City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

The shortest history of China, Linda Jaivin

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

portraitsmapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

The shortest history of China

bibliography

Linda Jaivin

A pacy history of China that can be read in an afternoon, but will transform your perspective for a lifetime. 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 sprawling and gloriously messy. It is full of heroes who are also villains, prosperous ages and violent rebellions, cultural vibrancy and censorious impulses, rebels, loyalists, dissidents and wits. The story of women in China, from the earliest warriors to twentieth-century suffragettes, is rarely told. And historical spectres of corruption and disunity, which have brought down many a glorious ruling house, continue to haunt the People's Republic of China today. Modern China is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanisation, a propaganda state and an aggressive superpower seeking world domination. China expert Linda Jaivin distils a vast history into a short, readable account that tells you what you need to know about the Middle Kingdom, from its philosophical origins to its political system, to the COVID-19 pandemic and where China is likely to lead the world

Introduction -- Origins: An egg hatches and a civilisation is born -- The Zhou: From ideal rule to warring states -- The Qin: Unification, tyranny and all under heaven -- The Han: Intrigue, innovation and a brief interregnum -- The great disunity: Three kingdoms, two women warriors, seven sages and a five-mineral powder -- The Tang: From golden age to everlasting sorrow -- The Song: Proto-socialists, neo-Confucians and urban living -- The Mongol Yuan: From 'glorious slaughter' to the Splendid City -- The Ming: Splendour and decay -- The Machu Qing: The rocky road to modernity -- The republic: High hopes and vicious betrayals -- Japanese invasion and civil war: The republic disintegrates -- The Mao years: Continuous revolution -- The reform era: Prosperity and its discontents -- The new era of Xi Jinping: Rise of the wolf warriors -- Acknowledgements -- Further reading -- Notes -- List of images -- Index