Customer Reviews

China: Empire and Civilization

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The team of historians headed by Edward Shaughnessy did a fantastic job on this book, covering the most interesting fascets of imperial China (and its legacy in 20th century China). But the illustrations were my favorite part. The Chinese were masters at fusing beauty with function. Some of their inventions, artworks, and everyday tools make the West seem so clumsy. The captions are meaty and provide for good reading as well. I only wish the book were longer and went into more detail. A must have for China lovers!

I bought this book as a gift for my sister who went to China this year but I ended up keeping it for myself. So many illustrated books on Asia only pick out what's exotic and exploit it. This book, however, offers an even-handed introduction to China's past, focusing on politics, philosophy, technology, daily life and the arts. The section on beliefs is particularly fresh. I learned so much, yet I didn't feel the book wowed me with pieces of jade and the like that so often show us how we'd like to see imperial China, not how it really was.

This book isn't bad. It covers a large amount of facts. But it is so poorly written and organized that it is extremely hard to follow, and much less learn anything without just memorizing the text itself. Now I know why this textbook only cost $25.

This book was great for a college student like me, who knew nothing of China. The chapters are separated into easily digestible segments. There are lots of images for references, too. The class I used it with, though, uses this as backround information and anything more detailed are in separate books entirely. This is a good book to start learning about China, or even a place to cross-reference ideas.

this was one of my text requirment book!

so i have to get it!

it has a lot of ideas in it, but not very interesting. good for text book!

If you are a beginner who wants to study Chinese history (especially ancient Chinese history), this book will be a good choice. It talks about ancient Chinese rituals, Chinese myths and different dynasties. As a native Chinese, I am not really satisfied with this book since the information is too superficial for me. However, it is good for the beginners who want to know about ancient Chinese history.

All in all not a bad book and quite fine as a primer on the subject of China's history and culture. It should defiantly be followed up with more advanced materials covering specifics. But a good start none the less.

This was the required text for a comparative studies course I took on Ancient China and if it wasn't for the help of my prof I would have been lost completely. Even he said it was difficult to understand and he has been studying China for decades. This book was simply a mess of facts. The author should have worked more on the order of the content he was stuffing into this book. I give it two stars because of the great images it provides. But, at the end of the day, images will not teach you about China. The author may have covered a variety of Chinese history and provided nice pictures, but it doesn't do any good if it is simply scattered over the pages. I am a deans list student but not after this book. A China lover would enjoy the overview but take some Tylenol with it.