Chinese history rewritten
358601
Reads stranger than fiction although it is one author's take on the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi. I enjoyed this book tremendously. It gave me a view of Chinese history before Mao. For anyone wanting an alternative view of the Empress Dowager who was much misunderstood during her time as well as after.
4249300
I am so happy to know this book. Each anecdote helps me to understand Modern Chinese history and cultural background.
4946114
Grace Services book is not only an amzing account of an important period in modern Chinese history, it is also an important personal, first-hand account of how foreigners worked and lived in pre-liberated China.  Set  during the late Qing and early Repebulican period, the book tells the story  of a family who goes to China committed to serving the Chinese people and  how they stand strong in that commitment through wars, civil unrest, and  personal tragedies.  This book is a must for anyone interested in the  pioneering spirit that led foreigners from around the world to settle and  live amongst what most westerner at that time (stupidly) considered an  "uncivilized" people.  The book is made more vivid through  detailed historical and personal footnotes added by Grace's son, the noted  dipolomat and "China Expert" John S. Service. A wonderful  contirubtion to history and a wonderful read!
3407902
This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. I don't know how accurate the book was historically. It is probably a fantasy which takes place, more or less, in the context of the An Lu-shan rebellion in Tang China in the 8th century. Just as the great Han Dynasty was cut in half by a rebellion, the last truly great native Chinese Tang Dynasty was also cut in half by a rebellion.

"The Court of the Lion" was not a masterpiece of literature, but I could not put the book down. I first read this book quite a while ago, and still remember the book vividly. I noticed the book in my library and wanted to read it again, so I got the Kindle version. I have still not read the Kindle version, so my rating is based on my first reading.

I gave it 5 stars because of the great story and the way it grabbed my attention and wouldn't let me go until I finished. Actually, I didn't want to finish. So I will read it again.
3248244
This book explores the talents of the Chinese, a nation that for many years has been hidden. Few books are written about China's history, but Gavin has pieced together the events of China discovery and exploration of the world. No doubt this book will challenge many people's ideas about early exploration, but at the the same time enough facts are given to substiantiate this tremendous effort of discovery. This is a well written book that is easy to read, but could benefit from additional charts and explanations.
2846404
My father is a history fiend. He loves reading historical novels and learning about the past. One year over the holidays my three siblings and I, without any planning or discussion amongst us, all purchased him gifts of books or videos on World War II. I think he finally reached the point of being overwhelmed by historical information.
I've read several of my father's books, but have never been able to embrace history the way he does. I do like it though when a book is able to take a historical event and feed it to you in such a way that you get to read a compelling story and not the dry history of schooldays. I like to get lost in the story, but finish the book feeling smarter about the past. While I don't gobble up history the way my father does, I think that he is smart to learn about what has happened before us so he can better understand our present and future.
In The Crazed, by Ha Jin, we are introduced to a communist China of the 1980s. What is presented as a mystery that unravels through the delusional rants of a sick old man is actually a statement on the political atmosphere of China for intellectuals during the late 80s.
The Crazed follows Jian Wan and his relationship with his teacher, Professor Yang. Jian is engaged to Professor Wan's daughter, Meimei, so when the professor suffers a stroke he feels doubly obligated to care for his teacher. During long hospital visits where Professor Wang speaks at length in the form of poems, unintelligible chatter and memories seemingly long lost, Jian starts to piece together a past to his professor's life that neither he, nor the professor's daughter, was ever aware of. He also gets insight into the life of an academic - a life that Jian is in the process of pursuing himself.
While the mystery of Professor Wang's life unfolds, in the background of the story always lurks the political climate of the area. If Jian passes his exams and is able to go on to study for his PhD, he will get to move to Beijing and be near his fianc, Meimei. In Beijing there are student demonstrations occurring to protest the government. Through their letters back and forth, Jian and Meimei share their feelings on the protests. Jian's roommates also discuss with him their points of view on what is going on in the city.
Both the storyline about Professor Wang and that of the politics of China collide when Jian finds himself in Beijing. And then, in a very subtle way, Ha Jin is able to introduce his reader to a perspective on the Beijing student protests that might be new. While his reader is engrossed in his compelling story, he pulls out the great surprise of teaching a little history.
4487396
Hard to follow but informative. Outlines the China of a bygone time, its geography, social structure. The writer(s) were very aware of when to fight and when not to.
3438754
I recently picked up a copy of Chinese Warlord Armies 1911-30 from Osprey Books as a reference and it succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.  The warlord period of 20th Century Chinese history is fascinating, though it must have been rather horrible to live through, the overthrow of the last Chinese Empire and the establishment of the Republic, which was unable to maintain order or any sense of control and the country rapidly descended into a period of warlord rule.

The warlords fragmented China in their constant grasping for an ever bigger territories to rule until the Chinese Republic finally got its act together and slowly took China back from the warlord, often by co-opting the warlords who saw the writing on the wall, by allying with the Chinese Communists and accepting aid from the Soviet Union.  Yes, history really is that strange.

This book is little more than an overview of the situation and the chaos of that era where warlords with colorful nicknames such as the `Dogmeat General' and the `Jade Marshal' using armies equipped with whatever weapons they could buy from the world market, steal from their enemies or (occasionally) have built.  Where European, Russian (red and white) and Japanese advisers and mercenaries worked for various sides.  What a model for a wild campaign, fortunes to be made (and lost), allies and enemies to make, deals and betrayals abound.

The book is well written with a variety of colorful anecdotes to leaven the basic facts of the situation but it is, of necessity, only a introduction to the complexities of this era but an interesting read and well illustrated both with Osprey's color plates and a variety of photographs from the era.
4779716
Two well written stories that interweave to form this book. I felt the story of the past was more engaging and the writing was stronger. The modern day character and her story were predictable and read a little like a romance novel. Altogether this story was fairly believable and gave a good historical overview of the prejudice and persecution of the Chinese in pre statehood Washington Territory.
2527635
It is a long overdue photo publication on Chinese immigrants in Chicago and neighboring States by Chinese American Museum of Chicago Chinatown, in personal livelihoods, families, communities, culture and interaction with the American society.  These pioneers collectively put out their effort, blood and tears in making Chicago Chinatown among the best. This book is a community album of historical value and significance. It represented an era of Chinese struggle in coming and making a life in the middle of America.  Despite the odds, hardship and discrimination, they contributed to the society with determination, endeavor and sacrifice.  This book makes a documentary and honors this odyssey.  The repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and the different waves of Chinese immigrantions brought along profound changes.  Refreshing this forgotten history, this volume is an encouragement for the new comers to excel in poltics, encomics, academic, medicine and art to insure that history will not repeat itself for the 60 years of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by Congress.  It is expected the next edition "Chinese in Chicago, 1945-2005" will be as promising and exciting as this one.

A sister publication, Chinese St Louis, published in 2004 will be another good title.
1998724
This whole script was based on the finding of ancient silk manuscripts discovered in 1973 in China. It was much older than any other existing versions already known. The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor being never seen before....

This title is the first to restore the Four Canons to its rightful place among not only the Book of the Way, but of other great journalistic masterpieces on bookshelves today.

The author, Jean Levi, the renowned scholar that he is, has written a number of books on all kinds of Chineses lifestyles and beliefs.

For those of you who want to learn more of this subject(s), pick up this title. It's good...
3884614
Nam Viet and it's importance in Chinese history is often overlooked,however, Edward Schafer has combined a remarkable set of historical accounts from various sources that details many of these accounts from their earliest oral and written history to their ever lasting contributions in the arts, and trade.
The real story of the indigenous tribal societies of Vietnam, Thailand, and southern China have all been brought together telling of slavery, cruelty, farming, idol worship, and even culinary delights. The indigenous culture that had replaced an earlier negroid tribal group was now forced to submit to the T'ang system of civilization and worship. Ironically this process was nothing short of the many imperialist historical accounts of many other nations throughout history but the unique nature of this region and it's diversity has an interesting surprise at every point.
4558380
The book was overall a very good one. It contained a lot of information about the history of china and shows the foundations to connections that modern China has. The author's purpose, as I believe it to be, is to show the audience the history of china that a lot of us in the western hemisphere, or even the western side of the eastern hemisphere wouldn't know. They get this point across very well, using plenty of different facts. For example, there are a lot more dynasties mentioned than those that most of us are familiar with, ever heard of the Liao dynasty? Before I had read this book, my answer would be "me neither". The book is really good, and has a lot of unknown information, and it is less of a read than it seems, as half of it is in Chinese and half is in English - however, because of this, the English is kind of an awkward read, not flowing as well as it could, but still gets its point across of teaching us as western world dwelling people the history of China.
  I learned a lot from this book, and I bet that most people would. The history of China is long and intricate and there are many different aspects that are similar to our own history. But there are some differences, such as the Chinese are several hundred years ahead of us in technological innovation; There are so many things that originate in China that I bet a lot of us didn't know, such as some forms of paper, movable type, and even gunpowder. I probably wouldn't have known these had I not read this book, so the authors' point/purpose of teaching the history of China is fulfilled very well. All in all I would very highly recommend this book.
975448
This, along with Wing-Tsit Chan's A SOURCE BOOK IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY provided my first serious look at Chinese culture.
Fairbank's CHINA details the development of China from earliest times through the Tiananmen massacre: Xia & Shang, Zhou, the Spring and Autumn period, the Warring States period, the Qin Unification, the Han dynasty, disintegration, the subsequent rise of Sia and Tang dynasties, disintegration and the rise of the Song, the Northern and Southern Song along with the development of the kingdoms and empires of the Mongols who slowly conquered China, the Ming dynasty that expelled the Mongols, the Manchurian Qing dynasty that conquered all China and ruled until China became a Republic, Sun Yatsen, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kaishek), fascism and communism, the rise of Mao and the Nationalist flight to Taiwan, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and Deng Xiaphing (Dong Zai-phong).
Of special interest are discussions on the rise of Confucianism, Daoism, Chinese Buddhism and Christian in-roads created by missionaries; the respective roles of Legalism, early imperial Confucianism and neo-Confucianism in the formation and evolution of the Chinese state; the horrors and extent of foot-binding among Chinese women; the influence of both communists and fascists in the Guomindang party and the open conflict between the "blue shirt" fascists (formed by Chiang Kaishek) and the Communist party; and the role of the USSR and Comintern in the development and organization of Communism in China (originally in the Guomindang and later in the Chinese Communist Party).
Thought-provoking and interesting, the book does suffer from infrequent flaws such as irrelevant personal attacks (e.g., Reaganesque = simple-minded) and giving too little details in some areas.  Despite these (and the fact that the author once thought Maoisim the greatest thing to happen in China for centuries), anyone interested in Chinese history cannot afford to pass up this important work.
It should also be noted that the earlier edition's last chapter was replaced by essays from other authors in the revised addition.
1520767
Pai Kit Fai's language transports the reader to China and throughout time. Insightful character development in a traditional cultural backdrop.  Unfortunately, his editor needs a reprimand for the duplicate and confusing content.  Overall, a  superb historical fiction.
340793
The author has written this book for ages 6 - 15 and grades 2 - 8.  Most interesting book that starts out showing the exact location of China on a global map.  From there, the reader is taken back to the Han Dynasty which ruled from 206 BC to 220 AD.  This story takes place in 150 AD and covers the Golden Age of Ancient China and the Han Dynasty.  I like the fact that the author defines the word dynasty near the beginning of the book.  Chang'an was located in central China and this is the location for the story.

Four major professions are included as well as the three major religions that were taught to the younger children.  Clothes, diet which varied by location in China, and even the manner in which others could tell how wealthy one was by the spices in their food.  Only the wealthy had ample supplies of spices.  An interesting fact I learned is that chop sticks were used to stir food in the preparation and not iwhile eating the food.

For me many fascinating items were included.  One being the manner in which silk is produced (thus the importance of the Silk Road) and also the invention of paper.  Porcelain was also created which was a real bonus for the trade industry, as well.

I must say that the Emperor did indeed eat well and that he was the only person allowed to wear yellow.  There are a lot of interesting tidbits of information included which are educational for all.  Respect for the elders and the manner in which houses are laid out is fascinating to read.  The drawings are well done and contribute immensely to the text.  I read this utilizing  the Cloud Reader instead of my Kindle.  At the end of the book, there is a glossary included as well as a list of some of the important people in Ancient China.

Most highly recommended.
2109197
Pearl S Buck lived in China for a number of years and always tells wonderful stories about China. This story is a bit different because this is the story of Jews in China and how a very small Jewish community loses a good part of their identity  and culture because of assimilation into China. The story is told from Peony's point of view for the most part. Peony is a Chinese bondsmaid who is owned by a Jewish family living in China.

I had the Amazon Whispersync version and went between reading and listening to the book. This book included an afterwards by Wendy R Abraham (Ed. D.) who tells the rest of the story and how it relates to history. This was very well done and elevated an already great Pearl S Buck to a real gem.