A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations

by Conrad Schirokauer, Miranda Brown, David Lurie

This full-color introductory text emphasizes cultural history while also covering political and economic history. Each major Chinese dynasty, Japanese Shogunate, or other discrete period is covered in a separate, brief chapter. Encounters with the West (beginning in the 16th century) are also extensively covered. In addition to Conrad Schirokauer, this text has three new co-authors. Miranda Brown teaches in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and focuses on early Chinese culture. David Lurie researches the history of writing systems in Japan and also works on the cultural and intellectual history of Japan through the Heian period. Suzanne Gay is Professor of East Asian Studies at Oberlin College. Her research interests include the social and economic history of medieval Japan, with a particular emphasis on the role of commoners in history. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of China or Japan.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Japan, China, Asia, Japanese Literature, Textbooks

736 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1978

Reviews

[Abraham]

A good overview of Japanese and Chinese history

[Ian]

good

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 2 out of 5]

En grund översikt, som dock har fördelen att den har ett väldigt allsidigt perspektiv.

[Ritsumei · Rating 1 out of 5]

We had to read this thing in college; it is a fantastic example of all that is wrong with a textbook: devoid of any literary value, it's incredibly dry. Added to that is the way that it sabotaged the student: years after I was done with college, I dug it out to learn about a particular Chinese emperor, mentioned in other reading I was enjoying at the time. I realized then why it had been so difficult to follow in school: in addition to all the names of people and places being entirely new, Chinese emperors have 3 names: one they use prior to ascending the throne, one they use during their reign, and one they are given posthumously. This book used all three in a single paragraph, without any explanation: no wonder I had such a hard time following it in school! Asian history is fascinating; choose a book that tells the story well, remember that textbooks are terrible, and steer clear of this thing. In the end, I didn't even donate or sell it: I threw it away.

[Matt Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of this for a class (up to 1945). Verbose.

[Alys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use it as a starting point to identify a time or incident, then use other source materials for research. It is brief, after all.