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The Search for Modern China | bookshelf

masonjwang.com · 885 words · saved by 1 readers

400-year narrative history of China from the late Ming (~1600) through the present, tracing how internal decay, foreign pressure, revolution, and reinvention produced the China that exists today. To my understanding, it’s the standard textbook used in U.S. universities.

Key notes from every section of the book . This book is wonderfully dense and long, so a little scaffolding can go a long way (e.g., names are hard to remember). Note that this outline is for the 4th and most recent edition. # 1. The Late Ming The Glory of the Ming : Around 1600, China was the most advanced civilization on earth: biggest territory, largest population, a bureaucracy governing ~1,100 counties, cultural and intellectual life rivaling or exceeding late-Renaissance Europe (revealed through literature/art). Corruption and Hardship: Emperor Wanli withdrew from governing → corruption

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