Cambridge Illustrated History of China was originally written for ordinary readers in the English-speaking world. This seemingly omnipotent China book is not a book that can be flipped through casually. Although its length, words and explanations add up to only 300,000 words, it tells the history of China from the Neolithic Age to the recent period. In fact, every paragraph of it is simple and profound, which needs to be read carefully.
It is hard to imagine that a popular book about the history of China read by foreigners can be written so succinctly and accurately. The first chapter of this book tells the origin of China civilization, from the Neolithic Age to the eastward movement of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Which talked about the Shang Dynasty. Around 2000 BC, a more complex bronze civilization appeared in the Neolithic culture scattered in the North China Plain, which was marked by writing, metal smelting, horse domestication, class stratification and stable political and religious rule.
In such a short paragraph, the time, geographical location, cultural stage, general attributes and basic characteristics of Shang civilization are clearly displayed, which will definitely make readers with certain literacy feel a pleasure of reading immediately. And the author's genius is far more than that. For example, to explain the "politics and religion" of the Shang Dynasty, the author said: "The Shang Dynasty was not only built on military strength, but also firmly rooted in religious ceremonies. The Shang kings played the role of monks in the worship of the supreme god "the emperor" and the royal ancestors, and legalized their political power. In other words, this is because among the dead, his ancestors can communicate with the emperor best; And he can communicate with his ancestors best. This shows that the king is the most suitable for governing the country. "
This paper analyzes the "logic" of politics and religion in Shang Dynasty through specific hints on the significance of religious ceremonies of Shang kings: the words used are accurate, clear and incisive, and the author wants to explain the history of Shang Dynasty in a simple way with only about 4,000 words. For particularly important issues, such as ideographic writing in Shang Dynasty, the author pays more attention to its ideographic form and its long-term significance to the historical development of China, and emphasizes the relationship between this ideographic writing and the formation of "elite" class and the "process of cultural expansion and coverage in China".
The author of this book has a profound knowledge of the history of many places in China. For example, when talking about the sense of crisis in China people's spiritual life in the late Tang Dynasty and people of insight's thinking about basic political and cultural issues, she took the similarities and differences between Du You and Han Yu as an example, clearly analyzed their respective reasons, and summed them up well: "Du You advocated tracing back the development of history step by step, while Han Yu thought that we could erase the middle century-pen and jump back to distant ancient times. However, the two did agree on some issues. For example, they are not interested in the theory that the monarch is ordered by heaven, which has been popular since the Han Dynasty. And they all have an optimistic spirit, thinking that as long as there are good people in the world to act, everything will get better. " An experienced and keen reader in China, even if he has not read Du You and Han Yu, can imagine and even realize the spiritual temperament of the literati of that era according to his own life experience.
Because he is familiar with the general process of China's history, and at the same time he can grasp the key points of history, although the author cherishes ink like gold, he is still very calm and well controlled in rhythm when describing the specific historical process and reminding, analyzing and summarizing important historical issues, which makes people not feel embarrassed to read. In this way, the author's historical brushwork, from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, to Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, to the Republic of China, and even to the people of China. Her views on the history of China are positive. She made it clear to readers in the English-speaking world that although historians always pay attention to things that have great influence on later generations, she would never think that the future direction of China had been decided as early as its ancient times. Because, "this view seems to underestimate the strength of the people of China and ignore their creativity in coping with new situations", and she herself wants to "shape the historical heritage as much as possible as a resource, not a shackle".
In any case, in such a short text, it is difficult to tell the benefits of this book "Jiao Jian Illustrates the History of China". Its content is really too rich. This book also gives a brief introduction to the issues that overseas Chinese and others who write the general history of China seldom pay attention to. So, in the remaining space, I want to talk about some of my favorite features when editing this book. Say a few more words quickly. The first thing to say, of course, is the attached large number of pictures. Among these pictures, there are exquisite bronze ritual vessels, Dunhuang murals, ancient calligraphy and painting, porcelain, ancient pottery, decorations, textiles and archaeological site photos. In addition, the book is accompanied by various maps and charts, reflecting the political situation, territory, population and other issues in various historical periods. All these pictures are well illustrated. For example, in the second chapter of the book, there is a color picture of a bell buried in the tomb of Zeng Houyi. Its explanation is divided into two parts. One part is to explain pictures and introduce a boat full of musical instruments at that time, and the other part introduces the connotation of early music. It said: "Early thinkers believed that music had strong moral power." It is also said: "Western classical philosophy widely uses visual' geometric' language, while China tradition uses auditory' connecting' language more." Its incisive analysis can only be appreciated by readers who have read the original text themselves. In addition, some important figures and works mentioned in the article are accompanied by some explanations. For example, Confucius is equipped with an interpretation of the Analects of Confucius and some excerpts from the original text. The same is true of A Dream of Red Mansions.
Finally, I want to say that everything mentioned above was conveyed to me through its Chinese translation.