The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han (History of Imperial China)
In 221 bc the First Emperor of Qin unified the lands that would become the heart of a Chinese empire. Though forged by conquest, this vast domain depended for its political survival on a fundamental reshaping of Chinese culture. With this informative book, we are present at the creation of an ancient imperial order whose major features would endure for two millennia.
The Qin and Han constitute the “classical period” of Chinese history–a role played by the Greeks and Romans in the West. Mark Edward Lewis highlights the key challenges faced by the court officials and scholars who set about governing an empire of such scale and diversity of peoples. He traces the drastic measures taken to transcend, without eliminating, these regional differences: the invention of the emperor as the divine embodiment of the state; the establishment of a common script for communication and a state-sponsored canon for the propagation of Confucian ideals; the flourishing of the great families, whose domination of local society rested on wealth, landholding, and elaborate kinship structures; the demilitarization of the interior; and the impact of non-Chinese warrior-nomads in setting the boundaries of an emerging Chinese identity.
The first of a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, The Early Chinese Empires illuminates many formative events in China’s long history of imperialism–events whose residual influence can still be discerned today.
(20070401)
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Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl’s Journey from Hitler’s Hate to War-Torn China
By the late 1930s, Europe sat on the brink of a world war. As the holocaust approached, many Jewish families in Germany fled to one of the only open port available to them: Shanghai. Once called “the armpit of the world,” Shanghai ultimately served as the last resort for tens of thousands of Jews desperate to escape Hitler’s “Final Solution.” Against this backdrop, 11-year-old Ursula Bacon and her family made the difficult 8,000-mile voyage to Shanghai, with its promise of safety. But instead of a storybook China, they found overcrowded streets teeming with peddlers, beggars, opium dens, and prostitutes. Amid these abysmal conditions, Ursula learned of her own resourcefulness and found within herself the fierce determination to survive.
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Solid,
A solid introduction to Chinese Imperial history. This is the first volume of a projected survey of Imperial history being brought out by Harvard University Press. Lewis presents the first Chinese Empires, the Chin and the Han, as developing several of the basic institutions that would characterize the Chinese state for centuries. These include the overarching goal of a unified state transcending regions, a political system based on the Emperor as source of all authority and focal point of loyalty, the development of a unified intellectual culture serving the state, the demilitarization of the interior and development of professional and client armies defending the frontiers against nomadic peoples, and the emergence of the gentry that would be the mediator between the Imperial center and the countryside.
Lewis describes the Chin/Han as akin to the Classical period of Western history. This is true in both the sense of these societies establishing basic features of their descendant cultures but also in the sense of the problems of reconstructing their histories. As with Classical history, Lewis draws on literary accounts, contemporary histories, a modest amount of surviving primary documents, epigraphy, and archaeological evidence. One thing that appears to be different is the greater degree of continuity between the Chin/Han and later states.
Lewis covers the emergence of the initial Chin empire from the preceding Warring States. This seems to be the story of the development of a relatively centralized and militarized state emerging from a welter of feudatories, and then able to conquer rival states to produce a unified Empire. The history of the succeeding Han is presented as a partial dismantling of Chin institutions to produce the basic features of the Chinese state. Lewis does not present a typical narrative but rather more of a structural analysis. Much of the book consists of thematic chapters on family life, religion, intellectual culture, and law. This may be due in part to the limitations of the narrative record. Perhaps for the same reason, some very intriguing aspects, such as the apparent considerable monetarization of the Chinese economy are not explored. There is a particularly interesting discussion of the military strategies adopted by the Han to deal with Central Asian nomads and how their failure apparently precipitated the fall of the Han.
Lewis is a competent, as opposed to very good, writer. Perhaps because of the survey format, there are some limitations for the general reader. A brief discussion of the nature of the Zhou feudal state would have been useful. Similarly, Lewis has a good discussion of the emergence of an official intellectual canon but little discussion of the actual content of its different components. Having raised the comparison with Classical history, Lewis provides no comparative discussion. For example, the use of Central Asian nomads as client armies invites comparison with the later Roman Empire.
There are a number of maps but they are not of very good quality. Overall, this is a good start for this series.
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|Very good coverage of the subject,
This is a very good book covering this time period. It’s broken down in to sections (religion, law, literature, etc.) to make it easy to follow, or easy to research just a particular topic. It’s well written and easy to read and even enjoyable, which is a tough feat for a history book.
Some minor critiques: I wish the author or publisher had included the Chinese characters next to the pinyin words, so those familiar with the written language could better understand. Also, I think it should have started out with a long chapter giving a linear, chronological history of the Qin and Han periods. That would have made it better to understand some of the subsequent chapters. Reading this from front to back, you still get a good sense of the chronology, but starting out with that would have helped.
I’m looking forward to subsequent books in this series, plus I understand the author is also working on a different project discussing pre-imperial China. That will be nice.
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|An Exceptional Introduction to Classical China, Best Taken With a Grain of Salt,
THE EARLY CHINESE EMPIRES: QIN AND HAN is a book that is rather hard to review. It is not, as its title may suggest, a standard chronological history of classical China. While one will have a fair picture of the period’s chronology after reading this book, providing such is not Lewis’ goal. His intent is quite a bit more ambitious than this: THE EARLY CHINESE EMPIRES attempts to sketch the forces that created, sustained, and then destroyed the Qin and Han dynasties. Lewis leaves few subjects untouched in this synthesis of the classical Chinese system; foreign contacts, legal codes, state religion, and family structure are all broached upon in Lewis’ effort to explain the structure of the classic Chinese empires.
There are weaknesses to this approach. While written in an engaging style easily accessible to those not living in ivory towers, those completely unfamiliar with China’s classical and ancient history may have a rough time with this work. Sadly, there are few resources available to help the uninitiated – the excellent THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF CHINA Vol. 1 is prohibitory expensive, and most of the older works on the subject (such as Michele Pirazzoli-T’Sersteven’s THE HAN DYNASTY) are outdated and difficult to find.
(I have been told that the Greenwood Guide to the Han Dynasty works well enough for this purpose, but I have not read it myself.)
The dearth of Western scholarship on classical Chinese history poses another problem for readers. Stylistically, THE EARLY CHINESE EMPIRES is most similar to Peter Heather’s THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE or Adrian Goldworthy’s HOW ROME FELL – that is to say, large books that mine archeological sites and historical records in the service of a specific and controversial thesis explaining one of history’s great events. In Lewis’ case, the event is not the fall of the Roman Empire, but the establishment, expansion, and subsequent collapse of the Han dynasty. There is nothing inherently wrong with such books. Indeed, these tend to be the most interesting and important type of book a historian can write. However, one must be wary when approaching such a work. It must always be remembered that these types of histories are not surveys, but arguments – explanations and that may or may not be correct, one interpretation among many.* When studying Roman history this is easy to remember; there are half a dozen books attempting to explain a given event in the empire’s history, and there are a great multitude of surveys, specialized studies, and translated primary sources one can turn to verify a given historian’s argument. In sharp contrast, there are few English language works on classical China of any type, with the few that do exist being quite pricey. THE EARLY CHINESE EMPIRES is all the general reader has. Of course, it is unjust to blame this lack of published work on Lewis, and I do not mean to suggest as much. However, Lewis rarely stops to acknowledge or explain with any depth alternative theories to the ones he has proposed. The wise reader will keep this in mind as he reads, taking Lewis’ conclusions with deserved grain of salt because of it.
One can boil down Lewis’ conclusions to five main points, the critical transformations that occurred during the Qin and Han Empires. In essence, the defining features and trends of the entire classical period. These are:
1) The diversity of the early Chinese empires. The Qin brought about the first true unification of China, but (as Lewis is quick to stress) this unification was mostly political and intellectual in nature. Economic and cultural regionalism remained a constant throughout the classical period. This led to an odd contradiction that would in many ways bring down the Qin and the Former Han dynasties – the establishment of a supposed “universal, superior culture at the imperial center” in sharp opposition to a backward, “limited, particular culture of regions and localities” (2).
2) The invention and elevation of the emperor above the rest of Chinese society. Before Shi Huangdi the ruler of the Qin was simply a king among kings; after him (and just as importantly, Han Gaozu) the emperor…
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|Shanghai Diary, the little-known story of the Shanghai Jews,
When I started Shanghai Diary, I found that I simply couldn’t put it down. I hadn’t known the story of the Shanghai Jews in the Hongkew ghetto, and I was riveted by the well-written story of Ursula Bacon’s 8 years as a young girl in Shanghai, where it was nothing to see a dead baby girl thrown on a heap of trash and where day-to-day existence was harsh and often degrading. Despite all of this, Ursula’s family managed to maintain their dignity and prevail. To me it was a story of great courage. When she left Shanghai at the end of the war, far from being devastated by the experience, Ursula took away the lesson that she had seen first hand what hate can do, and she would never hate anyone as long as she lived. The book was so moving that I had to sit quietly and reflect for quite some time after I read the final page.
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|Inspiration, History, and a Study in Contrasts,
Wow! I was in tears by the second page. I ordered takeout and left dishes in the sink just so I could keep reading this compelling glimpse into a lesser known aspect of World War II. I’m not a history buff, but Ursula Bacon’s story drew a sketch of the war at such a personal level that I couldn’t stop reading.
The book covers the eight year period during which an aristocratic Jewish family fled Nazi occupied Germany to Japanese occupied Shanghai, only to be trapped in a detention center when Japan joined the German Axis.
Lest you think the subject might be depressing, let me assure you that it is quite the opposite. The courage, enthusiasm, and even humor that this family mustered to deal with their adversity is inspirational. I especially enjoyed how the author shared the spiritual insights she gained during this period. She blended her Jewish background with Catholic schooling, enhanced by teachings from a Buddhist monk and her own intuition. The result is that she could feel compassion for those who would victimize her. That’s a lesson most of us can’t achieve in a whole lifetime of petty annoyances. Yet, this young girl managed to love the enemy that treated her as a “sub-human” and “lowest form of life,” to use her own terms.
I think this book would appeal to a wide variety of people at any age. Some of the images portrayed will stay with me forever- the bombings, the squalor, the beauty. The author’s style vacillates between conversational and lyrical. The way she dealt successfully with the contrast between her former life of unimaginable opulence and then her ordeal with abject adversity was stunning. I already find myself taking guidance from her Buddhist teacher Yuan Lin who always reminded her, “Remember, it’s all the same.”
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|MAKE A MIRACLE–You Can Do It!!!!!!!!!!,
Several months ago I saw the author, Ursula Bacon, on BookTv (C-Span 2). I was very impressed with her; her lecture was excellent; and the true story of her life from the age of 10 to 18 was compelling. So, I immediately ordered her book. But the book sat on my desk for weeks making me feel guilty about not reading it. I too am a writer. So, finally after completing one book and revising another one, I took a break. And what a break that was–when I was transported to the CHINA of 1938-1946! Ms. Bacon, an only child of a Jewish family, left Germany with her parents as Hitler and his cohorts were rounding up Jews and transporting them to Death Camps.
By the time Vati, Dad, and Mutti, Mom, were looking for countries to immigrate to, every country had closed its doors to German Jews except Shanghai, China. And Shanghai was a total mess, worse than anything most Americans would ever see. But Ursula’s family lived in the filthy disease-ridden slums and survived by bartering their few possessions for food. Ursula, up until then a very sheltered child, attended a Catholic school where most classes were taught in French. And most of the time she remained optimistic, made many European and Chinese friends of all ages, learned to speak Mandarin Chinese, encouraged her Mutti, and helped Vati with his business endeavors.
Ursula became an adult before becoming a teen! And she encountered many bizarre situations which she handled better than most adults. The worst was when she was 12 or 13 and killed a drunken Japanese soldier with her bare hands when he attacked her as she walked home from a friend’s house late at night. She didn’t tell her parents, though, because she didn’t want to burden them with additional worries.
This intriguing and inspiring survival tale is about Jewish refuges in China during WW II, though it depicts the color of Shanghai and the many nationalities struggling to survive their wartorn world. I didn’t want SHANGHAI DIARY to end! However, I couldn’t wait to finish it, so I could pass it on to an friend whose daughter adopted the most delightful Chinese girl who I predict will someday be an important leader in some capacity.
The world has grown so small today that every American should go out of his or her way to become acquainted with other cultures and religions. And every American teenager should be given the opportunity to live in a foreign country to learn new languages and cultures. I give this wonderful book MORE than FIVE STARS! And I hope parents will share it with their teens and high school teachers will use it in their classes. Thanks, Ursula! K.J. McWilliams, book reviewer as well as author of Pirates, The Journal of Leroy Jeremiah Jones, a Fugitive Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Darien Dexter Duff, an Emancipated Slave, winner of the Young Adult Fiction 2003 Royal Palm Literary Award.
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