Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm: China in Tigers` Jaws

Book Overview

This fascinating book presents eyewitness accounts of a turbulent period in Chinese history: the fall of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in the mid-seventeenth century. Lynn A. Struve has translated, introduced, and annotated absorbing testimonies from a wide range of individuals in different social stations--Chinese and Europeans, missionaries and viceroys, artists and merchants, Ming loyalists and Qing collaborators, maidservants and eunuchs--all telling stories of hardship and challenge in the midst of cataclysmic change.

"It is a book that brings history graphically to life."--Keith Pratt, Asian Affairs

"A fascinating view of the dynamics of dynastic change in China."--Jonathan Porter, History

"The book combines skillful translation of a rich variety of primary sources with authoritative commentary and meticulously researched annotation."--Helen Dunstan, Historian

"One of the most engaging works of scholarship to appear in the field for a long time. . . . An extraordinarily good book destined to be read and enjoyed by a very wide audience beyond the professional one."--Craig Clunas, Bulletin of SOAS

"Struve is] the most knowledgeable American scholar of the history of the 'Southern Ming.' . . . This fascinating volume . . . can be readily used in any college course on late imperial Chinese history for wonderful examples of the personal experiences of the Chinese people living through the fall of the Ming dynasty to their Manchu conquerors."--Benjamin A. Elman, China Review International

"The scholarship behind this work is impeccable. . . . The translations are an important contribution to the field."--Jerry Dennerline, International History Review

"Throughout the volume, Struve's translations capture the different voices of the cataclysm. Students of Chinese history will find a wealth of information here."--Choice

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300075537
• ISBN13: 9780300075533
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Direct speech

This book has the great advantage of giving the reader the direct speech of people who lived the events described, i.e., the rise of the Qing dinasty and the fall of the Ming. In this sense is quite a unique document, with great value for the historian, but also for those who need to understand closely the way of thinking and feeling in a certain historical time. Through the book one can experience the fear and terror of an invasion and the arrival of new masters. But also to admire how the Qing had the ability to preserve and absorve the Han culture. If the editor reads this small review I would like to ask him if he can contact me. E-mail: cmj99@hotmail.com