Spence shows himself at once historian, detective, and artist. . . . He makes history howl. (The New Republic) Award-winning author Jonathan D. Spence paints a vivid picture of an obscure place and time: provincial China in the seventeenth century. Life in the northeastern county of T an-ch eng emerges here as an endless cycle of floods, plagues, crop failures, banditry, and heavy taxation. Against this turbulent background a tenacious tax collector, an irascible farmer, and an unhappy wife act out a poignant drama at whose climax the wife, having run away from her husband,...
Spence shows himself at once historian, detective, and artist. . . . He makes history howl. (The New Republic) Award-winning author...
From "the best known and most talented historian of China writing in English today" (Los Angeles Times), an examination of a diverse collection of Western foreigners who attempted "to change China" "To change China" was the goal of foreign missionaries, soldiers, doctors, teachers, engineers, and revolutionaries for more than three hundred years. But the Chinese, while eagerly accepting Western technical advice, clung steadfastly to their own religious and cultural traditions. As a new era of relations between China and the United States begins, the tales in this volume will...
From "the best known and most talented historian of China writing in English today" (Los Angeles Times), an examination of a diverse collect...
A milestone in Western studies of China. (John K. Fairbank) In this masterful, highly original approach to modern Chinese history, Jonathan D. Spence shows us the Chinese revolution through the eyes of its most articulate participants the writers, historians, philosophers, and insurrectionists who shaped and were shaped by the turbulent events of the twentieth century. By skillfully combining literary materials with more conventional sources of political and social history, Spence provides an unparalleled look at China and her people and offers valuable insight into the continuing...
A milestone in Western studies of China. (John K. Fairbank) In this masterful, highly original approach to modern Chinese history, Jonatha...
From the renowned historian and author of The Death of Woman Wang, a vivid and gripping account of the 16th-century missionary s remarkable sojourn to Ming China In 1577, the Jesuit Priest Matteo Ricci set out from Italy to bring Christian faith and Western thought to Ming dynasty China. To capture the complex emotional and religious drama of Ricci's extraordinary life, Jonathan Spencerelates his subject's experiences with several images that Ricci himself created four images derived from the events in the Bible and others from a book on the art of memory that Ricci wrote in...
From the renowned historian and author of The Death of Woman Wang, a vivid and gripping account of the 16th-century missionary s remarkable ...
"A savory, fascinating story of absolute rule, one that not only reveals a great deal about China's turbulent past but also suggests where some of the more durable reflexes of China's current leaders have their roots. . . . A detective yarn and a picaresque tale." (Richard Bernstein, The New York Times) Shortly before noon on October 28, 1728, General Yue Zhongqi, the most powerful military and civilian official in northwest China, was en route to his headquarters. Suddenly, out of the crowd, a stranger ran toward Yue and passed him an envelope--an envelope containing...
"A savory, fascinating story of absolute rule, one that not only reveals a great deal about China's turbulent past but also suggests where some of ...
Spence draws upon his extensive knowledge of Chinese politics and culture to create an illuminating picture of Mao. . . . Superb. (Chicago Tribune) From humble origins in the provinces, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, colonialism, and war. This sharply drawn and insightful account brings to life this modern-day emperor and the tumultuous era that he did so much to shape. Jonathan Spence captures Mao in all his paradoxical grandeur and sheds light on the radical transformation he...
Spence draws upon his extensive knowledge of Chinese politics and culture to create an illuminating picture of Mao. . . . Superb. (Chicago Trib...
By now the world is familiar with the disastrous consequences of the ten year period (1966-1976) in China's history known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The mistakes of Mao Zedong's later years have been officially acknowledged, and the infamous Gang of Four publicly tried and sentence for their crimes. But on the cultural front the thaw had no sooner come than gone. A campaign against what is regarded as "spiritual pollution" is being waged to inhibit free expression among creative writers.
Thousands of scholars, authors, respected professors and academicians, who as...
By now the world is familiar with the disastrous consequences of the ten year period (1966-1976) in China's history known as the Great Proletarian ...
The collapse of the Ming dynasty and the takeover of China by Manchu rulers in the 1640s were of crucial importance in the late history of China. But because traditional Chinese sources arbitrarily divide the century at the change of dynasty in 1644, it has been difficult to form a clear picture of the transition. The nine essays in this book will contribute significantly toward understanding the complexity of change and continuity over the span of time leading up to and resulting from the tumult of the mid-1600s. "The fullest introduction in English to the Ming-Ch'ing transition."--Tom...
The collapse of the Ming dynasty and the takeover of China by Manchu rulers in the 1640s were of crucial importance in the late history of China. But ...
In this highly praised book, Jonathan D. Spence recounts the story of Ts'ao Yin, hereditary bondservant to the Manchu emperors. Ts'ao Yin, whose great-grandfather was captured and enslaved by the Manchus and whose descendent wrote Dream of the Red Chamber, China's most famous novel, becomes the focal point of a fascinating study that sheds light on the social and political life of the early Manchu period. This edition of Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-hsi Emperor has a new introduction by Jonathan D. Spence. "A brilliant synthesis of biographical, social, economic and institutional...
In this highly praised book, Jonathan D. Spence recounts the story of Ts'ao Yin, hereditary bondservant to the Manchu emperors. Ts'ao Yin, whose great...
Enlightenment thinkers, spinners of the cult of Chinoiserie, and American observers such as Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and Eugene O'Neill convey Western thought on China.
Enlightenment thinkers, spinners of the cult of Chinoiserie, and American observers such as Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and Eugene O'Neill convey Western ...
