Waubonsee Community College

Demystifying China, new understandings of Chinese history, edited by Naomi Standen

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Demystifying China

bibliography

744300604

edited by Naomi Standen

new understandings of Chinese history

For westerners, China's history is often reduced to a choice between timeless Confucian ideals or incomprehensible barbarisms such as footbinding or mass slaughter, fueled by generalizations such as "China has five thousand years of history," "China was a Confucian society," "Chinese women were victims," "China is a communist country," and many more. But China is now too globally important to allow such oversimplifications to continue unchallenged, and this engaging and deeply knowledgeable volume counters them vigorously. In concise and accessible style, the contributors scrutinize a range of historical misconceptions that have ramifications for the present and future of China and its relations with the rest of the world. They consider how misunderstandings have arisen and present more sophisticated and nuanced interpretations. Readers will learn how numerous popular beliefs about China's history are mistaken and what new interpretations can help build the more accurate understandings of present-day China that we so badly need. By explicitly addressing common misconceptions, the book persuades readers to reexamine their assumptions about China's history - and thus China in general - and begin to see it as a real rather than largely imagined place. -- Book cover

Notes on Romanization, Names, and Chinese Characters -- Introduction: The Creation of History in China / Naomi Standen -- Part I. Images of an Ancient and United Nation -- The Chinese / Peter C. Perdue -- The Great Wall / Peter Lorge -- Foreign Conquerors of China / Naomi Standen -- Confucius : The Key to Understanding China / Tim Barrett -- Part II. Cultural Traditions -- The "Decline" of Buddhism in China / Tansen Sen -- Islam in China / Michael Brose -- Chinese Medicine / Bridie Andrews -- Traditional Chinese and the Environment / Ling Zhang -- Chinese Martial Arts / Stanley E. Henning -- Women in Chinese History / Clara Wing-chung Ho -- Part III. Imperial China -- China's Age of Seafaring / Ruth Mostern -- Civil Service Examinations / Elif Akcetin -- Modern China's Borders / Andres Rodriguez -- Xinjiang at the Center / Judd Kinzley -- Tibet / Elliott Sperling -- The Opium War and China's "Century of Humiliation" / Julia Lovell -- Part IV. Making Modern China -- Sun Yat-sen / Wasana Wongsurawat -- Republican China under the Nationalists, ca. 1925-1945 / Felix Boecking -- The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party / Christian Hess -- Simplified Characters / Imre Galambos -- The One-Child Policy / Barbara Mittler -- The Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976 / Marjorie Dryburgh -- China's Political System / Hai Ren -- Tiananmen 1989 / Fabio Lanza