The Dynasties of China: A History

by Bamber Gascoigne

Shang, Chou, Han, T'ang, Sung, Yuan, Ming, Ch'ing — for most Westerners, they stand only as adjectives to describe a lacquer, a bronze, a silk, a watercolor. And for all the familiarity a blue and white porcelain vase from the Ming dynasty or the bright and sturdy pottery figures of horses and grooms from the T'ang may now have acquired, the history of the civilization that produced them remains obscure. So do the names of the potters and artists and philosophers and emperors and generals — except perhaps for those of Kublai Khan, who was not Chinese, and K'ung Fu Tzu — known as Confucius — who flourished a century before Socrates. Focusing upon the incidents and personalities that epitomize most vividly each of the dynasties, this lucidly narrated volume, beautifully illustrated by a lavish selection of color photographs, places in their historical context the images that came to define imperial China from its origins in 1600 B.C. to the revolution of Sun Yat-sen in October 1911. It provides a background to China's turbulent twentieth century, which is surveyed in an informative postscript, highlighting such events as the troubled presidency of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Tse-tung's ruthless Cultural Revolution, and the 1989 student protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Asia, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Bamber Gascoigne is an Eton and Cambridge educated television presenter and author. He was for several years a drama critic for the "Spectator" and the "Observer", and has written a number of books on theatre, art and cultural history.

He came to fame as the presenter of the popular television quiz show, University Challenge (1962 - 1987) and subsequently wrote and presented a 13-part TV series, "The Christians" (1977), from which he also wrote a bestselling book. Gascoigne has remained a well-known figure for his television presenting and his books on history.

Reviews

[Justine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've run into some pretty serious problems trying to find a good standard text for Chinese imperial history. I understand that few other places have viewed history as Western Europe has-- and that it's hard to find a good account of what happened (either because concepts of history are different.. or people rewrote it whenever a new dynasty took place)-- point being, I'm still on the quest and this was a good start.

It is a very quick history, written in the tone of a well done TV doctumentary rather than a text. The author goes chronologically, picking out the most interesting bits of politics, art, social change, etc., often incorporating some primary sources. Ultimately, it lacked the structure and order I would like, but was still a pleasant read.

3 stars.

[Leonard Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found The Dynasties of China to be a pretty enjoyable tour through Chinese history. I sometimes found the focus to be a bit odd, but with such a quick tour of over 2,000 years it is hard to enjoy. Gascoigne definitely succeeds in giving the reader a general flavor of the various dynasties, and it could certainly be a launching pad to more specific research. He also discusses the events with a fairly even hand. Highly recommended.

[Amélie Lapointe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly readable, understandably simplified for the sake of the project.

[Daniel MacLaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid little book covering imperial China. It meanders a bit for a 200 page book on 3,500 years of Chinese history, but I enjoyed it overall. I found the commentary on Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism through the dynasties especially interesting.

[Riley C · Rating 5 out of 5]

An evocative history of China’s ancient past that changed the way I think of the country. It made its rulers personable and strived to place Chinese achievements and events in the broader context of contemporary world history. An entertaining read as well as an informative one.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was probably about as good as a 200 page book rushing through 2500+ years of history can possibly be. All I knew about China came from my high school education covering the fall of the Qing and the rise of Communism, and a history channel documentary about the first Qin emperor, so I knew pretty close to nothing. It did what it set out to do, give some context and information about each major dynasty of China, from the Shang to the Qing.

However, I found it a little hard to follow. While the dynasties are arranged chronologically, the writing flows around nonlinearly and associatively within each dynasty (somewhat reminiscent of Herodotus), making it sometimes difficult to keep track of the order of events. There is also a very large focus on literature and art, compared to things like technology, the movements of peoples, religions etc. That's not to say they were absent, but literature seemed to get quite a lot of page space. There was also a serious lack of maps other than the pretty bare one at the start of the book.

I can't say this book made me much more interested in Chinese history. The Shang-Zhou stuff sounded interesting, but from the Han onward it seemed like a succession of barely distinguishable empires (unless they get invaded by Mongols and Manchus). Maybe that's the fault of this book, but I'm not jumping to find out out if it is.

[zed · Rating 3 out of 5]

My knowledge of China is limited to a primer I read recently and the appetite was certainly whetted. This "a Brief History" has no less whetted the interest and China is now a subject I will read with anticipation. There is, obviously, 3 millennia of history to cover and if I have a little bit of criticism of the book it tends to struggle to cover the dynasties themselves. Be that as it may what could the book have been called??? The coverage is therefore limited and so discusses specific historical events more known to the westerner. Confucianism and the Boxer rebellion for example. But for those such as me who knew little as to why the Chinese have writen characters through to the repulsive binding of women's feet this brief history imparted knowledge is ideal to whet the appetite. Another good read in the "A Brief History" serious.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an arduous task to explain 2,133 years of dynasties in such a short book. Nevertheless, this book achieves it to a certain degree.
Pro: photos, some extracts of letters, books, and poems. Plus I was reminded of the fun dynasty song I used to learn their names: https://youtu.be/yFyeLvEfZEA

Con: Most times it didn't follow a rigid structure. Thus, it is hard to follow a list of all the numerous events, artists, emperors and revolts there were.

[Andrew]

I've read a lot about PRC and even ROC, but not as much about the imperial era. The prospect of studying it all at once seems overwhelming, and yet this book is only 200-some pages. As a result, it skips over a lot of things and chooses small parts of the story to focus on. I think that's understandable, but so many crucial events just breeze past with a sentence or maybe a paragraph. I didn't go into this expecting a complete assessment. In fact, I picked this out because of its brevity.

But then, it's still valid for me to say the brevity is what limits the author from digging deeper. The book claims to be a history of the dynasties, and the chapters are organized by the major dynasties; but then I guess the Qing isn't considered a 'major dynasty', because they're slotted in at the end of the Zhou chapter. As I approached the Opium Wars, the Taiping Revolution and Boxer Rebellion, events I've read a bit about, it struck me how quickly these events are addressed in order to get the story out in as many pages.

Granted, there are other media (podcasts, books, films) that explore these topics much more deeply, that I have and will continue to consume. All I wanted from here was a starting point. I will look to other works to flesh out the history more deeply for me.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pithy yet surprisingly thorough account of over 3 millennia of history.

I really enjoy seeing how authors present their methods for explaining China’s long history. Each time I read a different book on the subject, there is always a new element which the author has felt necessary to explain; some focus on politics or war, others on art and a few on society.

Definitely one of the better books to at least introduce people to the fascinating history of China.

[Rebecca Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting titbits but the author tends to focus too much on specific tangents about various people rather than giving a broad sense of the period. Leads to some interesting stories but no coherent narrative as the reasons for dynasties collapse is often glossed over and one is left with no strong sense of the differences between them all.

[Stewart Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok as a primer on the major Chinese dynasties but structure felt a bit strange to me. Focused on one or two events / people for each dynasty rather than give a comprehensive overview (which would have been
my preference).

[Pei-jean Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me this felt like the quickest overview of the dynasties of China. Sometimes, I found that it meanders on topics that were not really relevant and either overlooked plenty of crucial information pertaining to each dynasty or glossed over it in a very simple way.

[شمس · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introductory reading for Chinese History.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely valuable for me. I am now a greeter at a ceramics museum, so I very much appreciate the emphasis on the arts and culture. I am also a real geek for Chinese history. Thank you

[Rich Gibbons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It gives a good overview and I learned a lot. Would definitely recommend if you're new to Chinese history.

[Andrew Hartshorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My expectations were high but I only got a scratch of the surface with this. However, it was a good introduction to get a sense of the history of the idea of what a dynasty was in Chinese terms.

[Chloe Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting!

[Stephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect intro to Chinese history. Simple and easy to read. Slightly biased though. Definitely not academic.

[John Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good summary of chinas history, covering lots of aspects of China and it’s culture. I’m not certain how accurate the take on the mongol era was, but can’t say it’s wrong

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting dive into the antiquity of China. Enjoyed reading it and seeing the variety of beautiful artifacts.

[Linda Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting, loved this book

[Ong Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly the author elaborates too much about the culture, people ( like confucius ) and literatures ( poems) instead of the event itself.

Also on Page 149,there is a mistake-the year which Marcus Polo traveled back to his hometown, Venice is 1292, not 1392.

[Hilmi Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

`Isi kandungan dan cara penulis,Bamber Gascoigne,membincangkan lapan buah dinasti penting di China agak lain daripada yang lain dan bukan seperti yang saya jangkakan. Lapan buah dinasti yang dibincangkan termasuklah:

a) Shang (1600 - 1100 Sebelum Masihi (S.M.))
b) Zhou (1100 - 256 S.M.)
c) Han (206 S.M. - 220 Masihi (M))
d) Tang (618 M - 907 M)
e) Song (960 M - 1279 M)
f) Yuan (1279 M - 1368 M)
g) Ming (1368 M - 1644 M)
h) Qing (1644 M - 1912 M)

Walau bagaimanapun,tidak kesemua dinasti yang wujud di China diperbincangkan. Sebagai contoh,Dinasti Jin yang wujud antara Dinasti Song dan Dinasti Yuan. Kemungkinan perkara ini dilakukan kerana dinasti-dinasti yang tidak dibincangkan tidak memberikan impak yang penting di dalam sejarah di China secara keseluruhannya.

Pada awalnya,saya menjangkakan penulis akan menerangkan secara kronologi untuk setiap dinasti yang dibentangkan. Maksud saya,saya menduga beliau akan menerangkan secara terperinci tetapi ringkas latar belakang,maharaja-maharaja yang memerintah sesuatu dinasti,ciri-ciri uniknya,peristiwa-peristiwa penting yang berlaku di dalam setiap dinasti dan lain-lain perkara yang berkaitan secara mengikut turutan. Namun demikian,hasil pembacaan saya,Gascoigne umpama mengambil langkah penceritaan yang agak berbeza. Sebagai contohnya,pada bab ke-6,sebahagian besar bab ini lebih banyak digunakan untuk membincangkan peranan Marco Polo,pengembara berketurunan Itali,ke atas dinasti tersebut.

Saya berpandangan bahawa buku ini lebih bersifat supplement dan bukanlah sebuah buku introduction atau pengenalan kepada subjek yang dibincangkan. Tetapi,pada masa yang sama,masih berbaloi untuk dibaca kerana terdapatnya beberapa maklumat yang berguna kepada para pembaca yang berminat untuk mengkaji sejarah China.

[Cassa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic brief overview of the dynasties of China. Certainly fueled my interest; the easy-to-follow narrative style kept me interested in what could have been a boring history--it's hard for me to keep a fascination with a subject when all the information I find on it is dull. I'll definitely be looking for more history of this period; I'm sure I can tolerate less rapt description now that I have an idea of what's going on.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two thousand years of history in 200 or so pages, it really shouldn't work. However, this is a very clever book. Firstly, it does not seek to give a blow-by-blow account. Secondly, in taking a more synoptic view it never forgets that reading history for pleasure is as much about carefully chosen detail and stories as about giving a precise overview. With a focus on the arts, culture and language this little book is a vivid and fascinating read.

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can you dislike a book by a man named Bamber Gascoigne? This helpful sketch reviews the traditional dynasties, from Shang to Qing, skipping only a few. It helped me get a sense of the sweep of events in the political, technical and cultural history of China. Such information was completely absent in my education.

[Paul Chiswick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent 'fly through' of 3500 years of dynastic history. In 200 pages it gave sufficient information to be easily memorised. Never intended to be a heavy tome, Bamber Gascoigne neatly covers history, culture, philosophy and changing technology. I learned a few interesting facts - such as the innovative Chinese use of paper (I'll leave it for you to guess).

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is impossible to cover all of Chinese history in such a slender book, but Gascoigne does a decent job trying. Intended for a beginner, this is a decent book to start learning about Chinese history with.

[R I · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stuff, but dragged in places. Went to surprising detail for brief overviews, can't help but think he must have left out some more interesting content. I also wonder what the author would have to say about the current state of China..