Through biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities, John Wills displays the five-thousand-year sweep of Chinese history from the legendary sage emperors to the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. This unique introduction to Chinese history and culture uses more than twenty exemplary lives, including those of statesmen, philosophers, poets, and rulers, to provide the focus for accounts of key historical trends and periods. What emerges is a provocative rendering of China's moral landscape, featuring characters who have resonated in the historical imagination as examples of villainy, heroism, wisdom, spiritual vision, political guile, and complex combinations of all of these.
Investigating both the legends and the facts surrounding these figures, Wills reveals the intense interest of the Chinese in the brilliance and in the frail complexities of their heroes. Included, for instance, is a description of the frustrations and anxieties of Confucius, who emerges as a vulnerable human being trying to restore the world to the virtue and order of the sage kings. Wills recounts and questions the wonderfully shocking stories about the seventh-century Empress Wu, an astute ruler and shaper of an increasingly centralized monarchy, who has since assumed a prominent position in the Chinese tradition's rich gallery of bad examples--because she was a woman meddling in politics. The portrayal of Mao Zedong, which touches upon this leader's earthy personality and his reckless political visions, demonstrates the tendency of the Chinese not to divorce ideology from its human context: Maoism for them is a form of "objective" Marxism, inseparable from one man's life and leadership.
Each of the twenty chapters provides a many-sided exploration of a "slice" of Chinese history, engaging the general reader in a deep and personal encounter with China over the centuries and today. The biographies repeatedly mirror the moral earnestness of the Chinese, the great value they place on the ruler-minister relationship, and their struggles with tensions among practicality, moral idealism, and personal authenticity. Culminating in a reflection on China's historical direction in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the biographies show the modern Chinese still inspired and frustrated by a complex heritage of moral fervor and political habits and preconceptions. As absorbing as it is wide ranging, this history is written for the general public curious about China and for the student beginning to study its rich cultural heritage.
Review:
... [A] spirited and highly intelligent book. . . . A splendid reflection on the nature of the Chinese relationship to history, culture, and morality. . . . What gives Wills's [book] its originality and its effectiveness is the artful span of examples he has chosen, examples that not only range across time . . . but are also chosen to illuminate major themes and continuities within the Chinese universe. . . . There is high drama, cruelty, and excess in many of these stories. . . . And there is also wit and charm mixed with the telling of great events. Jonathan Spence(The New York Times Book Review)
... A tapestry displaying a vast array of noble dreams and failures, of initial utterances and long-distance echoes, of recurrent patterns and abrupt innovations intended to intrigue and inform educated readers looking for a way into three thousand years of Chinese history. Jerry Dennerline(The Journal of Asian Studies)
... This book . . . chronicles 5,000 years of Chinese history in short biographies of its most important figures. . . . Time and again these vignettes of history reflect the moral earnestness of the Chinese and individual struggles between villainy and idealism. (Asia Week)
... [T]his remarkable book . . . spans the 3,000 recorded years of Chinese history. . . . We experience the wrenching difficulties faced by . . . each emperor, philosopher, poet, historian, monk, military general, and revolutionary whose life story is told here with such skill and compassion. . . . students of history will find themselves clinging to the edge of their seats, as if the outcome were still to be determined. (Wilson Library Bulletin)
... Although intended for the inspired tourist or casual reader who wants a quick introduction to Chinese history, this collection of biographies is in no way superficial. Each of the 20 chapters offers a figure typical of his/her times and an elaboration of the contexts and backgrounds that shaped these individuals. . . . (Library Journal)
Table of contents:
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Romanization
A Summary Time Line
1
Yu
3
2
Confucius (Kongzi)
11
3
The First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shihuang)
33
4
Sima Qian
51
5
Wang Mang
72
6
Ban Zhao
90
7
Zhuge Liang
100
8
Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch
114
9
Empress Wu
127
10
Su Dongpo
149
11
Yue Fei
168
12
Qiu Chuji, the Daoist
181
13
Wang Yangming
201
14
Zheng Chenggong (Coxinga)
216
15
The Qianlong Emperor
231
16
Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King
259
17
Liang Qichao
274
18
The Kuomintang Legacy
301
19
Mao Zedong
335
20
Names in the News
360
Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading
381
Index
389
"It is a great achievement to make the historical figures so accessible, with vivid details that seem to have escaped the attention of earlier historians. In scope, method, and quality, .. . This book is unique."--Kwang-Ching Liu, University of California, Davis
Investigating both the legends and the facts surrounding these figures, Wills reveals the intense interest of the Chinese in the brilliance and in the frail complexities of their heroes. Included, for instance, is a description of the frustrations and anxieties of Confucius, who emerges as a vulnerable human being trying to restore the world to the virtue and order of the sage kings. Wills recounts and questions the wonderfully shocking stories about the seventh-century Empress Wu, an astute ruler and shaper of an increasingly centralized monarchy, who has since assumed a prominent position in the Chinese tradition's rich gallery of bad examples--because she was a woman meddling in politics. The portrayal of Mao Zedong, which touches upon this leader's earthy personality and his reckless political visions, demonstrates the tendency of the Chinese not to divorce ideology from its human context: Maoism for them is a form of "objective" Marxism, inseparable from one man's life and leadership.
Each of the twenty chapters provides a many-sided exploration of a "slice" of Chinese history, engaging the general reader in a deep and personal encounter with China over the centuries and today. The biographies repeatedly mirror the moral earnestness of the Chinese, the great value they place on the ruler-minister relationship, and their struggles with tensions among practicality, moral idealism, and personal authenticity. Culminating in a reflection on China's historical direction in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the biographies show the modern Chinese still inspired and frustrated by a complex heritage of moral fervor and political habits and preconceptions. As absorbing as it is wide ranging, this history is written for the general public curious about China and for the student beginning to study its rich cultural heritage.
Review:
... [A] spirited and highly intelligent book. . . . A splendid reflection on the nature of the Chinese relationship to history, culture, and morality. . . . What gives Wills's [book] its originality and its effectiveness is the artful span of examples he has chosen, examples that not only range across time . . . but are also chosen to illuminate major themes and continuities within the Chinese universe. . . . There is high drama, cruelty, and excess in many of these stories. . . . And there is also wit and charm mixed with the telling of great events. Jonathan Spence(The New York Times Book Review)
... A tapestry displaying a vast array of noble dreams and failures, of initial utterances and long-distance echoes, of recurrent patterns and abrupt innovations intended to intrigue and inform educated readers looking for a way into three thousand years of Chinese history. Jerry Dennerline(The Journal of Asian Studies)
... This book . . . chronicles 5,000 years of Chinese history in short biographies of its most important figures. . . . Time and again these vignettes of history reflect the moral earnestness of the Chinese and individual struggles between villainy and idealism. (Asia Week)
... [T]his remarkable book . . . spans the 3,000 recorded years of Chinese history. . . . We experience the wrenching difficulties faced by . . . each emperor, philosopher, poet, historian, monk, military general, and revolutionary whose life story is told here with such skill and compassion. . . . students of history will find themselves clinging to the edge of their seats, as if the outcome were still to be determined. (Wilson Library Bulletin)
... Although intended for the inspired tourist or casual reader who wants a quick introduction to Chinese history, this collection of biographies is in no way superficial. Each of the 20 chapters offers a figure typical of his/her times and an elaboration of the contexts and backgrounds that shaped these individuals. . . . (Library Journal)
Table of contents:
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Romanization
A Summary Time Line
1
Yu
2
Confucius (Kongzi)
3
The First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shihuang)
4
Sima Qian
5
Wang Mang
6
Ban Zhao
7
Zhuge Liang
8
Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch
9
Empress Wu
10
Su Dongpo
11
Yue Fei
12
Qiu Chuji, the Daoist
13
Wang Yangming
14
Zheng Chenggong (Coxinga)
15
The Qianlong Emperor
16
Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King
17
Liang Qichao
18
The Kuomintang Legacy
19
Mao Zedong
20
Names in the News
Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
"It is a great achievement to make the historical figures so accessible, with vivid details that seem to have escaped the attention of earlier historians. In scope, method, and quality, .. . This book is unique."--Kwang-Ching Liu, University of California, Davis
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