Jonathan D. Spence





Jonathan D. Spence

Author profile


born
in The United Kingdom
August 11, 1936

gender
male

genre


About this author

Jonathan D. Spence is a historian specializing in Chinese history. His self-selected Chinese name is Shǐ Jǐngqiān (simplified Chinese: 史景迁; traditional Chinese: 史景遷), which roughly translates to "A historian who admires Sima Qian."

He has been Sterling Professor of History at Yale University since 1993. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several hundred years of Chinese history.


Average rating: 3.78 · 2,826 ratings · 301 reviews · 34 distinct works · Similar authors
The Search for Modern China
4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 802 ratings — published 1990 — 11 editions
God's Chinese Son: The Taip...
by
3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 341 ratings — published 1996 — 5 editions
The Death of Woman Wang
3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 avg rating — 314 ratings — published 1978 — 5 editions
The Memory Palace of Matteo...
3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 276 ratings — published 1984 — 8 editions
Mao Zedong: A Life
3.33 of 5 stars 3.33 avg rating — 280 ratings — published 1999 — 12 editions
The Gate of Heavenly Peace:...
3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 149 ratings — published 1981 — 6 editions
The Question of Hu
3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 1988 — 6 editions
Treason by the Book
3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 avg rating — 136 ratings8 editions
Return to Dragon Mountain: ...
3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions
The Chan's Great Continent:...
3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions
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“If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on happening to see it in a book, you'll be a laughingstock to those who really know.”
Jonathan D. Spence, Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi

“The written word has its limits and its challenges, for the primal sound in the whole world is that made by the human voice, and the likeness of this human voice must be rendered in dots and strokes...Yet I never forget that the voice, too, is important...Don't mumble or hesitate. Speak...in a loud voice, clearly, and without fear.”
Jonathan D. Spence, Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi

“Shelves full of books are all around me. Opening the different volumes I take a look, and find the pages covered with writings in unknown scripts — tadpole traces, bird feet markings, twisted branches. And in my dream I am able to read them all, to make sense of everything despite its difficulty.”
Jonathan D. Spence, Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man

Topics Mentioning This Author

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