Everyday Tang
On What We Can Learn From a Dynasty
-
- Pre-Order
-
- Expected Sep 15, 2026
-
- $9.99
-
- Pre-Order
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Part travelogue, part historical reflection, Everyday Tang is a profound, and often startling, meditation on one period in Chinese history: the magnificent and cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618–907).
After decades living in England, writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo travelled to her native China with her daughter. Her objective was twofold: to show her eleven-year-old where she came from, and to discover what remained of an enigmatic period that had long fascinated her: the magnificent and cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618–907).
As they wander through the great cities of Xi’an and Luoyang, and cross the Wei and the Yangzi Rivers, Guo ponders the unique artistic, intellectual and social achievements of the Tang Dynasty and its influence on Western culture. Part travelogue, part historical reflection, Everyday Tang is a profound – and often startling – meditation on China’s Golden Age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this enchanting memoir, British Chinese author and filmmaker Guo (Call Me Ishmaelle) travels across China looking for traces of the Tang dynasty and "its open cosmopolitan melting pot." Hoping to help her curious 11-year-old daughter, Moon, who was raised in England, feel closer to her family's homeland; "to know our present world"; and "to explain the Chinese past... to myself," Guo set off with Moon for China in the summer of 2024. They visited Beijing, Xi'an ("our Rome and Athens"), Yangzhou, and Luoyang, each stop enabling Guo to "reassess my relationship to a past I was denied during the Cultural Revolution." Guo contrasts the banality of contemporary China with the golden age of the Tang dynasty in the seventh and eighth centuries, a period "rich and diverse in cultures" that was characterized by governmental competence, an empress who encouraged "deep learning," and a love of the arts best exemplified by the poetry of Li Bai, the swordplay of Pei Min, and the calligraphy of Zhang Xu. Guo's approachable prose belies the depth of emotion she brings to reckoning with the erasure of Chinese history during the Cultural Revolution, and her blend of reportage and history is seamless. This is a powerful testament to connecting with one's roots.
