China: A New History, Second Enlarged Edition

A Review of “China A New History” by John King Fairbank and Merle GoldmanI read “China, a New History” after completing Ray Dalio’s book, “The Changing World Order”. Mr. Dalio offered three major reasons why nations or empires fail: viz. the accumulation of debt, internal discord, and a rising external powerful nation. One need not look too far to see these factors in America’s current history. Mr. Fairbank’s book, “China a New History, affords a look into the third factor, China. My reading sought to extract insight into China’s historical influences that correlate to modern Chinese state behaviors.Perhaps the characteristics of Chinese culture began when neolithic farming villages formed kinships and networks in a system of “subordination-superordination” that continued thru Mao Zedong and beyond. Or beginnings arose as Neolithic silkworms feasted on mulberry leaves initiating silk production establishing a home craft economic structure. Perhaps cultural norms were initiated with the quasi-historical “Three Empires” (Xia, Shang, and Zhou; 2200 B.C. thru 256 B.C) when a strong central authority was established, and the Zhou leadership forcibly contested with surrounding Nomadic tribes.China’s evolution was partially shaped by its geology. China’s borders extend from latitudes equivalent to Canada in the north and Cuba in the south. China began as an agrarian society and for much of its history depended on rice from the warmer southern climates and some grains from the North’s less arable soil and less cultivable area. This led to the importance of the family unit, village life, and subsequently to the hierarchical economic organization, noted above, for support and distribution. This structure evolved thru the feudal-like Empire periods and was conducive to the destructive Commune period of Mao Zedong. The Empires were essentially autocracies conditioning China for the Communist revolution and the post Mao period from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping.The foundational philosophy of Chinese culture was Confucianism (Confucius 551-479 BC), which is, also, quintessentially hierarchical. The Analects of Confucius codified a set of behavioral principles; child to parent, citizen to the social stratification, and the society to the ruler. Conformity and adherence to the Confucian code would assure nobility in mankind and order in the society. As this developed in the Han and Shang periods, the most important part of the code was loyalty. This influence is unmistakable in modern China, whereas the Confucian distaste for the profit motive has been somewhat deflated by State capitalism.Additional philosophical influences in Chinese thought include Taoism (Lao Tzu), which is more to the mystical side, intimating a central ineffable Tao (the Way) akin to the Vedic Dharma or, perhaps, the essential nature of things. Introspective theosophies seem to have faded into the periphery of Chinese culture.After the decline of the Han dynasty- to which the Chinese trace their ancestry (221 BC to 220AD)- there was a “Buddhist Age”, which achieved a level of autonomy from the State (500 A.D.-850 A.D), incidentally evolving into a meditation form called Chan in Chinese and Zen in Japanese. Chinese thought does not invoke a deity, and Confucius’ attention to social stability seems to remain the most important underlying doctrine. A more extensive discussion of these philosophical influences would have been welcomed in Mr. Fairbank’s influential work.China’s history is replete with the interaction of the dominant Han Chinese and the nomadic tribes to the north and west. The author opines that China’s interior development of art, aestheticism, pictography, warfare, and isolationism (no early development of seafaring) was a cultural foundation stimulated as a reaction to the constant threat of “barbaric invasions” and establishing a cultural distinction from the nomad.The periodicity of Chinese Empires includes successes of nomadic tribes. The Mongol Empire (1279AD-1368AD) known as the Yuan Dynasty established its capital at Beijing under Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Kahn. The final Chinese dynasty before the “Republican Revolution” of 1911 was the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), which was of Manchu origin (mostly descendants of seminomadic Ruzhen tribes which established the earlier Chinese Jin dynasty in the 12th Century); some examples of the Chinese National identity interspersed with governorships of tribal (semi)nomadic origins. The nomadic leaders generally followed Confucian ideation, which strengthened their central control. Chinese dynasties were often interrupted by periods of disorder such as the Warring States period (403BC-221BC) and the period of North-South disunion ((220-589AD) when the Han migrated to the warmer Yangzi valley and there was an ongoing incursion of nomadic tribes. This period was characterized by multiple small kingdoms in the north and south of China.Contestations of China with inner Asian tribes continues with modern China. The Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950. They are currently “re-educating” and forcefully confining the Uyghurs, a northern tribe with prominence since the 8th century and for a period dominated by the Tang dynasty (618AD to 907AD) in the continually shifting Sino-tribal relationships. Of course, China’s relationship with Taiwan is of critical importance currently. The history of Taiwan, (indigenous Peoples 3000BC-Portuguese (Formosa) settlement-Han (Hoklu) influxes post Portuguese-Taiwan secession to Japan-1949 Kuomintang democratic state-) argues against historical Chinese ownership. This issue is beyond the chronology of John King Fairbank’s book.Mr. Fairbanks presents approximately 150 pages detailing the history of Chinese empires, which is admixed with cultural, philosophical, important period contributors, and overview opinions, which makes a confluent demarcation of specific periods somewhat difficult to define. Tables and maps partially come to the rescue.China had an established wide East Asian trade before the Portuguese and the Spanish invaded East Asia in the sixteenth century. The evolution of Western influence in China led to a period of foreign dominace that has not been forgotten in Chinese memory, as it has evolved into the second largest world economy.The British East India company established trade with China in the early 18th century, which strengthened after 1759 thru their exclusivity in the port at Canton (Guangzhou). Opium was imported in exchange for Chinese silver and goods leading to the Opium Wars of 1839-1842 and 1856-1860. The treaty of Nanjing in 1842 and the treaty of Tianjin in 1858 essentially gave Great Britain extraordinary privileges in China (and ownership of Hong Kong to boot). The Coastal cities were Westernized, and the importation of Opium continued for 100 years. The author, John Fairbanks cites these events as more culturally significant than that of the Ruzhen, Mongols, and Manchus empires combined.Undoubtedly, the European, Russian, American, and Japanese encroachments in China, resulting in China’s “Century of shame” (1842-1949), was an enormous stimulus towards China’s subsequent growth, modernization, independence, and much later, economic dominance secondary only to the United States. The People’s Republic of China was established by Mao in 1949 after defeating Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang. The civil war ended foreign dominance in China.Mao Zedong’s ‘great leap forward’ and ‘cultural revolution’ are covered in great factual detail by Mr. Fairbank. The post-Mao reform era is recounted as an addition to Mr. Fairbank’s original tome by Merle Goldman including the influence of Deng Xiaoping in creating the China that the world now faces. The intent of this review was to focus on the way that China’s history from Neolithic origins thru Mao Zedong reflect on China’s worldview and its influence on possible Chinese policies. “China, a New History” is a scholarly exposition toward that intent.

Out of the countless books there are on Chinese history meant for either a academic or general readership, this has the distinction of being one of the most comprehensive and definitive books on the subject. Before I get into the strengths and features of this book let me first do away with the negative reviews. The book is massive but a short paragraph in the introduction has made a subset of readers somehow disregard the whole book because of it. There are all from American conservatives who dislike it when someone disagrees with their political beliefs. The author simply mentions his disagreement with conservative politicians and their beliefs in relation to the reality of modern Chinese society. I recommend to these people to grow up. It's sad and infantile that the whole book was given a negative review just because of that. Anyway, let me finally touch upon the strengths of this book by making a list.The strengths and features of the book:1. Gives the most comprehensive overview of Chinese history from prehistory to the modern day still to date.2. Authoritative. This is the greatest work of the late John K. Fairbank who was a giant of Chinese studies. This revised edition also inlcludes contributions to the latest chapters from Merle Goldman, a scholar with expertise on modern China and it's economy.3. Includes many useful maps and information tables that illuminate the text.4. Many great photos and illustrations.5. Coverage of China's geography, everyday life, religions and more which is something few history books do in general.6. A detailed bibliography and invaluable resources for further reading. This is gold for students or scholars.7. Written in a accessible and entertaining way. This book is hard to put down.My only complaint is the book's lack of coverage of non-Chinese dynastie, states, and neighbors. This gives a lopsided account of China's history and continues to ignore the influence of ethnic groups in Chinese history. Little mention of Xinjiang or Mongolia are good examples of this. Even with all that said, I can't overstate the utter comprehensiveness and mountain of information this book contains. This is the best book on Chinese history which should be a essential read for anyone even remotely interested in China.

I have read several, verging on numerous, one volume histories of China now. This one gets four stars because like too many, the depth of coverage decreases the further back in time one goes. We've reached the 20th Century by page 200 with 300 pages still to go. In this respect John Keay's China: a History, remains the single best one volume history from prehistoric times to 'the present', which in this book's case means 2006. There is, of course, the problem facing any such history that China has been evolving so rapidly since the revolution(s), that anything more than 5 years old, it feels like a significant gap has been left.This book is actually a second edition from the initial publication of 1996, extended into the Jiang Zemin - Hu Jintao years by a second author. This means that the book's extensive bibliography, compiled by Fairbanks, is now very dated with few titles that would be easily available today.For whatever reason, with most histories I have read my eyes have tended to glaze over once we reach the turmoil of the post-Mao years. Merle Goldman's extension for this edition is arguably the best feature of this book as between his contribution and Fairbanks' own coverage of the Deng Xiaoping era a very precise and clear picture is presented of the various currents in Chinese society; rural and industrial economic, popular and intellectual cultural, military within and outside government. This has greatly clarified my understanding of some of the threads that crop up repeatedly among China commentators of today. For instance, with Chinese government and politics being so opaque to the outside world, or even within China itself, it is tempting for commentators to try and guess what might be going on based on previous history. In particular, the Confucian tradition is regularly cited as a way of making sense of current Chinese society and politics. However, it is apparent that while Confucian tradition is alive and somewhat well in Chinese academia, academia is still under the thumb of the Party and the Party remains too pragmatically involved with its own objectives for Confucianism to really be an explanatory factor. There are actually few to no cases where a country's present history can be reliably inferred from that of its deep past and, if we had more access to the inner workings of Chinese government, China's deep past would not be such a heavily mined source of pseudo-explanation.While reading this I also came to a deeper view of Mao's own journey, from presumably genuine seeker of social justice to arguably the ultimate despotic monster of all history. I find myself considering at a new level the path of decision making Mao was confronted with and trying to understand those decisions that were reasonable in the circumstances, those that were lamentable but pragmatically necessary and those which were a roll of the dice by a ruthless tyrant infatuated with his own absolute power. With the only biography of Mao I have read being that of Jung/Halliday, it is too easy to presume that the dominant factor in all Mao's decision making was invariably consideration of his own power. I now feel I need to examine the events more closely and at least begin looking for the man behind the monsterSo, not the best but a very worthwhile book, particularly if your interest is in modern China.

In preparation to an upcoming 3-week trip to China, I wanted to get a good review of the complete history of China from the early dynasties to the present time. This book met all my objectives. The original version of this classic by John King Fairbank was published in 1992 and covers the history of China up to the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989. The additional chapters written by Merle Goldman, Chapter 21 on The Post-Mao Reform era as well as the Epilogue, add sixty pages of material to bring to book up to date to the year 2006. It is well written and gives a good understanding of the Chinese people, a people currently going through major economic and cultural changes that are opening up the country and bringing it into the modern era but a people still stifled by a party-state that does not allow opposition to party political views and still exert a major control over the media, although with increasing difficulty.

Pretty much everyone suggested this book to me as the best introductory overview of China's history to follow after with more focused books. In that the book does delivers the promises.That said, it is necessary to leave out much on an complete history of China and the book is very focused on the governance, less on other aspects like economics, minorities, etc.Also on the whole it seems to me that the book is much more deep on the period after the Europeans arrival. Some periods, as for example Ming dinasty, are a bit "light".

good

I didn't expect much as it was tagged as an acceptable used book with marginal marks inside. It turns out, however, to be a brand new book with just a slight sign of wearing on the outside. The delivery is excellent as well. Received just four days after ordering. Very good!