the period. leading historians from asia, europe, and america have contributed chapters that convey a realistic impression of significant political, economic, intellectual, religious, and social developments, and of the contacts that the chinese made with other peoples at this time. like the other volumes in the series, volume 1 summarizes the information given in primary sources in the light of the most recent critical scholarship. as the book is intended for the general reader as well as the specialist, technical details are given in both chinese terms and english equivalents. references lead to primary sources and their translations and to secondary writings in european languages as well as chinese and japanese.

La 4e de couverture indique : "the turbulent and chequered past of the world's most populous country is one of the most fascinating in world history, and relatively little known in the west. from the beginnings of chinese prehistory right through to internet censorship with the 'great firewall of china', gordon kerr offers a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous country. a short history of china provides an absorbing introduction to more than 4,000 years of chinese history, telling the stories of the tyrants, despots, femmes fatales, artists, warriors and philosophers who have shaped this fascinating and complex nation. it describes the amazing technological advances that her scientists and inventors made many hundreds of years before similar discoveries in europe. it also investigates the chinese view of the world and examines the movements, aspirations and philosophies that moulded it and, in so doing, created the chinese nation. finally, the book examines the dramatic changes of the last few decades and the emergence of china as an economic and industrial 21st century superpower, making napoleon bonaparte's words about her ring true: “let china sleep, for when she awakes, she will shake the world.”

A groundbreaking chronicle of the violent early years of the people’s republic of china, by the author of the bbc samuel johnson prize–winning mao’s great famine.“ the chinese communist party refers to its victory in 1949 as a ‘liberation.’ in china the story of liberation and the revolution that followed is not one of peace, liberty, and justice. it is first and foremost a story of calculated terror and systematic violence.” so begins frank dikötter’s stunning and revelatory chronicle of mao zedong’s ascension and campaign to transform the chinese into what the party called new people. following the defeat of chiang kai-shek in 1949, after a bloody civil war, mao hoisted the red flag over beijing’s forbidden city, and the world watched as the communist revolution began to wash away the old order. due to the secrecy surrounding the country’s records, little has been known before now about the eight years that followed, preceding the massive famine and great leap forward. drawing on hundreds of previously classified documents, secret police reports, unexpurgated versions of leadership speeches, eyewitness accounts of those who survived, and more, the tragedy of liberationbears witness to a shocking, largely untold history. interweaving stories of ordinary citizens with tales of the brutal politics of mao’s court, frank dikötter illuminates those who shaped the “liberation” and the horrific policies they implemented in the name of progress. people of all walks of life were caught up in the tragedy that unfolded, and whether or not they supported the revolution, all of them were asked to write confessions, denounce their friends, and answer queries about their political reliability. one victim of thought reform called it a “carefully cultivated auschwitz of the mind.”

The story of hong kong and the rise of china in an era of globalisation, authoritarian power and democratic defiance. – the recent protests and crackdown in hong kong shook the world. a prosperous city with its freedoms enshrined by international treaties and conventions, hong kong is a unique part of the people's republic of china. its passage from a british colony to chinese rule was a joint diplomaticaccomplishment. but since then its people have struggled for democracy against dictatorship. in the gate and the wall, michael sheridan, who served for two decades as a foreign correspondent in asia, provides a vivid modern history of hong kong from china's break with maoism in 1977–its first steptowards economic superpower status — to the present. – hong kong stood astride two of the most important events in modern world history; the rise of china and the economic transformation of east asia. its great port and chinese culture made it the natural gateway for china to reach a wider world after decades of self-imposed isolation. despite the symbiosis, it was an uneasy partnership. by the time the british left, hong kong had westernized in importantways, particularly in its politics. that set it upon repeated collision courses with a revived authoritarian china, determined to absorb the city into its own system. – sheridan draws new insights from chinese archives and memoirs as well as the papers of well-known british leaders — margaret thatcher and the last governor, chris patten — whose actions forged hong kong's destiny. he gives a voice to hong kong's people: its leaders, its tycoons, its hard-workingfamilies, and the young generation who made the fight for freedom a cause that resounds far beyond the south china sea. more broadly, the gate and the wall illuminates how economic globalization and the competing trends of democracy and dictatorship are shaping one of the world's most importantregions.

"wilkinson's bestselling manual has been continuously in print for fifty years. it has achieved this unusual distinction because the author expanded its scope with each new edition. in the process it has grown from a modest research guide to chinese imperial history into an encyclopedic, 1.7-million-word introduction to chinese civilization and the primary and secondary resources and research problems for all periods of chinese history. in recognition of its unique value, the académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (france) awarded the third edition the stanislas julien prize, and in 2016, peking university press published the entire manual in a three-volume chinese edition. the manual has been revised and expanded throughout to ensure that the sixth edition is up to date with the latest developments in digital tools and the two dozen ancillary disciplines essential for work on chinese history. in addition, its temporal coverage has been extended to the death of chairman mao. in celebration of a half century of continuous publication, the enlarged sixth edition has an entirely new look, with a bigger typeface requiring two 1,000 -page volumes. volume 1 covers topics ranging from language, education, and the arts, to science, technology, and the environment. volume 2 presents primary and secondary sources chronologically by period from the neolithic to 1976"–

This open access book considers a pivotal era in chinese history from a global perspective. this book’s insight into chinese and international history offers timely and challenging perspectives on initiatives like “chinese characteristics”, “the new silk road” and “one belt, one road” in broad historical context. global history with chinese characteristics analyses the feeble state capacity of qing china questioning the so-called “high qing” (shèng qīng 盛清) era’s economic prosperity as the political system was set into a “power paradox” or “supremacy dilemma”. this is a new thesis introduced by the author demonstrating that interventionist states entail weak governance. macao and marseille as a new case study aims to compare mediterranean and south china markets to provide new insights into both modern eras’ rising trade networks, non-official institutions and interventionist impulses of autocratic states such as china’s qing and spain’s bourbon empires.

Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people. china defines itself in terms of history. taking into account the country's voluminous tradition of history writing, john keay has composed an illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. keay's history examines 5,000 years in china, from the time of the three dynasties through chairman mao and the current economic transformation of the country.

A single volume history of china, offering a look into the past of the global superpower and its significance today.michael wood has travelled the length and breadth of china, the world’s oldest civilization and longest lasting state, to tell a thrilling story of intense drama, fabulous creativity, and deep humanity that stretches back thousands of years.after a century and a half of foreign invasion, civil war, and revolution, china has once again returned to center stage as a global superpower and the world’s second largest economy. but how did it become so dominant? the story of china takes a fresh look at the middle kingdom in the light of the recent massive changes inside the country. taking into account exciting new archeological discoveries, the book begins with china’s prehistory—the early dynasties, the origins of the chinese state, and the roots of chinese culture in the age of confucius. wood looks at particular periods and themes that are now being reevaluated by historians, such as the renaissance of the song with its brilliant scientific discoveries. he paints a vibrant picture 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. then, wood explores the encounter with the west, the opium wars, the clashes with the british, and the extraordinarily rich debates in the late 19th century that pushed china along the path to modernity.finally, he provides a clear up-to-date account of post-1949 china, including revelations about the 1989 crisis based on newly leaked inside documents, and fresh insights into the new order of president xi jinping. all woven together with landscape history and the author’s own travel journals, the story of china is the indispensable book about the most intriguing and powerful country on the world stage today.

Discover the complexity of china’s past with this multi-faceted portrayal of the storied nation from a leading expert in the field the newly revised second edition of a history of china delivers a comprehensive treatment of the political, economic, social, and cultural history of china that covers all major events and trends that have shaped the country over the centuries. the book is written in a clear and uncomplicated style, sure to be of assistance to undergraduate students with little prior background knowledge in the subject matter. the text examines chinese history through a global lens to better understand how foreign influences affected domestic policies and practices. it includes discussions of the roles played by non-chinese ethnic groups in china, like the tibetans and uyghurs, and the mongol and manchu rulers who held power in china for several centuries. the distinguished author takes pains to incorporate the perspectives and narratives of people traditionally left out of chinese history, including women, peasants, merchants, and artisans. readers will also enjoy the inclusion of: a thorough introduction to early and ancient chinese history, including classical china, the first chinese empires, and religious and political responses to the period between 220 and 581 ce an exploration of the restoration of empire under sui and tang, as well as post-tang society and glorious song a discussion of china and the mongol world, including mongol rule in china and the isolationism and involvement on the global stage of the ming dynasty a treatment of china in global history, including the qing era, the republican period, and the communist era perfect for undergraduate students of courses on chinese history and central asian history, the second edition of a history of china will also earn a place in the libraries of students studying global history and related classes in history departments and departments of asian studies.the blackwell history of the world series the goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. it will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. the volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. the series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.

About the book a comprehensive account of the political, social and economic developments of the ch'ing empire during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. book synopsis volume 9, part 2 of the cambridge history of china is the second of two volumes which together explore the political, social and economic developments of the ch'ing empire during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries prior to the arrival of western military power. across fifteen chapters, a team of leading historians explore how the eighteenth century's greatest contiguous empire in terms of geographical size, population, wealth, cultural production, political order and military domination peaked and then began to unravel. the book sheds new light on the changing systems deployed under the ch'ing dynasty to govern its large, multi-ethnic empire and surveys the dynasty's complex relations with neighbouring states and europe. in this compelling and authoritative account of a significant era of early modern chinese history, the volume illustrates the ever-changing nature of the ch'ing empire, and provides context for the unforeseeable challenges that the nineteenth century would bring.

China has become accessible to the west in the last twenty years in a way that was not possible in the previous thirty. the number of westerners travelling to china to study, for business or for tourism has increased dramatically and there has been a corresponding increase in interest in chinese culture, society and economy and increasing coverage of contemporary china in the media.our understanding of china's history has also been evolving. the study of history in the people's republic of china during the mao zedong period was strictly regulated and primary sources were rarely available to westerners or even to most chinese historians. now that the chinese archives are open to researchers, there is a growing body of academic expertise on history in china that is open to western analysis and historical methods. this has in many ways changed the way that chinese history, particularly the modern period, is viewed.the encyclopedia of chinese history covers the entire span of chinese history from the period known primarily through archaeology to the present day. treating chinese history in the broadest sense, the encyclopedia includes coverage of the frontier regions of manchuria, mongolia, xinjiang and tibet that have played such an important role in the history of china proper and will also include material on taiwan, and on the chinese diaspora.in a-z format and with over 1000 entries written by experts in the field of chinese studies the encyclopedia will be an invaluable resource for students of chinese history, politics and culture.

A comprehensive, yet entertaining look at china's history through a modern lens. for millennia, china was the largest and richest nation on earth. two centuries ago, however, its economy sank into a depression from which it had not fully recovered–until now. china's modern resurgence as the world's largest nation in terms of population and its second-largest economy–where 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the space of a few decades–is the greatest untold story of the 21st century. a brief history of china tells of the development of a rich and complex civilization where the use of paper, writing, money and gunpowder were widespread in ancient times and where silk, ceramics, tea, metal implements and other products were produced and exported around the globe. it examines the special conditions that allowed a single culture to unify an entire continent spanning 10 billion square kilometers under the rule of a single man–and the unbelievably rich artistic, literary and architectural heritage that chinese culture has bequeathed to the world. equally fascinating is the story of china's decline in the 19th and early 20th century–as europeans and americans took center stage–and its modern resurgence as an economic powerhouse in recent years. in his retelling of a chinese history stretching back 5,000 years, author and china-expert jonathan clements focuses on the human stories which led to the powerful transformations in chinese society–from the unification of china under its first emperor, qinshi huangdi, and the writings of the great chinese philosophers confucius and laozi, to the mongol invasion under genghis khan and the consolidation of communist rule under mao zedong. clements even brings readers through to the present day, outlining china's economic renaissance under deng xiaoping and xi jinping. what really separates this book from its counterparts is the focus on women, and modern themes such as diversity and climate change. chinese history is typically told through the stories of its most famous men, but clements' telling gives women equal time and research–which introduces readers of this book to equally important, but less commonly-known facts and historical figures. often seen in the west in black or white terms–as either a savage dystopia or a fantastical paradise–china is revealed in the book as an exceptional yet troubled nation that nevertheless warrants its self-description as the middle kingdom.

From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, sages to silk, china has influenced cuisine, commerce, military strategy, aesthetics and philosophy across the world for thousands of years. chinese history is nothing if not messy. heroes are also villains; prosperity mingles with violence; cultural vibrancy coexists with censorship and repression. modern china is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanization, a propaganda state and an aggressive superpower seeking world domination. jaivin distills this vast history into a sparkling narrative, from mythical origins to the covid-19 pandemic. it's a story in which china's women, from the earliest warriors to 20th-century suffragettes, receive long overdue attention. as historical specters of corruption and disunity continue to haunt the people's republic, jaivin discusses what may lie ahead-not just for china but for the world.

From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, sages to silk, china has influenced cuisine, commerce, military strategy, aesthetics and philosophy across the world for thousands of years. chinese history is nothing if not messy. heroes are also villains; prosperity mingles with violence; cultural vibrancy coexists with censorship and repression. modern china is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanization, a propaganda state and an aggressive superpower seeking world domination. jaivin distills this vast history into a sparkling narrative, from mythical origins to the covid-19 pandemic. it's a story in which china's women, from the earliest warriors to 20th-century suffragettes, receive long overdue attention. as historical specters of corruption and disunity continue to haunt the people's republic, jaivin discusses what may lie ahead-not just for china but for the world.

China's 20th-century has been marked by a succession of tumultous events including the boxer rebellion, japanese invasion and occupation, and the tiananmen square massacre. this record of the chinese century includes photographs from official archives and private collections with accompanying text. china's 20th-century has been marked by a succession of tumultous events including the boxer rebellion, japanese invasion and occupation, and the tiananmen square massacre. this record of the chinese century includes photographs from official archives and private collections with accompanying text.

If you want to discover the captivating history of the qing dynasty, then pay attention… succeeding the ming dynasty in 1644, the qing emperors managed to create one of the largest empires ever to exist in the territories of asia and the fifth largest empire in the world. the qing dynasty doubled the size of the ming territory, but they also more than tripled its population, integrating not just chinese but also tibetans, mongols, burmese, tai peoples, and the indigenous people of taiwan, among others. the qing dynasty governed this vast empire for nearly 300 years. – the kangxi emperor – reign of emperors yongzheng and qianlong – the jahriyya revolt, white lotus rebellion, and eight trigrams uprising – the first opium war – the second opium war – self-strengthening of china – empress dowager cixi – boxer rebellion – the last emperor – and much, much more! so if you want to learn more about the history the qing dynasty, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

For most of its 5,000 year existence, china has been the largest, most populous, wealthiest, and mightiest nation on earth. this course delivers a comprehensive political and historical overview of this fascinating and complex country.