The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)

1) First, the dynasties in chronological order: Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Lio, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing.

2) Zhou (770-240BC) is an era of constant warfare and power struggles. Confucius and Lao-tzu (creator of Daoism) are born during this period. Their writings have an enormous impact on Eastern thought and governance. The famous terracotta warrors also date back to Zhou.

3) Qin (221-206BC) and Han (202BC-220AD). This is the start of China as an empire. (pg 60) Trate routes reach all the way to Turkey, The population is 58M in 2AD (slightly larger than contemporary Rome). The great wall starts construction.

4) Tang (581-907) unifies what is now considered modern China.
They link Northern and Southern China by huge canals and inter-regional trade floursihed. Chang'an becomes the world's largest city. Culture and the arts start to thrive.

5) Song (907-1276) is not able to control East Asia like Tang or Han. They broker deals with neighboring states for a shaky peace. The status quo continues. By the 11th century, China is outpacing Europe in terms of "agricultural productivity, industrial technology, and sophistication of commercial organization." (161)

6) Ghengis Khan (1162-1227) creates huge lightning force of calvary that eventually covers 2/3 of Asian continent. Some of the cities under his (and grandson's) control: Beijing, Lhasa, Moscow, Kiev, Ormuz, and Baghdad. The divisions between Mongol ruling class and Chinese are kept clear by law, status, and language. The Chinese resent this alien rule.

7) Ming (1368-1644) is founded by Taizu, who is was the first commoner to become emperor in 1,500 years. (191) The population continues to grow, but the country is not entirely under control. Mongols attack from the North, while the Japanese attack from the east.

8) Manchus (1644-1900) from Manchuria (east of Mongolia, above Korea) create the Qing dynasty. They govern efficiently. They force their subjects to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (shaved heads with braided hair in the back) as a symbol of their loyalty. Trade with Europe increases exponentially. By 1800, Europe was buying 1/7 of all Chinese tea. This eventually leads to the Opium wars. Various colonial powers all vy for a piece of China.

9) Sun Yatsen, Chang Kaishek, Mao Zedong round out the rest of this beautifully illustrated book.


Concise and incisive: A highly readable summary   December 19, 2002
David Robinson (Oakland, CA United States)
57 out of 59 found this review helpful

With more than a billion people and 5,000 years of history, it's not surprising that most books on the History of China cover a brief period in excruciating depth. Patricia Ebrey's book is a deliciously self-aware overview, that delivers just what it promises: It covers all the issues and the illustrations are carefully chosen to amplify the text (not just a bunch of photos bound in the middle of the book). The book is beautifully printed--in China, of course!

Ebrey gets across the important point that we look to China and want a simple, linear summary, when China is complex and decidedely non-linear. (The Cultural Revolution as much happened to Mao as it was caused by him, for example). Moreover, she explains how our Western world view needs to see certain things (we always want the good guys to win in the end--perhaps they won't). This book would be great for a student at any level from High School library on to college. It could be used as a text and I'm also recommending it to US business people working with China. It's a wonderful introduction to the culture. The only quibble is that the Anglo pronunciation of pinyin isn't explained with a reference (for example, Qing Dynasty is pronounced "Ching" but you can't find that here). The pricing is very attractive too.


gorgeous photographs, and content?   July 5, 2001
41 out of 44 found this review helpful

Ebrey succeeds in condensing the history of China into a compact and very readable book. It was probably one of the most enjoyable reading I had for a history class. The photographs are gorgeous, and the author really tried to balance social and culture trends with the political events. However, the book fells short when it comes to content. The 600-year period between the fall of Han and the founding of Sui was described in about 3 pages. The enormously important Warring States Period had barely 5 pages of coverage. The depth of content - well, let's just say this is laughable by college standars. Of course, it is impossible to cover over 3000 years of history in this compact book. However, when some of the most influential periods in Chinese history are reduced to bare footnote, perhaps it indicates that the author has been over zealous in trimming her materials.

That being said, this is still a good introduction. If you are clueless about Chinese history, this book serve as a great start. If you know anything more than the fundamentals, however, look elsewhere for information.


An Excellent introductory book to Chinese history   June 16, 1998
34 out of 34 found this review helpful

This is one of the best books on general history of China I have come across in a long time. With much of academia still using outdated works by Fairbank and Hucker, Patricia Ebrey finally does justice to the tremendous progress the field of sinology has made over the past twenty years by bringing it within reach of the casual reader. This, along with Jacques Gernet's A History of Chinese Civilization and Ray Huang's China: A Macro History, are the three indispensable textbooks for any new student to Chinese history.


Bored to tears   September 13, 2004
Rui Jie (Wisconsin)
32 out of 99 found this review helpful

I faithfully read this book as a text for a class. The fact that it was boring wasn't such a problem because reading the book was unpleasant. In fact, it wasn't such a bad read, for a textbook. However, I was bored enough that I retained next to nothing from each chapter.
I personally find Chinese history fascinating (I speak the language, studied in Beijing, and majored in Chinese studies) but this book was a snoozer. For what you are going to get out of this book, take my short synopsis instead and forget the rest:

Qin Dynasty 220 BC: Unified China, Machiavellian
Han Dynasty 200 BC - 200 AD: Confucian
Tang Dynasty 600-900: Cosmopolitan
Song Dynasty Around 1000 AD: Confucian revival
Yuan Dynasty Around 1200: Mongols
Ming Dynasty 1300-1600: VERY Chinese
Qing Dynasty 1600-1900: Manchus