Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture (Encyclopedias of Contemporary Culture) 1st Edition

by Edward L. Davis (Editor)

4 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0415777162

ISBN-10: 041577716X

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The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture contains nearly 1,200 entries written by an international team of specialists to enable readers to explore a range of diverse and fascinating cultural subjects from prisons to rock groups, underground Christian churches to TV talk shows and radio hotlines. Experimental artists with names such as ‘Big-Tailed Elephants’ and ‘The North-Pole Group’ nestle between the covers alongside entries on lotteries, gay cinema, political jokes, sex shops, theme parks, ‘New Authoritarians’ and ‘Little Emperors’. These, as well as more traditional subjects and biographical entries, are indexed under eighteen categories for easy thematic reference.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Fascinating topics...Davis's book is an effective reference source for understanding contemporary Chinese culture. Recommended.' - Choice

'It will serve as a welcome introduction to all facets of Chinese studies. Highly recommended.' - Library Journal

'Highly recommended for the reference sections of academic and larger public libraries, and a pleasure for the curious to dip into at random.' – Booklist

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (February 13, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 824 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 041577716X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415777162
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.85 x 1.86 x 9.69 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,214,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,051 in Chinese Language Instruction (Books)
- #1,471 in Encyclopedias (Books)
- #2,701 in Journalism

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The only academic but readable book of its size devoted to Modern Chinese culture.

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2018

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I don’t understand the negative reviews at all. This book was meant as a primer to modern Chinese culture for the English speaking world so accurate transliteration and a obsession for advanced esoteric knowledge is something only picky pretentious people want. As for the contents of this book it is massive. Its a book with over 50 scholars contributing to it and each with a specialisation. It’s also a 800 page book covering everything from academic journals to the Zhuang people. It covers art, architecture, music, religion, politics and pretty much any topic you can think of. Each entry has a short bibliography for further study. The only drawbacks that I can find is how some entries are very short or have unbalanced coverage. Entries on Christianity greatly outnumber those about Confucianism or Buddhism. Why? The latter two have had a bigger impact on Chinese culture than Christianity can even pretend to acknowledge. Same with entries on sexuality or women. Short and written by non-Chinese authors so it feels superficial. Anyway, this book is the only English introductory yet comprehensive account of modern Chinese culture and a great one at that. I whole heartedly recommend this book to students, scholars, and even interested lay readers.

Helpful

A. J. Sutter

Buyer beware

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2009

The revised edition shown on this page (released in 2008, copyright date 2009) appears to have been substantially revised, perhaps for the better, from the 1st edition, which is the only version available for on view on Amazon as of the date of this review. However, I've examined a copy of the 2009 edition, and some of its "features" include:

@ use throughout of a pseudo-pinyin transliteration without tone markings
@ no Chinese characters anywhere (whether in the encyclopedia entries, in a separate index, etc.), including no Chinese characters for any names
@ no illustrations.

The first "feature" means you're not given adequate guidance as to correct pronunciation -- expect puzzled looks if you try to discuss what you've read with Chinese friends. The second means you're not given any guidance as to how to find references in Chinese-language material, or how to distinguish the name from homonyms -- of which there are lots in Chinese, even assuming you already know the correct pronunciation. Together, these reduce the book's usefulness to anyone with a scholarly or practical interest in China, unless you already know precisely whom and what the article you're reading is about. The lack of illustrations diminishes the book's interest to the casual reader.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mauri G. Gronroos

C for China

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2009

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture (edited by Edward L. Davis) is a book containing
plenty of historical information, but more importantly, it gives the reader a view to modern China. Besides having a plethora of information on culture, the book also has insight on a few major cities, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Each topic in this encyclopedia is covered briefly, giving the reader a general view of the subject. Some topics were explained more in depth, while the encyclopedia covered others more briefly. However, if a reader feels that some topic was covered too briefly and wishes to know more, the book suggests sources for more reading material. This link to outside sources supports the reader in gaining more insight on the subject at hand.

Illustrations could have been informative in some cases, for example, when describing a certain art style. Therefore, the lack of illustrations makes the encyclopedia a bit less appealing; which might cause some people hesitation to start reading it. The layout of the text was rather informal for an encyclopedia which may oppose to the readers liking and expectations.

Overall the book is a well written, informative package with a refreshing variety of topics. I would recommend this to people who are interested in China and wish to gain a better understanding of their culture and way of life. Without a doubt there is something interesting for everyone, and the variety is truly impressive.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture (Encyclopedias of Contemporary Culture) 1st Edition

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