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Basic History References:
二十五史新編 Er4 Shi2 Wu3 Shi3 Xin1 Bian1, 15 vol. $299 (traditional Chinese)
“The 25 Epochs of Chinese History, New Edition” - The founder of Chinese historical writing is Si Ma Qian who wrote the monumental “Shi Ji” ( “Historical Records”) during the West Han period. Subsequent historians have adopted his format and variously, up to the modern time, produced generations of “25 Epochs”. It is easy to see why the style has been imitated and we can witness that in this new edition in 15 volumes, each authored by one or two specialists from the rank of the academics in mainland China. Each book covering one or more periods begins with a multi-page but concise “Events” of the period. Then in the “Biographies” section the stories of important personalities, emperors included, would be detailed and this constitute the great majority of the volume. Next come the “Treatises” section dealing with political system, economics, culture, and/or social life. The final section is “Tables” that summarizes the lineage and chronology of the rulers. This multidimensional unfolding of history makes for near effortless reading whether one goes for a systematic or a selective approach. This one is for every mature reader, scholar or not. A must for every library with Chinese collections.
The following snippets paraphrased from each volume could not begin to sketch but the faintest picture of what is in store for the interested reader.
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Volume 1 “Historical Records”: In keeping with the tradition, this volume covers everything before West Han; from the twilights of the Chinese history, the Yellow Emperor and his Empress (first of the ‘Five Emperors’) up to the ‘Beginning’ Emperor Qin and the blip that was the reigns of his successors. This encompasses an interminably long period stretching from 2500 BC to 206 BC: ‘Five Emperors’; the Xia series, the Shang series, the Zhou series, the ‘Spring, Autumn’, the ‘Warring States’, and, Qin. Though Emperor Qin had the honor of being the first to unify China among the warring powers into a central empire, after his death from illness, an ambitious courtesan conspired to falsify his edict to force a suicide on the crown prince thus conferring the throne on the younger son. The inept second emperor went on to magnify the father’s excesses and cruelty which soon led to widespread rebellions. Within three year, Qin the Second was killed by the conspirators of the same courtesan. The third emperror (probably the brother to the First) survived just long enough to surrender to one of the outside contenders to the throne. The royal clan was promptly exterminated, just the same. It was during the Zhou, Spring/Autumn and Warring States periods, that much of China’s various schools of philosophy and political thoughts were bred which served as the foundation of the subsequent cultural evolution. This is the real essence of the Historical Records.
Volume 2 “Book of (West) Han”: Two contending strongmen to the empire, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, had a pact that the first to enter the central Shaanxi plains of Gunzhong would be king. Liu Bang did, but of course the force of conquest was what eventually settled the score. Xiang Yu killed himself in defeat and Liu Bang became the founding emperor of Han Dynasty (206 BC) of the Liu family which was to last more than 200 years until the interloping Wang Mang (9-24 AD). Moderating much of Qin’s excesses, yet inheriting a great deal of the central imperial system pioneered by Qin, Liu Bang (now declared himself to be Han Emperor the Exalted - Han Gaozhu) lost no time in eliminating future threats to his reign, inside and out, and struggled to contain or defeat the resurging Huns from the north and the entrenched Yues in the south. After Gaozhu’s death, his Empress Lu ruled over a number of weak young emperors and for 17 years was the first de facto woman Emperor in Chinese history. The Empress and the Lu clan was duly exterminated, to be followed a number of capable Liu issues, one of those, Wu Di (the Martial Emperor) must be singled out as the one to be credited (or blamed) for the enshrining of Confucius teachings to be guiding lights of Chinese culture to this day.
Volume 3 “Book of Post (East) Han”: Liu Shiu, a ninth generation grandson of Liu Bang, revived the Han Dynasty from the rule of Wang Mang, hence the name Guangwu Di (the Revival Martial Emperor) extended the dynasty by nearly 200 years, from 25 to 220 AD. In Chinese have a name for one who had rendered exceptional meritorious service to their king or emperor, particularly in conquering the tianxia (the realm under heaven). He is called a gongchen (meritorious servant) to be rewarded or banished/killed if deemed to be of future threat to the throne. Guangwe Di was all too aware of how his Han predecessors had rewarded their favored gongchens with power and wealth often resulting in fragmentation of central power leading to eventual disloyalty. He adopted to reward richly with wealth but jealously stingy with regard to power. The result was an extreme concentration of the emperor’s power and arbitrariness to the point where his trusted subjects became few and fearful of advice and suggestions. Predictably, the emperor’s problems did not end there. Others would pop up all over the place as reading of the this and other volumes will show. His corpse had barely cooled, before Mind Di, the son who ascended the throne, ran into court intrigues and power struggles, and, became evermore suspicious and untrusting. He resorted to killing of whole clans if only one member was implicated in an offence. Ming Di, however, was also noteable for his introduction of Buddhism to China in the While Horse Temple, Loyang - this and other good deeds as well. As the successive Han emperors rolled on, at some point, the usurpation of imperial power by the traditional outside military commanders and court relatives (usually from the distuff side) was given yet another element, that of the eunuch class.
Volume 4 “Annals of the Three Kingdoms”: This short lived three-way divided period of Chinese history produced a vastly disproportionate share of popular heroes in the psyche of the Chinese people ever since, thanks largely to Luo Guanzhong’s “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, a largely factual but romanticized story of that period in which, understandably, of the three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu, the second named was favored with the legitimacy of a mainline regime. In that story, Shu’s principal personalities are therefore the heroes. Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, in particular became national heroes. You will see from this volume that the above mentioned do exemplified, personal courage, military prowess and undying loyalty to comrades - the latter especially. But, there are many others, both heroes and villains. Cao2 Cao1is correctly treated as a statesman, a scholar notwithstanding the ‘incorrectness’ of his cause as well as the cruelty that was noted for. Still, he was not to be lumped with Dong Zhuo the warloard, who is both historically significant (therefore accorded a place) and universally dispised (by the good people). Another biography in the “Annals” is that of Hua Tuo, the revered Chinese physician/surgeon who reluctantly served Cao Cao. The fact that the Hua Tuo was killed by Cao Cao is one more reason that history has not been kind to the latter.
Volume 5 “Books of West Jin4, East Jin4”:
Volume 6 “Books of Song, South Qi, Liang, Chen”:
Volume 7 “Books of Wei, North Qi, Zhou, Sui”:
Volume 8 “Book of Tang”:
Volume 9 “The Five Dynasties”:
Volume 10 “North Song History, South Song History”:
Volume 11 “Liao History, Jin1 History, West Xia History”: A pupil studying Chinese history in school will readily recite the six main dynastics as Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing and everyone will tell you that during Yuan, later Qing, China was ruled by non-Han ‘foreign’ races. But Song was not simply conquered by the Monrols who founded Yuan. Way before that, through most of combined Song dynasties from 960 to 1279 AD, she coexisted, allied with, or fought against the Liao of the Khitan race, the Jin of the Jurchen (later Manchu) race, and, the West Xia of the Qiang race. Of course, much of the ‘homelands’ of these nations are now part of China, thanks largely to subsequent Yuan and Qing ‘occupations’. All these civilizations are now facts of history - their administrations vanished. Their histories become appropriately the greater history of China and revealed in this interesting volume. Incidentally, Liao writings are in both Khitan alphabets and the Han ideograms, and, they adopted the Confucius teachings. Jin used its own language and West Xia created their ideograms in the style of the Han characters.
Volume 12 “Yuan History”: The military might of the Mongols eventually conquered a great deal of the Asia continent and China too. They achieved a degree of suzerainty over Korea but were not successful at all with Japan. While the Mongolian cavalry was deservedly feared it was not as well known that they have also mastered navigation and sea warfare which undoubtedly paved the way to Zheng He’s ocean faring exploits in Ming dynasty. Their invasions of Japan were particularly disastrous. Interaction with the western world was greatly expanded as exemplified by the sojourns of Marco Polo and religious missionaries. The biographies section gives a particularly vivid picture of the multiracial social dynamics of the period. A most fascinating chapter of this mixed period of Chinese history is entitle: “Ethnic people: Mogols & People with ‘Colored’ Eyes”, which clarified much of the names and origins of the numerous ethnic groups involved. For instance, the apparent ambigious use of Hui Hui descriptor to sometimes mean Islam or Central Asia peoples. Even Gypsies and Jews got into the picture. The term Hui Hui Jews, consequently becomes not a contradiction in terms. As a bonus, one learns that at the time, Jews were rather noted for their craft of confectionary in Kaifeng. We also get a good glimpse of how and who helped Kublai Khan succeed and his sinification process.
Volume 13 “Ming History”:
Volume 14 “Qing History”:
Volume 15 “Late Qing History”: The Opium War, dictated by the British in 1840, started the long countdown to the end of the Qing empire with the signing of the first of a series of unequal treaties - the Nanking Treaty of 1842. Hong Kong was ceded to the British. In 1851, the Taiping Rebellion broke out in the south, spread to the Yangzi valley and raged on until being totally suppressed in 1864. Overlapping that is the Second Opium War of 1856-1860, whereupon the British and French forces captured Peking, looted and burned the fabled Yuan Ming Garden and sending imperial Qing reeling and came to their senses as to the gravity of Western threat to China’s survival. Other western powers got into the act and more treaties ensued. As if that wasn’t enough, in 1894, the Japanese, under Emperor Meiji, trumped up some charges and started the JiaWu Sino-Japanese War. China’s Northern Fleet was annihilated and she was forced to sign the infamous, MaGuan Treaty of 1895 with the concomitant ruinous reparation in white silvers, to name just one of the consequences. Taiwan was ceded to Japan. The unhappy state of affairs triggered the Boxer Rebellion of 1899 which led to the invasion by armed forces of eight foreign nations and culminating in the sack of Peking in 1900. The prostration of the nation was evident when, in 1904, Imperial Japan and Czarist Russia decided to have it out in carving out their ‘interests’ in China - the latter meekly designating the part of Manchuria esst of the Liao River as the official battleground and maintaining herself ‘neutral’. Japan was victorious, but lost everything gained, and more, to communist USSR and China at the end of WWII. All in all, the late Manchu royal line could offer up no new apark of leadership to stem the tide before the ascendancy of Empress Dowager Ci Xi, in 1861and it could not shake off her death grip after.. Rebellions and revolutionary uprisings by the Hans populace aside, there was no lack of pro-royalty attempts by the Han Chinese bureaucrats and scholar/generals to fight the internal threats, foreign encroachments,and to institute the needed reforms and modernizations. In contrast to the lackluster showing of the royal line, many of the sons of the land (and the landed) gave their best and redeemed themselvs, if not their cause, creditably. These include Lin Zexu of the Opium War fame, the two scholar/generals Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zhongtang, and Zhang Zedong, the reformers Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and many others. Special mention must be made to another scholar/general Li Hongzhang who later became a statesman for the dynasty and much involved in various negotiations and decisions. He is a known believer of western and Japan superiority - to be placated in order to buy time for a national reconstruction, for which he is much vilified. In this, he is not all that different from one noteable future leaders Chiang Kai Shek, and one should probably not judge him too harshly. As to Hong Xiuchuan and his Taiping enterprise, one has to marvel at how a religious experience born of a delirium could mushroom into a mass movement of such a scale that lasted nearly 14 years. In the end, he proved all too human with its all too common failings. His top general, Shi Dakai, however, was trully a man of herioc proportions who was exterminated when his army failed to cross the Tatu River to escape an encircling enemy at the very spot that, 71 years later, Mao Zedong and the remnants of his escaping army fatefully succeeded. The end of the Qing period officially came to an end in 1912 when Sun Yatsen established the first Republic and continued the ‘modernization’ of China, a process others were to carry on to this very day and for a foreseable future.
黃仁宇: <黃河青山> 534PP, 三聯書店 2001
本書是規模宏大的回憶錄. 從早年的從軍經歷到壯年時期在美國打工, 求學,無所不包; 本書又是一部眼光非凡的 "大歷史", 檢討中國近代革命, 總攝幾千年的中國歷史進程; 黃仁宇傳遞給我們他脫胎于悠久文化的壯闊史觀, 即使他對此文化不無批評之處. 就算毫無背景的人也讀得懂. 也許正因為這樣, 美國大文豪UPDIKE 才形容他的文筆仿彿具備KAFKA 的夢幻特質
"Yellow River & Blue Mountain", 2001. (book in simplified Chinese translated from the English original)
The joy of reading this memoirs of a modern historian is tempered by the realization that the narrator is no longer with us as the publication is posthumous by wish of the author. The inner thoughts as well as the observations of this unassuming author are laid bare before us; from his student days during the Japanese invasion in wartime southwest China to his stints as junior officer in the Kuomindang army and the Burma campaign, advancing to the personal staff of one general representing ROC in post WWII Tokyo, before coming to the United States to study and eventually becoming a historian-university professor of increasing stature whose unique and timely treatment of the China phenomenon is a boon to those seeking to understand this culture. This personal accounts is a fitting encore to Prof. Huang's lifework giving us invaluable insights to the socio-econimics that shaped history. The personal struggles that Huang endured and the self effacing tone of his prose are in sharp contrast to the grand view of history that he opened up for the interested readers. His, sometimes personal, accounts of some of the players in modern Chinese history is an added bonus to reading this volume. His rational and balanced view of Chinese history is bolstered greatly by his understanding of European and American history. Finally, his personal description of Cambridge University's Joseph Needham and their happy collaborative days gives us a rare view of one paradoxical Englishman scientist turned historian who played such a huge role in revealing the China story.
黃仁宇: <地北天南敘古今> 260PP, 三聯書店 2001
作者生動地描繪了個人生涯中的旅屐痕, 月旦人物. 一支生花妙筆出入古今, 游刃有餘. 疑似沒有章法, 卻又恍若無數大手筆的繪卷, 歷歷如在眼前...
"Collected Historical Essays on Four Corners of the World", 1991, 2001. (in simplified Chinese)
Here we are treated to the delightful writing style of historian Ray Huang. The previously published pieces are grouped into five loose categories: his Burma campaign encounters; his military academy days, sketches of historic Chinese personalities, and his relation with John Fairbank, Harvard's China scholar; Sundry personal reflections on history, America and the world; commentaries on Venice, Cambridge & England, and, Scandinavia; and, Huang on Andre Sakarov, Saddam Hussein, Oliver Cromwell, and, Thomas Hobbes. It is a treat to have access to these delectable sketches in these 'open' West. In China, where the quantity printed exceeded 50,000, one can only guess at their effect and influence on the reading public and the governance. In the last regard, one has one more reason to believe perhaps Huang is right in virtually asserting that, however dimly the people and pundits alike might think of the present situation, the needed and painful structural reform has all but taken roots in China - thanks to both Chiang Kai Shek and Mao Tze Dong, their respective failings notwithstanding.
黃仁宇: <關係千萬重> 196PP, 三聯書店 2001
古今中外的重要文學作品不外發揮一下三種關係: 生死, 金錢與性, 達爾文, 馬克思和弗洛伊德都曾于以詳細分析; 但是今日的局勢則是這三種關係都在進行重大地修訂與轉變, 各種關係叢集交識, 令人有無法抽身之感.本書是八十年代為我們引進大歷史觀點的黃仁宇博士重新嘗試的書寫角度, 他悠悠然出入于歷史的邊緣和側後, 以充滿魅力的寫作方式為我們剖析人世間的種種因果關係, 值得再三閱讀與深思
"All about Relationships", 1991, 2001. (in simplified Chinese)
In the lead article of this collection of Huang lends us his keen chronicler's eyes and dwells philosophically on the relations of life & death, money, and sex in human affairs and that all three of these are undergoing fundamental changes in the panorama of historical events in the 80's. In He Jian, he shows us the subtle ever shifting relationships that exist between this governor/military commander of his Hunan Province, other regional power brokers, and, the central government. We see how one man can decide and mete out death sentences according
to his prevailing moral and political code of conduct. In the Joseph Needham article, Huang narrates how the generous elder treated his younger collaborator and sheds more light for those who don't already know the life of this renouned China scholar. In Mother, he confesses to the hard and dedicated life to the family in the old society that she endured and how he, and his siblings, had failed to repay her kindness in the end. Other articles range from light touches on the American scene to weightier commentaries on the cause and effect of the Southeast Asian economic crisis, Hinduism & nuclear weapons, Japan etc.
黃仁宇: <中國大歷史> 317PP, 三聯書店 2001
中國歷史典籍浩如煙海,常使初學者不得其門而入. 作者倡導"大歷史" 主張利用歸納法將現有史料高度壓縮, 先構成一個簡明而前後連貫的綱領,然後在歐美史比較的基礎上加以研究. 本書從技術的角度分析中國歷史的進程, 著眼于現代型的經濟體制如何為傳統社會所不容, 以及是何契機使其在中國土地上落腳, 視野宏闊, 見解獨到.
"The Macro-History of China", 1997, 2001 (in simplified Chinese)
Unlike other ancient great civilizations of the world the Chinese is unique in maintaining a continuity to this very day. More so than other civilizations that can be studied for historical interest, and, perhaps, to explain the modern world, Chinese history must, in addition, be studied to shed light on the future of modern China. Because of the near certainty that China is destined to play an increasing important role in the world at large, a critical interpretation of her past is long overdue. Facts and fascinating stories, in themselves, do not necessarily explain the whys of China's tumultuous past right up to its close encounters with the West, nor do they indicate how it might evolve. Huang believes that the quest for a true historical understanding is best separated from our likes or dislikes of those colorful personalities and the events. Instead, it should be concentrated on the imperatives what make for epochal changes, taking cues from how the West had evolved in recent centuries. Huang observes that following the explosive consolidation by the First Qin Emperor around 200 BC and the rapid demise of his successors, one can discern but three imperial periods that evolved. In other words, the dramatic early rise
of this nation state, followed by the long parade of China's successive emperors and dynasties
had hatched but a few structural changes and, this, inspite of stimulation from without and
agitation from within. It is only in recent decades that the needed capitalistic superstructure had
been introduced that in time will produce a social fabric that a democratic government needs to
build upon. On this last point Huang appears rather optimistic.
黃仁宇: <萬曆十五年> 281PP, 三聯書店 2001
公元1587年, 在中國歷史上原本是極其普通的年份. 作者以該年前後的史事及生活在那個年代的人物為中心, 抽絲剝.蠶, 梳理了中國傳統社會管理層面存在的種種問題, 並在此基礎上探索現代中國應當汲取的經驗和教訓. 作者以其 "大歷史" 觀而聞名于世, 本書中這一觀念初露頭角, "敘事不妨細致, 但是結論卻要看遠不顧近". 本書自80 年代初在大陸出版以來, 好評如潮, 在學術界和文化界有廣泛的影響.
"Year 15 of Emperor Wanli", 1997, 2002 (in simplified Chinese)
Ray Huang picked an uneventful year of Ming Emperor Wan Li in 1587 and walks us through the lives of a few personages from the Emperor himself on down and shows us how the society is governed and life go on in that era. The surrogates that he chose to portray the era can be quaint like Hai Rui, the odd ball scholar cum model bureacrat, or, the incredibly effective reformist hero general Qi Ji Guang, who cleared the southeastern coasts of the 'Dwarf Pirates' and later distinguished himself against the Mongols. As a bonus to readers of this edition, an essay on the links between the book and his macro history approach and some East-West differences is included in an appendix.
黃仁宇: <赫遜河畔談中國歷史> 215PP, 三聯書店 2001
一部有關中國自先秦至元末歷史的漫筆集. 以人物為中心, 通過其人其事及從歷史關鍵處的作為, 探就中國歷史和文化的特點, 並以今天的立場加以分析. 作者治史, 每每以常人不經意的細節處入手, 挖掘出極富啟發性的新見, 娓娓敘來, 發人深省.
"Chinese History from the Shores of the Hudson", 1992, 1997, 2001 (in simplified Chinese)
Although noted for his bold stroke macro-historic treatment of China, Ray Huang is equally adapt at crafting fine brush portrayal of China's historic personalities. Here, one is treated to these sketches of philosophers, emperors, rebels, generals and eunuchs, all sharing the back drop of China's historical existence. Contents: Mencius, Qin the First Emperor, Li Kwei, Si Ma Qian & Ban Gu, Emperor Wen jing, Emperor Han Wu, Huo Guang & Wang Mang, ...Emperor Sui Yang...Wu Ze Tian...Genghis Khan & Kublai Khan..etc.
黃仁宇: < 資本主義與二十一世紀> 574PP, 三聯書店 2001
作者以其 "大歷史" 的宏觀視野, 涉足歐美等國的近代歷史, 為我們講解世界現代化發展的歷史路徑. 全書以意大利, 荷蘭, 英國, 美國, 日本, 德國, 法國和俄羅斯等國的社會轉型為中心, 研究和分析了資本主義興起時的社會經濟與營業方式, 及其再不同的民族特性和文化背景之中的演化過程. 書中側重分析資本主義的技術性格, 將資本主義綜合為一種組織和一這運動.
"Capitalism and the 21th Century", 1997, 2001 (in simplified Chinese)
Capitalism, the perorative or faith of worship, can actually mean one of three things. To some it is an ideology of human spirit. To others it is a mode of production. To a third group, it is simply an evolutionary step going from a primitive natural economy towards a monetary based economy. Huang devotes all his efforts towards the last discourse, tracing the very origin of modern (Western) capitalism and stressing the technical nature of this mode of organization and this movement. Huang has the rare gift of leading the reader through a fascinating journey on a subject that many have heard so much about yet know so little. The fact that it is written in Chinese, and printed in substantial numbers in China can only mean that the modernization and opening up of China is well on its way. Venice, the Netherlands , England, France, Germany, Japan, the United States dots the landscape of this most enjoyable journey.
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