B.C.: Confucius- The teacher, politician and philosopher was raised in poverty by his mother. He entered politics in 501 B.C. as a town governor after gaining attention as a teacher, but in 498 B.C. lived in exile to escape political enemies. The greatest civilization debate : Is China the greatest civilization of world ? C’mon that is India :)

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.The Tang dynasty founder in the 7th century after Christ being the first emperor who was known to Western historians by name

This is a different sort of book from the perhaps overly wide range of Cultural Revolution misery memoirs that we tend to have on our bookshelves. I think a lot of these misery memoirs are published almost in a rather prurient way, as a means of trying to persuade Westerners that Chinese are really very different and “other” from Westerners, who would never do anything so irrational. I think it just takes a very brief glance at many aspects of Western history to realise that there’s plenty of irrationality there as well. Sui and T'ang China, 589–906 AD, Part 2 (edited by Twitchett), ISBN 978-0-521-24329-2. This volume is intended to cover cultural and economic topics related to the Sui and Tang dynasties). [Still unpublished] [4] I know you were excited last year about a new translation of Monkey King coming out. Was it needed? 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. One of the ways in which the book becomes human and sympathetic is that, unlike some of the memoirs which distort the way in which the dynamics of the period operated, Nien Cheng doesn’t make herself a terribly sympathetic character. When you read through it, you won’t exactly find yourself cheering for the red guards, but she does take some care to show why, from the point of view of these young, relatively impoverished teenagers living in Shanghai, the lifestyle of someone with international connections and beautiful possessions might look in many ways very alien and even hostile from everything they had been taught.There are so many misery memoirs from the Cultural Revolution, and the period seems a bit of a Western obsession. Sometimes one can’t help but feel, “Oh God, not another Cultural Revolution book.” What is different about this book and Nien Chang’s experience that makes it worth reading? 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. EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF: Best of China with Yangtze Cruise 4. Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang Image credit: Penguin Random House Returning to China around 483 B.C., Confucius devoted most of his time to teaching disciples his ideas (including, “Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart,” and “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”) His ideas would become central to Chinese culture over time and endorsed by the government.

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. Because China is a huge country, and also an old country (One of the four bronze age civilizations). Its has maintained a geographical expanse equal to that of Roman Empire at its peak. In addition to this, it has remained most populous country throughout the history of mankind. So its quite natural for it to have an immense history.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. The Republic of China- Fueled by western-educated revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 culminated in the Wuchang Uprising, and 15 provinces declared their independence from the Qing Dynasty. Sun took control in 1912, announcing the republic.

This is well handled in his overview of Tiananmen Square 1989. Wood does not make excuses nor claim to be a mind reader into what led to those decisions, but rather examines recently released 2019 documentary sources, such as memoirs, Politburo papers and diaries. He closes with a brief presentation about the continuing questions related to their credibility and significance. Michael Wood takes on the impossible task to describe the history of a 1 billion plus nation in a one volume book. Kudos to him for succeeding quite well in his goals: The Story of China: A Portrait of a Civilisation and Its People is a highly readable account of how the tides of history have swept dynasty after dynasty from great achievements to their downfall. The only thing I missed in the account, if in all fairness an unanswerable question, is some kind of view on why the scientific and industrial revolution did not occur in China, while the level of civilization, technology and the sheer number of people in the nation outstripped that of the rest of the world at almost any point in history. I especially enjoyed the feature on the Song dynasty poet Li Qingzhao (李清照). In the happy days of her marriage, she and her husband collected antiques, books, art and enjoyed the food stalls throughout the lanes near the university. “We lived happy together those years. By the fire we made tea…and were untroubled by sudden storms…so long as we could share a cup of wine, and a sheet of fine paper.” Concubines, war, and widowhood would turn her to a career in Hangzhou publishing poetry and essays. Wang Hui is one of China’s most prominent public intellectuals at the moment, in terms of his international exposure. I think the book is interesting because it gives his very ambiguous – or ambivalent from his point of view – take on what’s happening in China today.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. On that note, your last book choice is In the Camps by Darren Byler. Presumably, the book is about what’s been going on in Xinjiang. The Financial Times review says it “evokes the shadow of concentration camps—with the added cruelty of a 21st-century surveillance system.” Tell me what it’s describing and why it’s important to read this book. One thing I like about this book is that it focuses more on the beginning than the end. China is a culture invested heavily in its past and as such a solid foundation in that past is necessary to understand what follows. While learning about Mao may be interesting it’s really not what defines Chinese culture, just how it directs the current form. Another thing I like is the suspicion it displays towards traditional dynastic approaches. It divides history by dynasty of course, no book on Chinese history could do otherwise, but there’s a deep suspicion that a unified single dynasty is not the natural and exclusive nature of China. The gaps form the most obvious problem – the assumption that one dynasty always held the Mandate of Heaven leads to some awfully odd interpretations of when and how a dynasty faded. But also the fact that until the Mongols came most of Chinese history had seen it divided between multiple states. RELATED CONTENT: The first timer’s guide to China: where to go and what to do 3. China Witness by Xinran Image credit: Penguin Random House