The Gate of Heavenly Peace

The Gate of Heavenly Peace
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: Viking Pr
Total Pages: 465
Release: 1981
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780670292479

Chronicles the history of the Chinese Revolution, focusing on the people and events of modern Chinese history, the writings of modern Chinese authors, the issues facing the People's Republic, and more

The Gate of Heavenly Peace

The Gate of Heavenly Peace
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 560
Release: 1982-10-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1101173726

“A milestone in Western studies of China.” (John K. Fairbank) In this masterful, highly original approach to modern Chinese history, Jonathan D. Spence shows us the Chinese revolution through the eyes of its most articulate participants—the writers, historians, philosophers, and insurrectionists who shaped and were shaped by the turbulent events of the twentieth century. By skillfully combining literary materials with more conventional sources of political and social history, Spence provides an unparalleled look at China and her people and offers valuable insight into the continuing conflict between the implacable power of the state and the strivings of China's artists, writers, and thinkers.

The Search for Modern China

The Search for Modern China
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 1054
Release: 1990
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780393307801

In this widely acclaimed history of modern China, Jonathan Spence achieves a fine blend of narrative richness and efficiency. The Search for Modern China offers a matchless introduction to China's history.

June Fourth

June Fourth
Author: Jeremy Brown
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2021-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107042070

In this vivid new social history of the Tiananmen protests, Beijing massacre, and nationwide crackdown of 1989, Jeremy Brown explores the key turning points of the crisis in China and shows how the massacre and its aftermath were far from inevitable.

My Old Home

My Old Home
Author: Orville Schell
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2021-03-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593315820

A uniquely experienced observer of China gives us a sweeping historical novel that takes us on a journey from the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949 to the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, as a father and his son are swept away by a relentless series of devastating events. It’s 1950, and pianist Li Tongshu is one of the few Chinese to have graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Engaged to a Chinese-American violinist who is the daughter of a missionary father and a Shanghai-born mother, Li Tongshu is drawn not just by Mao’s grand promise to “build a new China” but also by the enthusiasm of many other Chinese artists and scientists living abroad, who take hope in Mao’s promise of a rejuvenated China. And so when the recently established Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing offers Li Tongshu a teaching position, he leaves San Francisco and returns home with his new wife. But instead of being allowed to teach, Li Tongshu is plunged into Mao’s manic revolution, which becomes deeply distrustful of his Western education and his American wife. It’s not long before his son, Little Li, also gets caught up in the maelstrom of political and ideological upheaval that ends up not only savaging the Li family but, ultimately, destroying the essential fabric of Chinese society.

Chinese Roundabout

Chinese Roundabout
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 420
Release: 1992
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780393309942

"If one has the art, then a piece of celery or salted cabbage can be made into a marvelous delicacy; whereas if one has not the art, not all the greatest delicacies and rarities of land, sea, or sky are of any avail." --a Beijing cook, nineteenth century from Chinese Roundabout

Beijing Then and Now®

Beijing Then and Now®
Author: Brian Page
Publisher: Rizzoli Publications
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1911216821

Beijing has several millennia of human history. It has been a city of regional importance for many centuries, first becoming the Chinese imperial capital in 1267. The city has been known by various names through the ages, reflecting a turbulent history of change. As the political and cultural heart of modern China, Beijing has grown dramatically since the Communist revolution of 1949.Beijing Then and Now shows how that dramatic modernization has affected the city and how, despite all the new building and modern infrastructure, some of the great historic sites have been preserved and maintained. Sites include: Deshengmen Arrow Tower, Qianmen Arrow Tower, Qianmen Gate, Entrance to the Imperial City, Mao's Mausoleum, Tiananmen Gate, Duanmen Gate, Entrance to the Forbidden City, Wumen Gate, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Jingshan, Beihai Park, the White Dagoba, Imperial Canal, Drum Tower, Beihai Lake, Bell Tower, Temple of Confucius, Hall of Classics, Imperial Observatory, Qianmen Boulevard, Hall of Prayer, Altar of Heaven, British Legation, Dong Tang, Marble Boat, Jade Belt Bridge, Ming Tombs, Spirit Road and the Great Wall of China.

The Coming Collapse of China

The Coming Collapse of China
Author: Gordon G. Chang
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2001-07-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0812977564

China is hot. The world sees a glorious future for this sleeping giant, three times larger than the United States, predicting it will blossom into the world's biggest economy by 2010. According to Chang, however, a Chinese-American lawyer and China specialist, the People's Republic is a paper dragon. Peer beneath the veneer of modernization since Mao's death, and the symptoms of decay are everywhere: Deflation grips the economy, state-owned enterprises are failing, banks are hopelessly insolvent, foreign investment continues to decline, and Communist party corruption eats away at the fabric of society. Beijing's cautious reforms have left the country stuck midway between communism and capitalism, Chang writes. With its impending World Trade Organization membership, for the first time China will be forced to open itself to foreign competition, which will shake the country to its foundations. Economic failure will be followed by government collapse. Covering subjects from party politics to the Falun Gong to the government's insupportable position on Taiwan, Chang presents a thorough and very chilling overview of China's present and not-so-distant future.

The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds

The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1999-10-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393247708

"Like everything else written by Jonathan Spence, The Chan's Great Continent is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in China. Spence is one of the greatest Sinologists of our time, and his work is both authoritative and highly readable." —Los Angeles Times Book Review China has transfixed the West since the earliest contacts between these civilizations. With his characteristic elegance and insight, Jonathan Spence explores how the West has understood China over seven centuries. Ranging from Marco Polo's own depiction of China and the mighty Khan, Kublai, in the 1270s to the China sightings of three twentieth-century writers of acknowledged genius-Kafka, Borges, and Calvino-Spence conveys Western thought on China through a remarkable array of expression. Peopling Spence's account are Iberian adventurers, Enlightenment thinkers, spinners of the dreamy cult of Chinoiserie, and American observers such as Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Ezra Pound, and Eugene O'Neill. Taken together, these China sightings tell us as much about the self-image of the West as about China. "Wonderful. . . . Spence brilliantly demonstrates [how] generation after generation of Westerners [have] asked themselves, 'What is it . . . that held this astonishing, diverse, and immensely populous land together?' "--New York Times Book Review

Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K'ang-Hsi

Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K'ang-Hsi
Author: Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2012-07-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307823067

A remarkable re-creation of the life of K'ang-hsi, emperor of the Manchu dynasty from 1661-1772, assembled from documents that survived his reign. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.