Customer Reviews

A Traveller's History of China (Traveller's Histories Series)

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

 

 

There is not much positive that I can say about this compilation of dates, names and places. I found it uninspired and dull. After the enjoyable volume about India in the same series, this contribution was a real letdown.

For the most part, Mr. Haw wrote a political history of China with the obligatory excursions into Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism (and, I have to say, a very apt comparison of Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism on page 87). Chinese literature is not mentioned in a single line - not even the world-class poetry of the Tang era. Apparently, the author wrote a "cultural history" of China before this book and incorporated part of it here. How can that be?

The condensation of about 3,600 years of Chinese civilization into 250 pages does not serve the subject well. Generalizations and vapid statements abound. Causes of developments are rarely explained, and more questions arise than are answered. For example when Haw writes about the south of China during the Song dynasty around AD 1000: "The south of China, formerly sparsely populated and poorly developed, had by this time advanced to a much higher economic level, largely as a result of considerable settlement by Chinese from the north."(113) Advanced, by what means? A much higher economic level, what is that exactly? What is "considerable"? Why does settlement advance an economy and how?

Economics are not the strength of Mr. Haw. Sometimes he misses obvious links - for example the interrelated economics of tea and opium in the Opium Wars, so well explained in Simon Winchester's "The River at the Center of the World." At other times he rehashes the babble of local Chinese newspapers, like the assertion that "China will almost certainly become the world's largest economy during the next decade."(248) I did the math when I heard this fairy tale for the first time while I worked in Shanghai. If China grows by 7% every year, and the US by 2.5%, China's GDP will reach 19% of the US GDP in 2010. In 2032, China will have reached 50% of the US GDP. Please send me an email to get the calculation on an EXCEL sheet if you don't believe the numbers.

The author seems a bit infatuated with Communist propaganda, too. The Tian An Men massacre is the "Tianan Men Incident" - it does not get any more politically correct in the PRC than this. Even more embarrassing is the fact that he trumpets the party line by saying that soldiers killed in self-defense ("it seems likely that troops were attacked with petrol bombs and possibly other weapons before they opened fire"(199)) and then sets off 400 killed civilians against "some 600 military fatalities" (199).

Another favorite idea of the Communist regime in China, which Mr. Haw parrots, is that "the general level of education in China is probably still too low for any genuinely democratic system to be successful: as many as a quarter of the population remain illiterate or semi-literate."(199) In reply to that I can say that there are democracies that continue to function even if more than HALF of the population do not participate in the process of voting, i.e. remain politically illiterate or semi-literate.

Finally, Mr. Haw is one awful storyteller. How can anyone NOT elaborate on a summary description like this: "In 1870 there was a dreadful incident in Tianjin, sparked off by the stupid behaviour of the French consul, as a result of which he and his assistant were murdered by a mob..."(170)? Give me the details, pleeeease!

To illustrate my point, here is the bland version of the Silk Road's impact on Rome (Stephen G. Haw, China, 2002: page 84): "The Silk Road, along which Chinese silks reached Rome, was the major channel of communication between the Far East and the West throughout the Han dynasty."

Here comes the spicy version: "The story of the western world's fascination with China dates back more than 2,000 years and it began with a product that still symbolizes the relationship - silk. The Chinese fabric spun into sensual, thin gauze first became familiar in Rome around 50 BC. Cleopatra, mistress of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and queen of Egypt, was among the first to promote a fashion for transparent dresses in the exotic fabric. Despite the outrage of sartorial conservatives - the writer Seneca railed against the wearing of such dresses in the Roman capital, 'clad in which no woman could honestly swear she is not naked' - by the end of the fourth century, silk was a universal accoutrement in civilized society throughout the empire." (Joe Studwell, The China Dream, 2003: page 3).

Haw does what few writers have done when relating China's long and turbulent history: he presents short and precise background historical information, while at the same time, giving the reader a sense of the all encompassing ramifications of that history on present-day China. The early portion of the book does focus on the geographical aspect of China (and admittedly, this is not the most interesting part of the book);however, Haw reveals many of the historical and political turbulence that makes up such a vast nation in such a way that no other writers have done. Many books have been written about China, and many of these books are very detailed, and at times, pedantic. Haw, however, achieves in giving the reader in clear language a very succinct history that is understandable. Without doubt, this book is one of the better efforts written about China.

This book is, quite simply, the best written history and geography of China I have encountered and I have read many. Highly recommended for travellers to China and for anyone who wants to understand the background for what is happening there now.

Based on the title I was expecting a book organized around travel destinations with historical info on each destination. Now that I've read the book from cover to cover I've found it wasn't organized the way I expected, but I am very impressed with what the book delivers. It's essentially an excellent history of China, with various other items added on. Here's how I would describe the book now:

* A concise history of China from prehistoric times up to 2002, in 170 exceptionally well-written pages.

* 45 pages covering certain isolated topics (geography, minority peoples, status of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the Chinese language). Good basic stuff.

* A 30 page Historical Gazetteer that lists some 44 destinations (important cities, mountains, historical districts, etc.), with a brief description of each along with keys to the main text.

* A few helpful pages on timelines and dynasty dates.

The real gem is the history section. If you want one book that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Chinese history in a single comprehensive and well-balanced volume, this is your book.

You can't honestly learn a lot about a nation with an ancient civilization and a vast land area in 250 pages. Thus, Haw's small book, A Traveller's History of China, must be approached with caution. It can't replace a larger volume, nor can it do justice to China.

For that, you could read many Chinese classics themselves, Needham's 6-volume "Science and Civilization in China" or the works of John King Fairbank. You could go to Jasper Becker's 'The Chinese' or Winchester's 'River at the Center of the World' to read up on modern China.

But, before you do any of this, you might want some context; a little basic information on the dynasties, the land, and the languages. Haw's little book isn't a bad jumping off place for such an effort. Start with it, just don't stop with it.

I did not buy this in lieu of a college textbook hoping to become an instant expert. I bought this to serve as a quick look-up source. I use this as I read books by Chinese authors. There's always those things I've forgotten and, more often, things I've never known that I need to find.

The supplemental timeline, gazetteer and list of rulers are very useful. As always, I wish there had been more maps (but I don't think I've ever said a history book had enough maps).

For a general history and a handy reference this was a great find.

Given that this book is intended for travellers, not for old China hands or Chinese scholars, I thought it did a great job. The ground it covers is immense, leaving no aspect untouched and describing key events in a balanced way. There's no histrionics or name calling. Careful readers would be able to have conversations with Chinese people in their own country without making too many faux pas or appearing either ignorant or full of propaganda--Western or otherwise. It was much more readable than J.A.G. Roberts' 'A Concise History of China,' and in fact tied up several loose ends left for me by that book. And by the way, I was born in China.

I have simply placed my copy in the recycling bin.

Stephen Haw writes as if he is a college student intent on presenting a complete outline, but never quite fills in the body of work.

He is very confused and confusing about questions of minority peoples vs. Han. The Han are frequently referred to as "Chinese", which makes it pretty clear that he sees Han as the true indigenous people of china, and everybody else as mere immigrants. This would make more sense if he regarded china as that country east and south od the great wall, but he also manages to somehow include all of the present political borders as true china. One can only wonder why he dosen't also take chunks of Burma, Laos, and Vietnam where the Han population is at least equal to that of Yunnan.

On the tibet question, he referrs to the chinese military invasion of 1951 as a "re-occupation". The cultural revolution Haw summarizes on a couple of pages as some kind of weak political idea gone badly astray. A bit odd, when most scholars today recognize it as a period of genocide where at least a million completely innocent men women and children were put to death, with millions more tortured and maimed for life.

One can only conclude that the author's history is little more than a warmed over apologia for the present market-driven caipitalist dictatorship currently still running China proper and the "occupied" territories of its Himalayan and Mongolian neighbors.

Wow. This book is dense and I really didn't plan on reading pedantic prose that I need to have a dictionary nearby to decipher. I was hoping for a more condensed, precise read that hit the highlights first with maybe more info if I wanted. Felt like I was reading something for a college history class! Maybe I misread the description? Not recommended if you're a traveller looking for an overview.

Extremely difficult and unimaginative book. Not for casual reading. More fitting for a class room text book.