Books about China

Page 3 (books 41 to 60)

These pages contain my reviews of books about China that have all been read when researching the information on this web site.

Note: many of the links to the books will earn us a small commission from Amazon if you decide to buy the book as we operate as an Amazon Associate.

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Chinese Painting, James Cahill, Booking International, 1995

211 pages. 3.5 stars ISBN 978-2605003068 Details/purchase Color illustrations Wade-Giles text Art book Chinese traditions book
Covers Chinese painting through the ages with many color illustrations. Paintings are critically analyzed and the changes of style over the centuries carefully explained. It does not have much to say on symbolism or general Chinese culture and traditions; it is very much a treatise on the painters and their paintings.
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Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs, C.A.S. Williams, Tuttle, 1993

472 pages. 3.5 stars ISBN 0-8048-1586-0 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Wade-Giles text Chinese characers History book Art book Chinese traditions book
A treasure trove of Chinese symbols in alphabetical order. Unfortunately now a bit dated, particularly as it uses Wade-Giles not pinyin. He covers a lot of Buddhist deities and motifs that are neglected elsewhere. Each entry has source references. However illustrations are disappointing, as the book title says 'art motifs' you may have expected lots of illustrations from art works, there are some but not very good ones.
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Chinese Thought, Roel Sterckx, Pelican, 2019

481 pages. 4.0 stars ISBN 978-0141984834 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text History book Philosophy book
A scholarly overview of the main strands of Chinese philosophy from the current Professor of Chinese History at Cambridge University, UK. His style is beguilingly simple, introducing complex topics in an easy to follow manner. The Confucian and Daoist philosophies are studied in detail. He carefully shows how Chinese 'philosophy' differs substantially from the western variety, being firmly rooted in human interactions rather than metaphysical conjectures. A good solid introduction to a topic that remains very relevant to this day. One small criticism is that it is rather short on references, just a short 'Notes and Further Reading' section.
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Chronicles of Tao, Deng Ming-Dao, Harper Collins, 1993

476 pages. 2.0 stars ISBN 0-06-250219-0 Details/purchase No illustrations Pinyin text Philosophy book Literature
The Daoist tradition in China remains important. The chronicles is a fictional account of a Daoist master during the difficult times of the Japanese occupation, the Communist suppression of religion and then finally ends up in America. Deng Ming-dao's prose style is rather labored and unrefined.
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Chronicles of the Chinese Emperors, Ann Paludan, Thames and Hudson, 1998

224 pages. 4.0 stars ISBN 0-500-05090-2 Details/purchase Color illustrations Pinyin text History book Chinese traditions book
A lavishly illustrated delight. Covers all the dynasties in time order with every emperor getting a mention. The most attractive feature are the illustrated panels covering related cultural topics. It is a most commendable factual account of Chinese history. The only things it lacks, may be, are overviews of the time periods and putting events into a global context. As it is titled a 'chronicle of emperors' one would not expect it to cover the lives of ordinary Chinese people but all major developments are covered.
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City of Heavenly Tranquility, Jasper Becker, Penguin, 2009

371 pages. 3.5 stars ISBN 978-0141031033 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text History book Modern history book
This book seems to be intended as a history of Beijing, however it is more of a collection of essays on Beijing from different perspectives. Jasper Becker is a journalist rather than a historian and that explains this approach. The chapters on the early history contain quite a few small errors, but the book is best when he covers the last one hundred years as he has met many of the people involved over his many years living there. He is passionate about preserving the ancient heart of Beijing and laments the recent destruction of many fine buildings.
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Colloquial Chinese: A Complete Language Course, Routledge, 1995

330 pages. 3.5 stars ISBN 0-415-11386-5 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text Chinese characers Language book
This is a basic guide for 'Getting by in Chinese', suitable for tourists and businessmen. It takes the student through a number of 'real-life' situations giving conversational Chinese. It is mostly in pinyin but some of the most common characters are introduced. Provides a sound introduction to the language.
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Crescent Over Cathay,Patrick Brodie,Oxford University Press,1990

293 pages. 3.0 stars ISBN 978-0195851687 Details/purchase B/W illustrations No characters History book Modern history book
A very different prespective on China 1898-1956. Told from the viewpoint of the British chemical multi-national ICI. It tells of the pitfalls of setting up operations in Qing dynasty China through to their forced removal under Communist rule.
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Disputers of the Tao, A.C. Graham, Open Court, 1989

502 pages. 2.0 stars ISBN 0-8126-9088-5 Details/purchase No illustrations Wade-Giles text Philosophy book
This scholarly work looks at the currents in the development of the Daoist philosophic tradition. He compares Daoist thought to those of Kongfuzi (Confucius) and Mozi. He covers the Yi Jing and Wu wei as well as many other traditions. Of interest to anyone who wants to study ancient Chinese thought in depth.
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Early Civilization in China, Willaim Watson, Thames and Hudson, 1966

143 pages. 3.0 stars ASIN B0018GTEK2 Details/purchase Color illustrations Wade-Giles text History book
A very creditable but now dated survey of Chinese art from the earliest times (Neolithic) up to the start of the Han dynasty. Many useful and attractive illustrations of pottery and bronzes over the two thousand years. The development of a uniquely 'Chinese style' is made evident from the evolution of form and ornamentation. This is a book based around archaeology and art history and not dynastic history.
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Emperor of China, Jonathan Spence, Vintage Books, 1974

226 pages. 4.0 stars ISBN 978-0679720744 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Wade-Giles text History book
It is amazing to read about the life of a great Emperor in his own words. Emperor Kangxi reigned over 60 years (1661 to 1722) and his humanity, scepticism and sheer hard work are expressed in his writings. He is rightly regarded as one of the great emperors. He took care to rule as wisely as he could and was not above self-criticism. A fascinating book from the great Jonathan Spence.
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Encounters with China, Trea Wiltshire, Formasia Books, 1995

178 pages. 2.0 stars ISBN: 978-9627283706 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Wade-Giles text History book Chinese traditions book Modern history book
A disappointing book. Lavishly illustrated but let down by a small amount of supporting text. No index or references. The text contains some errors and although subtitled 'merchants, missionaries and mandarins' it contains very little about them it is just standard history better presented elsewhere. The photographs are high quality but tend to be formally posed ones and don't give much clue to everyday life.
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Everyday Life in Early Imperial China, Michael Lowe, Carousel, 1973

201 pages. 2.0 stars ISBN 978-0880291774 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Wade-Giles text History book Chinese traditions book
This book looks in detail at life in China in the Han dynasty period. Although there is a lot written about Imperial life, the lot of ordinary people is rarely touched on. I find Michael Loewe's style hard to read, it is rather wordy, dry and scholarly. Even so, there are few books that concentrate on this very important time in China's formation.
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Experiences of China, Percy Cradock, John Murray, 1999

319 pages. 4.0 stars ISBN 0-7195-6042-X Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text Modern history book
The perspective of a senior English diplomat is a useful viewpoint on China's often fraught relations with Britain and the West from the 1960s to the year 2000. The burning down of the British mission building in 1967 is one of the worst diplomatic incidents with the cultural revolution at its height. There is much to be learned from the book about how to negotiate with the Chinese government - there is detailed history of the negotiations over the Hong Kong hand-over. The book has however rather little about China or Chinese people - very much the view from within the embassy.
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Feng Shui, Stephen Skinner, Parragon, 1997

96 pages. 1.0 stars ISBN 978-0752523859 Details/purchase Color illustrations Wade-Giles text Chinese traditions book
This book gives an introduction to Feng Shui for Westerners written by a Westerner covering only the basic principles. It has many colorful illustrations and suggestions on applying Feng Shui to building and garden design. It has very little to say about Daoism or China.
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Five Essays on Philosophy, Mao Tsetung, Foreign Languages Press, 1977

157 pages. 2.0 stars ISBN 978-0835104517 Details/purchase No illustrations Wade-Giles text Modern history book
To understand the early days of the PRC it is necessary to know Mao Zedong's mindset. This rare book puts forth his thinking in his own words. The essays were written between 1937-57 and have been carefully hand-picked to justify his own position on key strategies.
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For all the tea in China, Sarah Rose, Arrow, 2010

280 pages. 2.5 stars ISBN 978-0099493426 Details/purchase No illustrations No characters History book Chinese traditions book
This book is a very readable account of Robert Fortune's trips to find out the secrets of tea in China to enable the building of the vast Indian tea industry. The passages based on Fortune's journals are good but the rest is littered with many really bad factual errors (Confucius did not live in the Han dynasty; mianzi not mianxi!) that ought to have been spotted and corrected. The author uses the term 'theft' and yet Fortune paid for all his staff and materials in China, it was more spying than theft. There are some useful descriptions of tea plant cultivation and tea processing.
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Fun with Chinese Characters, The Straits Times, Federal Publications,1982

176 pages. 3.0 stars ISBN 981-01-3004-X Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text Chinese characers Chinese traditions book Language book
Published in three volumes this set of books is a unique exposition of the origin and meaning of about 450 of the most commonly used characters. Each character has a humorous cartoon suggesting how the character can be understood and there are notes on how it evolved from its ancient form. Each page also has a useful list of 'words' and phrases that use the character and an example sentence. This is a powerful and interesting way to learn Chinese characters while picking up a little Chinese culture and history along the way.
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Genghis Khan, James Chambers, Sutton Publishing, 1999

108 pages. 2.5 stars ISBN 978 0750920643 Details/purchase B/W illustrations No characters History book Chinese traditions book
Part of the Sutton Pocket Biographies series. A Short biography of Genghis concentrating on the early days and tthe lives of Mongols rather thatn details of the conquests. No maps or idea of location where events took place which is frustrating. Also uses alternative spellings for Mongolian names. A useful brief background to Temujin's life.
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God's Chinese Son, Jonathan Spence, Harper Collins, 1996

400 pages. 3.5 stars ISBN 0-00-255584-0 Details/purchase B/W illustrations Pinyin text History book Chinese traditions book
This is one of Jonathan Spence's most important contributions to the understanding of Chinese History. He covers the subject of the Taiping Rebellion in great detail and with scholarship. He concentrates on Hong and his inner circle rather than the ordinary Chinese. However, I have to take issue with his title 'God's Chinese Son' is a mistranslation of the Chinese and makes it sound more sensational a claim than it actually was. It represents a time when Western ideas and religions were being absorbed and merged with Chinese culture with devastating results.

Key to symbols used in the book descriptions

Note: More up-to-date editions of these books may well exist.

star ratingOur overall star rating for the book up to five stars.
black and white illustrationsHas black and white illustrations, none in color.
colour illustrationsHas color illustrations, often has black and white illustrations too.
no Chinese textDoes not have Chinese text in it.
Chinese pinyin textUses the modern Pinyin system for romanizing Chinese text.
Chinese wade-giles textUses the old Wade Giles system for romanizing Chinese text.
Chinese characterIncludes Chinese characters.

Many books cover more than one topic, these icons reflect all topics it may touch on.

art bookCovers Chinese art.
history bookCovers Chinese dynastic history up to 1912.
modern history bookCovers Chinese modern history from 1912 into PRC.
Chinese traditions bookCovers Chinese traditions.
Chinese literatureA work of Chinese literature (translated into English).
Chinese languageAn introduction to learning the Chinese language.
Chinese philosophyCovers Chinese philosophy / religion.
Travel in ChinaUseful travel guide to China.

See also