China Through the Ages: History of a Civilization

by Franz Michael and Franz H. Michael

Book Overview

This book 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. It explores... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865317267
• ISBN13: 9780865317260
• Release Date: October 1986
• Publisher: Westview Press
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A good introduction and an enjoyable read

For a newcomer to Chinese history, this is a solid introduction. It is a manageable size (250 pages), yet it leaves the reader feeling as though they have a good sense of the full scope of Chinese history from it's prehistory to modern day. Franz Michael's accessible writing style is enhanced by the fact that he rarely bogs the reader down with the finer disputes of Chinese history, which serves the introductory nature of the book. Still, he does not hesitate to point out where generally established history differs from popular misconception, which is most helpful for many of us Westerners since our knowledge of Chinese history is likely sparse and/or politically biased. Also, endnotes are used instead of footnotes. Franz Michael does do a good job of tracking cultural developments over time as well as their relationship with historical events, however, this is probably where his emphasis, although slight, comes out. In contrast to the simplistic Communist interpretation, Michael vindicates traditional Chinese culture, particularly Confucianism and its emphasis on the leadership of a scholar-class, which emerges as the main component of "the great humanist tradition of the past" that may "provide the moral strength" for China's future. It is primarily Confucianism's moral and intellectual aspects that stand out most in this book, as opposed to Confucianism's intricate rituals, for example, which have less of a modern humanistic application but are nonetheless important aspects of Chinese history. While Michael's work will rightfully arouse respect for Chinese culture, it would have been helpful to hear a bit more about the more unsavory aspects of China's pre-Communist culture, just to round out the picture a bit more since all cultures have bright spots and dark spots. With that said, Michael's emphasis is only minor and may simply serve to compensate for the devaluation of traditional culture that may impair modern readers of any ancient or medieval history. The only substantial problem of this book is a lack of maps (as in there is only one: a contemporary [1986] map). Historical maps would have been particularly helpful for newbies to Chinese history, especially Western readers.

An enjoyable cultural and intellectual overview

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.