China Through The Ages: History Of A Civilization

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 278 pages
• Published by: Westview Press October 28, 1986
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0865317267
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-9576381904
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

Product Description
Past studies of China have concentrated on specific events or have related a chronological history of the dynastic periods. Although they have included aspects of cultural history, these works have underemphasized the country’s great social, political, and intellectual movements and their ultimate expression in the art and literature of the time. By focusing on these themes, Professor Michael provides a new framework for understanding the Chinese cultural tradition.The author describes the evolving history of ideas in China, from ancient faith in powerful magic to more modern concepts of a logical moral order of the universe and mankind’s place in it. He also explores the intellectual ferment following the dawn of the age of reason, the integration of Buddhism into the Confucian social order, and the social transformations accompanying the rise and fall of the centralized state. Throughout, he illustrates how the changing society’s beliefs, values, and aesthetic sense were embodied in its art and literature. This portrayal of the Chinese cultural tradition not only puts Chinese history in a new perspective, it illuminates the process through which China constructed a modern society from a non-Western foundation and serves as an essential tool for understanding modern-day China and its prospects for the future.

About The Author
Franz Michael is professor emeritus at George Washington University, where he was associate director and director of the Institute for Sino-Soviet Studies from 1964 to 1972. Dr. Michael’s publications include Rule by Incarnation: Tibetan Buddhism and Its Role in Society and State (Westview).

Reader Reviews
Michael has written a very readable, enjoyable overview of the evolution of the idea in Chinese art and literature, as influenced by the political, economic, social and intellectual developments in each period. This is a refreshing change from the traditional, political and military approach to history, and will serve as an invaluable complement to those kinds of works. For those who know Chinese, however, the book does suffer from one minor, irritating defect¡V the continued use of the flawed, outdated Wade-Giles romanization for all but the names of modern Chinese leaders, without the provision of any Chinese characters (not even in the index), leaves one not knowing how to pronounce many of the names and other terms in the book. Comment | | (Report this)