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Chinese history overview - book suggestions?
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AlexInBoston View Drop Down
Immortal Guard
Immortal Guard


Joined: 17-Jan-2008
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Posts: 7 		  Quote AlexInBoston Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Chinese history overview - book suggestions?
    Posted: 18-Jan-2008 at 04:31
Hey guys,

I know much less than I'd like to about Asian history in general.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a book that'd get me started a little?  I specified China because I figured y'all might need me to get a little more specific than "Asia," but anything you've found interesting would be great.

Two bonuses for me: 1) a paperback will fit in my suitcase, and 2) the more recent, the better.

Thanks in advance! I appreciate your sharing your expertise with me - and sorry if this has been asked before.  I looked back a couple pages and didn't see it.

Alex
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Pretorian
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Posts: 176 		  Quote Dream208 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Jan-2008 at 07:30
I will suggest Ray Hung's [China: A Macro History]; Jonathan Spence's [The Search of Modern China]; John K. Fairbank's [China: A new History] (A bit controversial among Fairbank's work though); Immanuel Hsu [Rise of Modern China]; for early dynastical history, I will recommend Cambridge Chinese history series.  
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Posts: 7 		  Quote AlexInBoston Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Jan-2008 at 14:31
Awesome!  I looked all of these up, and they all look absolutely terrific.  I think I'll start with "The Search for Modern China" - from the reviews on Amazon it seems like it might be the easiest to read, and I find that it's best to start with a good read to hook myself, then dive into other works that might be a bit tougher.

Thanks, Dream; this was exactly the information I was hoping for, and I appreciate your time.
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Posts: 176 		  Quote Dream208 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Jan-2008 at 21:41
No problem, I hope you enjoy these books too. One thing I will recommend you to aware while learning about Chinese history is that the characteristic of different Chinese dynasties/periods vary greatly. Many people automatically use current situation of mainland China to imagine pictures of China in the past, but it is often not the case.

Regardless, wish you best luck and most rewarding reading.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-Jan-2008 at 12:06
On China I recommend to start reading some the following books,
 
"The importance of living" of Lin Yu Tang
"The Genious that was China" John Merson.
"The Genious of China" of Richard Temple,
 


Edited by pinguin - 19-Jan-2008 at 12:07
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Janissary
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Posts: 19 		  Quote Bright Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 18:12
if you wanna do some in-depth learning,
 
first, you learn Chinese,
 
then, I will tell you a lot of great books
致天下以太平，求己身以不朽
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Janissary
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Posts: 19 		  Quote Bright Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 18:13
明朝那些事兒
明朝那些事儿
Stories of Ming dynasty
致天下以太平，求己身以不朽
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Sarmat View Drop Down
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Posts: 3113 		  Quote Sarmat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 18:34
在线可以看吗？ Smile
Σαυρομάτης
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Janissary
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Posts: 19 		  Quote Bright Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 18:50
你是中国人？
我给你网址呢！
致天下以太平，求己身以不朽
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Janissary
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Posts: 19 		  Quote Bright Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 18:55
http://vip.book.sina.com.cn/s.php?k=%C3%F7%B3%AF%C4%C7%D0%A9%CA%C2%B6%F9
致天下以太平，求己身以不朽
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Posts: 1378 		  Quote Ikki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-Mar-2009 at 19:06
I recommend "A History of Chinese Civilization " A: Jacques Gernet
 
 
 
And you can expand with the recommendation of Dream 208, the history of China of the Cambridge University
 
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pebbles View Drop Down
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Posts: 409 		  Quote pebbles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Mar-2009 at 08:31
 
Originally posted by Sarmat

 
 
在线可以看吗？ Smile
 
 
 
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Leonidas View Drop Down
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Posts: 4613 		  Quote Leonidas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Mar-2009 at 09:58
babelfish does the trick, its better at mandarin than greek to English
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