East Asia: Tradition and Transformation

by John King Fairbank, Edwin Reischauer, Albert Craig

A book about East Asia specifically China, Korea and Japan.

Genres: History, China, Asia, Japan, Nonfiction

1027 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1973

About the author

John King Fairbank (1907 – 1991) was an American historian of China and United States-China relations. He taught at Harvard University from 1936 until his retirement in 1977. He is credited with building the field of China studies in the United States after World War II with his organizational ability, his mentorship of students, support of fellow scholars, and formulation of basic concepts to be tested.
The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard is named after him.

Reviews

[Anh Nguyen]

Great, but skim on the East Asia. Should have called it China + others.

[Mark]

Excellent survey of East Asian civilization, including Vietnam, China, Korea, and Japan. My college textbook (1978 "New Impression"edition). Great book to "get your feet wet" about this amazing and complex civilization!

[Amber Berry]

This is a textbook. I love it because I love Fairbank. Yes, it does focus mostly on the Middle Kingdom.

[Eduardo Siebra]

This would have been much more enjoyable if it used pinyin system, or at least indicated the corresponding characters.

[Dave]

I really liked this. I had it first as a textbook, then read it cover to cover several years later. Sadly, I cannot find my copy at the moment.

[Tori]

East Asia: Tradition and Transformation by John King Fairbank (1989)