The stability of the Chinese civilisation pre-1900 compared to the instability of European civilisation in the same period is striking. In Europe, there were constant…
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Tag: Chinese History (Books)
The Chinese Experience
The Chinese Experience by Raymond Dawson is an old book. Written and published in 1978 by an Oxford lecturer in Chinese history, it is an…
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The Three Kingdoms and Chiang Kai-shek
It is a well-known fact that Chiang Kai-shek is steeped in the Chinese classics. One wonders, therefore, whether this famous quote from the Three Kingdoms…
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China’s Restless Heartland
Why do some peasants in China rebel? Why did rebellions occur more often in certain areas, like the bandits of the Shantung marshes, the pirates…
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The Empire’s Last Crime Scene
A British girl was murdered in Peiping (now Peking) around midnight next to the Tartar City walls in January 1937. Her face was brutally mutilated,…
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The Chinese Civil War 1946-1950—Part 1
Decisive Encounters by Odd Arne Westad, published in 2003, is the only English book on the entire span of the Chinese Civil War, from post-WWII…
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Handbook of Early China
The Oxford Handbook of Early China is the most recent survey (2020 HC, 2025 paperback) for those needing a detailed focus on early Chinese civilisation.…
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The Return of Religion After Mao—Part 1
This book by Ian Johnson, published in 2017, Mao thought religions were full of superstition. This has given rise to the belief that religions had…
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The Golden Urn – Part 2
In this deeply researched book by Max Oidtmann, a German professor of Chinese history, we learn that the Golden Urn was used by the Qing…
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Tianjin Cosmopolis – Part 1
The Siege of Tianjin was part of a wider assault on foreigners in northern China, including the more famous Siege of the Legations in Peking…
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