Barbarians and the Birth of Chinese Identity: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the Yuan Dynasty (907 - 1368)

by Jing Liu

"A great way to learn about China's vast history!"— Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

Excels at clarifying the often-confusing transitional periods between dynasties… An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history.”— School Library Journal

"The lucid, economical text makes one eager for the successive volumes."— Booklist "The combination of silhouettes—often threatening, martial ones—with open-faced, expressively individualized figures of many social classes adds dramatic tension while neatly balancing the big-picture narrative. There's a lot to absorbeven in this abbreviatedform, but the visual approach lightens the load considerably."— Kirkus Reviews
“Simple and effective…This direct, appealing introduction to the foundations of one of the world’s oldest civilizations is recommended for teens and adults.”— Library Journal

"An excellent history that clearly explains the great (and ordinary) people who have made China what it is and the conflicts and debates that have shaped Chinese history. There is nothing else like it in English or Chinese."— Alan Baumler, Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

"No more burying yourself in text-heavy history books to learn about China, this comic-style book manages to be rich in information and bring Chinese history to readers in a more clear, fun, and accessible way than it’s ever been done before. Easily integrated into a social studies or Chinese culture curriculum, I can’t wait to get a copy for my class."— Grace Zeng, Chinese Teacher and Middle School Chinese Curriculum Area Leader at International School of Beijing

"It is certainly a fascinating look at Chinese history, and doing it in comics has certainly made it more accessible to people, especially for the Western world."— Radio Australia

"Jing Liu has brought to life the long and complex early period of Chinese history in this wonderful graphic novel. Foundations of Chinese Civilization is a delight to read; humorous, informative, and truly captivating."— Alexandra Pearson, Founder of The Bookworm Literary Festival

"This book is “The Magic School Bus” for those starting to explore Chinese culture."— Dan Cao, Instructor at Confucius Institute at UC Davis

"Since the 1990s, Jing Liu has been entertaining and informing foreigners about China with his cartoons. His new series of comic books is a fun, easy, accessible way to gain a basic understanding of Chinese history and culture."— Jeremy Goldkorn, Founder of Danwei 4.5/5 Stars "A very nice way to establish a foundation to understanding China’s history and a possible gateway to more intense study and comprehension of a very complex subject. " — Portland Book Review 4.5/5 Stars "Entertaining, engaging, and informative, this is a perfect doorway for the student new to ancient China."— Seattle Book Review

"Informed and informative, Division to Unification in Imperial China is especially recommended for young readers ages 11 to 17 and should be a part of every school and community library's History of China collection."— The Midwest Book Review

"The book does what it says it a child will come away with a basic understanding of early Chinese history, what makes the Chinese tick as a people and culture.”— Asian Review of Books

"With Donald Trump’s focus on China, with no signs of letting up, it is a perfect time to gain a better understanding of a very misunderstood country. This is a highly accessible work tailored to fast learning while also very entertaining."— The Comics Grinder

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, China, Nonfiction, Comics

168 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. I don’t have a ton to say about this book. It is a decent comic history of Japan for the time period listed in the title. The history was easy to follow and the graphic diagrams help you to understand what’s going on.

The whole book was interesting and I found it surprisingly engaging given that I am not a huge fan of reading about history. My 10 year old son read it as well and said it was interesting and he liked it.

Overall a well done book about Chinese history that is easy to follow and will appeal to middle grade and older readers. I would recommend if you are interested in learning about Chinese history.

[Saracen شرقسان · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book facilitates the comprehension of Chinese history in a simplified way, yet still is highly informative and great as a primer. It contains a variety of information pertaining to, namely, the economy, intellectual status, military, politics, religion, culture and society in China.

I highly recommend it for anyone just getting into Chinese history and not wanting to get lost.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series does a great job of making the very complicated history of China actually understandable. Would I say I have a concrete knowledge of this time period now? No, definitely not - but it's a great intro. I also appreciate the "further reading" section in the back of each volume, with suggestions about what texts to go to for different subjects/specific time periods.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you know next to nothing about Chinese history, this series is a great introduction. I think it's a good source of context for more in-depth reading.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucid and original. Highly recommended

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Chinese history and non-fiction graphic novels about people, places, and history. This book is written well and covers a *lot* of topics. This period of history in China is very intricate and it would take a very large tome to uncover all the details of the era covered here. Jing Lui has done a good job of explaining the situation at this time, the wars, the different empires and leaders moving on to the point where the Mongols had their largest empire. The book is black and white and has distinctly Chinese illustration: a bit comic-like with a dash of manga. The book has a lot of text and isn't like a traditional graphic novel but it is one, nevertheless. Pages form anywhere from one huge to three smaller frames. The text is mostly given in the narration with approx. one speech bubble per two-page spread. While the topic is complicated the book's design is not. The illustrations are clean and neat and enhance the text with graphic representations of facts in map or chart form.

[sassyspines · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book so it is about real events. The design was interesting and seemed to fit the story a majority of the time.

There should be trigger warnings for this book (obviously it deals with war and trauma) because a lot happened that I did not expect, see spoiler for more info. What threw me while reading this was they captured dogs and ate them, then we read a murder-suicide where someone took a child into the sea with them to end a dynasty, and we had images for both scenes. The images were not fully graphic, but we could tell what was happening in each scene. I feel like the images were not necessary for those scenes. Yes, I understand that was a part of the history, but I think the images should have been omitted.

[Vinayak Hegde · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 part of the 4 part book on Chinese History. The battles of the Mongol warriors were interesting. As usual the illustrations explaining the philosophical underpinnings of the dynastic rules to maintain social order were interesting. The expansion of the Mongol empire and it's eventual breakup and disintegration were covered well especially in China with the Yuan dynasty. Also the time period where China started looking inward and closing off itself from the world.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review for this whole series (minus the second book, which my library did not have a copy of) is the same: The author is trying to race through confusing dynasties and philosophy and does that part really well, often at the expense of the art.

[Karen Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

good overview of Chinese history. Would like to read others in series. Graphic novel format.

[Stanley Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of history after Tang to Yuans

Good comics illustration & a brief summary in understanding the dynasty cycles in China, the innovation of Song era of invention

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid introduction to Chinese history. approachable for middle schoolers, even.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mongols are not kidding around.

[Diego García · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy first insight.


Main issues clearly outlined. Draws are clear and help to understand and process information. Good place to begin China's history readings

[Marcus Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good overview of Chinese history and culture

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

extremely interesting with charming illustrations!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third in the Understanding China Through Comics series that I love so much, and it continues to live up to the promise of the first two books. I've said before, I think, that I've repeatedly tried to get into Chinese history classes and they keep getting cancelled (*mutters under breath*) so a series like this is a godsend.

Barbarians and the Birth of Chinese Identity carries the history of China forward from the Song Dynasty to the Mongol invasion and eventual eviction (I think? I may be confusing it with The History of the World I Guess). At any rate, the author is as always careful to define all terms clearly and also to clearly mark transitions and turning points. There's also a brief recap of the first two books at the beginning of this one, so those of us who have terrible memories can follow along more easily. It's very much an introductory volume-- if you already know things about Chinese history, this is not a good book for you-- but if you don't? A wonderful place to start. Highly recommended.