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1Veerleen
Hi!
I've been lately very interested in the Chinese evolution during the 20th Century.
It was by chance that I ended up reading about this. I was looking for a book on the Irish Great Famine and Amazon's search engine showed me a book titled "Mao's Great Famine".
I checked a little bit about the so-called "Great Leap Forward" and was completely blown away by the story of this mostly unknown period.
As always, I wanted to understand how this could happened so I have continued reading on the topic: from the last years of the last Chinese Emperor to the advance of the Chinese Economy in the XXI century.
For the moment I have read:
- Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikötter - Mind-blowing and in general easy to read, though sometimes a little tiring because it records endless data about agricultural production year by year.
- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang - Three generations biography, from the final years of the Chinese emperor to the end of Maoism. Easy and interesting reading
- Revolution in the Revolution: China, from Maoism to the Reform Era by Spanish professor Enrique Fanjul
- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Zedong - I didn't read it completely but it helps you understand the kind of ideology that was being preached during Maoism.
These will be followed by:
- Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang - I'm currently reading it but, though it is a very interesting reading, it is remarkably partial.
Also I have watched a few films:
- Seven years in Tibet - It shows a little bit about the invasion of Tibet by communist troops
- The children of Huang Shi - During the war against Japan, though the political events are shown as a background story
- The Opium War - Interesting to discover why Hong Kong ended in British hands
- Mao's Last Dancer - The real History of a Chinese dancer who refused to go back to China after a cultural exchange in the US.
Do you know any interesting books on any of these topics? I would love to read anything focused on the Cultural Revolution or the years of the Japanese conquest, though I'm interested in all the aspects of these 100 years.
Also, I'm interested in all points of view, pro-maoist or against the regime. Also books about Economy and Politics analysis are welcomed.
Thank you all in advance!
I've been lately very interested in the Chinese evolution during the 20th Century.
It was by chance that I ended up reading about this. I was looking for a book on the Irish Great Famine and Amazon's search engine showed me a book titled "Mao's Great Famine".
I checked a little bit about the so-called "Great Leap Forward" and was completely blown away by the story of this mostly unknown period.
As always, I wanted to understand how this could happened so I have continued reading on the topic: from the last years of the last Chinese Emperor to the advance of the Chinese Economy in the XXI century.
For the moment I have read:
- Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikötter - Mind-blowing and in general easy to read, though sometimes a little tiring because it records endless data about agricultural production year by year.
- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang - Three generations biography, from the final years of the Chinese emperor to the end of Maoism. Easy and interesting reading
- Revolution in the Revolution: China, from Maoism to the Reform Era by Spanish professor Enrique Fanjul
- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Zedong - I didn't read it completely but it helps you understand the kind of ideology that was being preached during Maoism.
These will be followed by:
- Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang - I'm currently reading it but, though it is a very interesting reading, it is remarkably partial.
Also I have watched a few films:
- Seven years in Tibet - It shows a little bit about the invasion of Tibet by communist troops
- The children of Huang Shi - During the war against Japan, though the political events are shown as a background story
- The Opium War - Interesting to discover why Hong Kong ended in British hands
- Mao's Last Dancer - The real History of a Chinese dancer who refused to go back to China after a cultural exchange in the US.
Do you know any interesting books on any of these topics? I would love to read anything focused on the Cultural Revolution or the years of the Japanese conquest, though I'm interested in all the aspects of these 100 years.
Also, I'm interested in all points of view, pro-maoist or against the regime. Also books about Economy and Politics analysis are welcomed.
Thank you all in advance!
2jcbrunner
Hola y ni hao!
A good way to get recommendations is to enter the books you mentioned into LT as a collection (you do not need to own the books to enter them.).
Given your interest, I highly recommend you to enroll in the (free) MOOC ChinaX which is currently looking at Communist China. Here you have a short video from the course about the Long March as a taster. The earlier courses that you can still do on your own up to the end of the final course in February are even better as they suffer less from the blandness caused by the self-censorship of the professors staying within the bounds of Harvard, the voice of the US plutocracy, and the Chinese Communist leadership.
Of books, you haven't mentioned yet, I would read The rape of Nanjing which is stellar but a rather stomach-churning read. Chinese history is especially brutal and often very sad. Jonathan Spence's short Woman Wang deals with the 17th century but shows the constancy of Chinese suffering through the centuries (even harsher than the rather brutal history of Spain). Spence's A Search for Modern China is also recommended but ends rather early for your time frame. Dikötter, by the way, has written another volume on mid-1950 history that I have not yet found time to read.
Not really history but charming accounts of life in modern China is presented in the books by Peter Hessler. His girlfriend/wife's book Factory girls : voices from the heart of modern China also gives voice to the often voiceless (though there is some overlap with Hessler's books).
Netflix will present an action hero TV series version of the story of Marco Polo starting in mid-December which might interest you in reading the original of Il milione.
Please takes us along on your discoveries of Chinese history.
(Having seen the Spanish TV series "Isabel" and bought the TV series book tie-in, I'd be delighted if you could point me at some good Spanish or English books about her early years (-1476).)
A good way to get recommendations is to enter the books you mentioned into LT as a collection (you do not need to own the books to enter them.).
Given your interest, I highly recommend you to enroll in the (free) MOOC ChinaX which is currently looking at Communist China. Here you have a short video from the course about the Long March as a taster. The earlier courses that you can still do on your own up to the end of the final course in February are even better as they suffer less from the blandness caused by the self-censorship of the professors staying within the bounds of Harvard, the voice of the US plutocracy, and the Chinese Communist leadership.
Of books, you haven't mentioned yet, I would read The rape of Nanjing which is stellar but a rather stomach-churning read. Chinese history is especially brutal and often very sad. Jonathan Spence's short Woman Wang deals with the 17th century but shows the constancy of Chinese suffering through the centuries (even harsher than the rather brutal history of Spain). Spence's A Search for Modern China is also recommended but ends rather early for your time frame. Dikötter, by the way, has written another volume on mid-1950 history that I have not yet found time to read.
Not really history but charming accounts of life in modern China is presented in the books by Peter Hessler. His girlfriend/wife's book Factory girls : voices from the heart of modern China also gives voice to the often voiceless (though there is some overlap with Hessler's books).
Netflix will present an action hero TV series version of the story of Marco Polo starting in mid-December which might interest you in reading the original of Il milione.
Please takes us along on your discoveries of Chinese history.
(Having seen the Spanish TV series "Isabel" and bought the TV series book tie-in, I'd be delighted if you could point me at some good Spanish or English books about her early years (-1476).)
3mercure
Some recommendations:
The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers is a very good book about the workings of the Beijing political inner circle, although probably getting outdated soon, due to the rise of Xi Jinping.
The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth. The title says it all.
The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers is a very good book about the workings of the Beijing political inner circle, although probably getting outdated soon, due to the rise of Xi Jinping.
The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth. The title says it all.
4Veerleen
Ni hao!! and thank you for your recommendations! Lots of interesting books and ideas!
I will add them all to my list.
I enrolled in the ChinaX MOOC at the very beginning last year, but found no time no get along with it. Also the first parts of the MOOC were a little bit tiring for me because ancient history is not my favourite. Maybe I should give it another try and go directly to more modern parts of the course!
I will keep you updated!
Cheers!
I will add them all to my list.
I enrolled in the ChinaX MOOC at the very beginning last year, but found no time no get along with it. Also the first parts of the MOOC were a little bit tiring for me because ancient history is not my favourite. Maybe I should give it another try and go directly to more modern parts of the course!
I will keep you updated!
Cheers!
5jcbrunner
Ancient history is always a tough nut as the surviving context is very patchy and so much is open to the personal interpretation. Compared to the often dry introductions about the Shang and Zhou, they did a good job by presenting material objects from the time.
Among his best reads of 2014, Bill Gates recommends How Asia works and it is indeed a very good introduction to good economic development policies. Whether one can translate the findings to other countries and continents is questionable as the author only looks at the successful cases (survivor bias) and is a bit smug about the tremendous suffering inflicted on Asians during the 20th century.
A key idea about the book I like is that you can not leapfrog development but have to get your agricultural structure into (more egalitarian) order - a key problem especially in India whose modern areas are held back by its archaic hinterland.
Among his best reads of 2014, Bill Gates recommends How Asia works and it is indeed a very good introduction to good economic development policies. Whether one can translate the findings to other countries and continents is questionable as the author only looks at the successful cases (survivor bias) and is a bit smug about the tremendous suffering inflicted on Asians during the 20th century.
A key idea about the book I like is that you can not leapfrog development but have to get your agricultural structure into (more egalitarian) order - a key problem especially in India whose modern areas are held back by its archaic hinterland.
6Limelite
Two memoirs come to mind and a number of novels by Chinese writers of the time period you're interested in. The memoirs are. . .
Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations by Zhu Xiao-Mei
Some novels include. . .
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Brothers by Da Chen (extremely symbolic)
The Flowers of War by Geling Yan (novella about Rape of Nanjing)
Straight history. . .
Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45 by Barbara Tuchman
Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations by Zhu Xiao-Mei
Some novels include. . .
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Brothers by Da Chen (extremely symbolic)
The Flowers of War by Geling Yan (novella about Rape of Nanjing)
Straight history. . .
Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45 by Barbara Tuchman
7mabith
Hungry Ghosts covers the same territory as Mao's Great Famine but is a little less focused on statistics and more on people's stories. I read both close together and was glad I hadn't just read one.
Second The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth and The Rape of Nanjing. Would also add Women of the Long March and maybe Red in Tooth and Claw. I find Simon Winchester's books to be uneven from one to another, but enjoyed The Man Who Loved China.
In terms of China now Lost on Planet China was interesting, as was The Porcelain Thief (disclaimer, the theft part isn't really the main point and never comes to any conclusion, but it was interesting for the depictions of China today and the varied stories of his family member's lives there from WWII onward, some stayed in China, some left for Taiwan, some for the US, etc...).
Historical fiction:
Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama
Second The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth and The Rape of Nanjing. Would also add Women of the Long March and maybe Red in Tooth and Claw. I find Simon Winchester's books to be uneven from one to another, but enjoyed The Man Who Loved China.
In terms of China now Lost on Planet China was interesting, as was The Porcelain Thief (disclaimer, the theft part isn't really the main point and never comes to any conclusion, but it was interesting for the depictions of China today and the varied stories of his family member's lives there from WWII onward, some stayed in China, some left for Taiwan, some for the US, etc...).
Historical fiction:
Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama
