The Civilization Of China

by Herbert Allen Giles

The book "" The Civilization Of China, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Cultural

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Educated at Charterhouse, Herbert Allen Giles was a British diplomat and author of books on China and the Far East. He served as British Vice-consul at Pagoda Island from 1880 to 1883 and at Shanghai from 1883 to 1885. He then became Consul at Tamsui in 1885 and in 1891 at Ningpo. He taught Chinese at Cambridge and, in 1902, became a senior lecturer at Columbia University. His works include Chinese Sketches (1876), Historic China (1882), The Remains of Lao Tzu (1886), China and the Chinese (1902), The Civilization of China (1911), Confucianism and Its Rivals (1915) and The Second Hundred Best Characters (1922).

Reviews

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giles' goal with this book is to provide an overview of Chinese history and culture for those who know little of China. In that respect, it does a very useful job of introducing the reader to the end of 19th Century / start of 20th Century view and understanding of China. If you've read China and the Chinese and/or China and the Manchus, you'll find a certain repetition of content - something quite unsurprising considering the fact that the times and places covered are overlapping. In fact, I would recommend looking at all three to widen the view and content to its greatest extent.
Giles starts with what is deemed the feudal age in China, long before the European feudal age, and progresses with numerous digressions to give a range of snippets of information that connect to the chapter's nominal title in sometimes the loosest of ways. He provides more of a sweeping glimpse into various aspects of China as an entity both cultural and historical, not to mention political... His comments, anecdotes and descriptions diverge from the historical to the present day (of his time) and present a great range of details worth the noting and further investigating.
His bibliography would also be worth tracking down for the sake of further reading...
As an introductory work, especially if you keep in mind the biases of the 19th Century in its world-view, it is well worth the read.

[Daniel Silveyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A free book, so value-for-money wise its unbeatable. Value-for-time is not too bad either as it is very short.

The Civilizaton of China is a book similar to those of Lafcadio Hearn about Japan. It is an English Gentleman's account of his experiences and musings in 19th and 20th century China, disguised as a treatise on Chinese culture.

It is an amusing read, not least because the author's affection for the country shines through. There are many fun anecdotes about Chinese manners and customs and their clash with western ones, as well as glimpses of the political conflicts and western world-view at the time. You seldom get a look at the Chinese people, however, without the author's personality getting in the way - it feels a little like taking a picture over someone's shoulder and getting the back of their head as your foreground.

Unlike the case with Japan, China's 20th century was so vastly disruptive of tradition in customs and behavior that you get almost no sense of what you read in this book when travelling there.

[Gonzalo Fernández-Victorio · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a book written a century ago trying to explain Chinese civilization to British people. In my opinion, it didn't age well.
Reading the book, it's not easy to know what's objective vs what's the perception of the writer that probably lived in a high status environment, vs the attempt from the writer to dispel others perception from Chinese people.
I didn't like it.

[Justin Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not a comprehensive study of Chinese history, _Civilization_ is enjoyable and well worth the time. Giles touches on both the historically significant and his personal favorites, without apology, nor conveying little surprise at Chinese peculiarities, while aptly placing humor with an Eastern flare.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is free on Amazon as an ebook, and as a brief account of China's history written by the first Sinologist from the West, definitely is worth reading. Written in 1911, during the tumultuous era of civil unrest right before the revolution that overthrew the emperor, the book offers a unique insight. While the academic standards by which the book were written, being over 100 years old, and what was considered appropriate terminology for discussing different cultures, the book remains comparatively remarkable objective, and is an excellent place to get a glance at China's history, and at how Europe perceived it at the beginning of the last century.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable, interesting and informative. Nice introduction to a bit of history, philosophy, manners, and other cultural items. Of course, it's outdated because it was published in 1911, but the affection of the writer for China and her people is clear. It makes me wonder what would have happened had the Communists not won their civil war.

[Michelle Eging · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good introduction to Chinese history and culture and is so packed with information! It's a good foundation and covers a lot of territory in only 250 pages. I'm excited to read more though from other sources.

[Sincere]

It is really interested to read the description of china in some specific points like tone or situation of areas in china by foreign authors. Still keep going on reading to discover whether it is what I think of china as an Chinese.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

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