The Dragon and the Foreign Devils
China and the World, 1100 BC to the Present
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- £11.99
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
A sweeping narrative history that tells the story of China's relations with the rest of the world over three millennia
'An informed and extremely readable introduction to 3,000 years of Chinese history' Independent
'A timely and comprehensive history ... vigorously written and scholarly, but refreshingly accessible, this is vital reading' Good Book Guide
China's story is of warfare and violence, philosophical and political invention, shining artistic achievement and often complex and subtle relations with outsiders. Harry G. Gelber's fascinating general history of this great nation makes sense of China's changing relationship with the rest of the world as never before.
From the invasions by steppe horsemen in 200 BC to Genghis Khan and the Mongol conquests, from the arrival of Marco Polo to the Opium Wars, from Communism to the Tiananmen Square protest, Gelber traces the path that led to China's resurgence as a dynamic economy and a powerful international player today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The challenges for China change Mongol horse archers in the 13th century, European gunboats in the 19th but the response remains remarkably steady in this engaging survey of Chinese foreign relations. Historian Gelber (Opium, Soldiers and Evangelicals) takes a cyclical view of Chinese history. From ancient times, he contends, dynasties underwent patterns of population growth, governmental decay caused by bureaucratic sclerosis and inept emperors (exacerbated by overmighty concubines and court eunuchs), and outside military pressure. This led to chaos and conquest until a new strongman restored order. As crises and foreign incursions come and go, China's insular Confucian culture remains, and so does the sense of cultural superiority symbolized by the prostration ritual called the kowtow,loathed by Western ambassadors that enables China to neutralize outside influences. Even the current Communist regime, Gelber argues, is in many ways a traditional imperial dynasty, with foreign policy interests similar to those of the past. The author also assesses China's shifting image in foreign eyes, as either a model of sophisticated order or a cesspool of backward despotism. Gerber is a bit sketchy on the premodern period; his account comes into its own as a lucid, insightful narrative history of China's evolving place in the modern, Western-dominated world order. Maps.
