China: Its History and Culture (4th Edition)

John Ross, the author, writes of his personal travels zigzagging the island by foot, bicycle, train, etc. beginning with the massive earthquake of 1999. He uses his relatively modern travel narrative to weave in historical accounts of the island, mostly from western observers such as missionaries from the 1800s into the 1900s. While Ross clearly loves the island and its people, both the aborigines and the Han Chinese, he does not sugarcoat the environmental and other issues that have plagued its modern development. In the Afterward he observes that with the spectacular rise of living standards and the loosening of restrictions on dealing with the mainland, Taiwanese businessmen have moved massive amounts of industrial investment from Taiwan to China, weakening the island economically. The population is aging as families have too few children plus over a million Taiwanese now live on the mainland. I read that section just before going to bed and then had trouble sleeping as I thought of the parallels to our country.

With such a huge subject, this book makes easy work of approaching the dynasties and intellectual movements without fear of overload. In roughly 350 pages, the authors take the reader from Zhou to Zemin with a minimum of effort and confusion. For those who think China has no exciting movements and tales, think again. the most indelible impression on the Chinese nation was made by a single 15-yr dynasty (the Qin Dynasty, for which the westernized name "China" came into Romanized coinage, and which, speaking of coinage, finally standardized coinage to a state that remained unchanged until modern times. The Qin expanded to the current borders closer than any other had done before or since, and codified laws via Legalism, rather than the lax Confucian tradition of reasonable mediation). Most other dynasties lasted several hundreds of years, yet made far less noteworthy statebuilding achievements, nor were as unsupported by the populace at large. The Qin also hosted the first "cultural revolution" in Chinese history, which would much later be repeated under Mao with unexpectedly disastrous effects.Rome never knew of China beyond the association with silk trade, mostly from merchant tales. This state of affairs held largely unchanged until modern times, whereas China knew Romans intimately from around 300 AD onward. Learn why China fell so quickly in with Communist ideology and why the color red was so natural a choice for a Chinese revolutionary movement (if somewhat ironic).After reading this, for an expanded look, buy Gernet's legendary work of same subject.

This is an excellent short history of China history and culture. It is well written and interesting. I appreciate the scholarship here and the fact that is relatively up to date. A very useful book wanting to understand China. I was impressed by the scope of the scholarship evidenced in the book. I hope that someone updates the book now.

I bought this as a textbook for a college course on Eastern culture. I have since read and re-read the book, cover to cover and in fragments. No matter which way I approach reading this book, I feel like I learn something new each time! A wonderful addition to my library.

Very clearly written and understandable. The author concentrates mostly on political, military and economic affairs, but highlights broader cultural and social trends where they are relevant. I wish a little more space had been devoted to culture, art and the like.China's ancient history is covered in about 150 pages, and the second half of the book looks at the last 200 years and the interaction with the West and Japan. What was most relevant to a modern Westerner was emphasized. Also emphasized were reoccurring trends in ancient history that seem to find expression in Communist and post-Communist life. I felt this was an acceptable way of highlighting 3000 years of history, but if you are most interested in ancient Chinese history for its own sake this book will not be for you.There aren't as many photos and illustrations as I would have liked. Also, as I stated, I wish the culture had been more deeply penetrated. This is still a serviceable introduction to the interested layman with little prior exposure to the subject. I liked well enough that I will buy the author's companion piece on Japan.

Good overview for someone with little background in Chinese history. Covers a lot of material in 300+ so not much detail at times, more of a summary of events.

I used this book for a primer to Chinese history. It is OK for that purpose but I wish the chapters were better titled so that it would be easier to review those topics that I want to refer to in the future.

I wanted a short history of China before my trip to Shanghai and Xian, so that I might more fully appreciate the artifacts and sites I was going to see. I luckily chose this book by Scott Morton. I got so much more out of the trip than my "fellow travelers," and was able to assist them in keeping the dates and facts straight. Now I need to continue in depth my study of China, but I highly recommend this book for a starter. I am sending this book to my Shanghai guide as a handy reference for him.

no comment.

I highly recommend this book which achieves its objective of covering the whole history of China (incl. culture) in a readable and entertaining way. It is a strong introduction and makes you want to know more. Using the kindle edition, you can easily "drill down" on any topic thanks to wikipedia and other internet resources.