Good Books of China

[Maxal]

Hi all,

 

Looking for a recommendation of some good books to pick up. some categories:

 

A good history book. Would not mind early and late history books

 

Culture in general

 

Do's and don't in modern China, not the China of 40 years ago.

 

What would be the book / author all Chinese read? Most of us had to read Shakespeare, Falkner, Twain and others. Something along those lines.

 

What are the one or two movies that need to be watched?

 

Just trying to develop a little better understanding of China.

 

I am getting tired of buying books that are just very superficial overviews of towns of cities.

[Guest WenDylan]

Hi all,

 

Looking for a recommendation of some good books to pick up. some categories:

 

A good history book. Would not mind early and late history books

 

Culture in general

 

Do's and don't in modern China, not the China of 40 years ago.

 

What would be the book / author all Chinese read? Most of us had to read Shakespeare, Falkner, Twain and others. Something along those lines.

 

What are the one or two movies that need to be watched?

 

Just trying to develop a little better understanding of China.

 

I am getting tired of buying books that are just very superficial overviews of towns of cities.

 

Visit YouTube. Just be careful because their is a lot of political and historical content which is not acceptable conversation over there. It is some interesting topics and very inspiring things, but again most of those topics are not only banned, but it is literally erased from their history over there. If it is ever brought up, or if you try to spark a conversation with the wrong people, you might end up somewhere that you don't want to be.

 

YouTube has good videos though.

[dnoblett]

Here is one:

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416N6SJCZBL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

 

http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Have-Word-Co...t/dp/0658010786

 

OR

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yxs9e60NL._SL500_BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

 

http://www.amazon.com/China-Culture-Smart-...e/dp/1857333047

 

A few notes, when in China don't discuss politics, and religion in public.

[Reddragon75]

Thanks for the book choices.

 

Since I plan on teaching English in China in the near future and living there for an extended time, it probably would be a good idea to learn as much as I can about modern China and their customes and culture. I will check them out.

 

THANKS

Edited July 16, 2008 by Reddragon75 (see edit history)

[ken88]

Hi all,

 

Looking for a recommendation of some good books to pick up. some categories:

 

A good history book. Would not mind early and late history books

 

Culture in general

 

Do's and don't in modern China, not the China of 40 years ago.

 

What would be the book / author all Chinese read? Most of us had to read Shakespeare, Falkner, Twain and others. Something along those lines.

 

What are the one or two movies that need to be watched?

 

Just trying to develop a little better understanding of China.

 

I am getting tired of buying books that are just very superficial overviews of towns of cities.

 

I just borrowed a book from my local library, CHINA, people, place, culture, history, by alison Baily et. al. DK books 2007.

 

This is a great book on China. It has 350 oversized pages with full color photos on every page. Library call # is 951 C. (I assume that this # is the same in all libraries)

 

If you are collecting books on China, this will make a very good addition !

 

Ken88

[michaln]

I enjoyed

River Town: Two Years On The Yangtze

by Peter Hessler it brought back some memories

[eseum]

For the interplay between Mao and Zhou Enlai and a historical perspective on the rise and continuation of comunism in China read:

 

Zhou Enlai, The Last Perfect Revolutionary. Can be a little difficult to get through though.

[mvlahov]

"China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia" by Peter Perdue. It's a big, sort of time consuming book to get through, but it will go a long way in improving your understanding of Chinese foreign policy, nationalism and Chinese people's mentality toward their borders. It's a narrative of how China acquired the borders that it has today. What makes it a bit difficult is the cast of characters involved: Late Ming emperors, Qing emperors, Mongolians, Russians, Jesuits, etc. It's all a bit hard to keep track of, but well worth it. This book has been a springboard for me to getting a deeper understanding of Chinese history.

 

Another important book for me has been "China: Fragile Superpower" by Susan Shirk. This one deals with contemporary China's internal politics. This has been helpful for me to understanding policy choices that the government makes as well as understanding nationalist sentiment in China.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Michael

[Maxal]

I am really enjoying "The Chinese have a word for it." Well writtren and enjoyable. The other one was a very quick read that I shall look at one more time before departing.

 

Thanks for the recommendations and I shall look in to the other books also.

[shaffej7070]

A great coffee-table book titled"China:Its Most Scenic Places" by Readers Digest contains beautiful pictures of 50 villages and town throughout China. A must have!

 

I recommend the video: " China: A Century of Revolution" It's a great history primer chronicling all the significant political and social events of the 20th Century. A must see and addition to your DVD collection.

Edited July 31, 2008 by yimi386 (see edit history)

[C4Racer]

The best book on Chinese culture I bought in Hong Kong airport while in route home the first time visiting Lisa.

 

It was titled "Throwaway Daughter" by Tingxing Yi.

 

Great read. Help me understand a lot about Chinese culture, how they deal with one-child policy, but most important the way many Chinese men view women in general and their place in China society.

 

I think it helped me understand where my wife was in her life and why she was looking to marry a foreigner. This has gone a long way to making our relationship stronger.

[NewDay2006]

2 books by Iris Chang

 

Chinese in America , very good book.

 

The Rape of Nanking, a very brutal book of what the Japanese did to the Chinese in the WWII era, I really couldn't finish the book.

 

The Author killed herself a few years ago

Edited July 31, 2008 by NewDay2006 (see edit history)

[shaffej7070]

2 books by Iris Chang

 

Chinese in America , very good book.

 

The Rape of Nanking, a very brutal book of what the Japanese did to the Chinese in the WWII era, I really couldn't finish the book.

 

The Author killed herself a few years ago

 

 

Yes, these are great books, but words of caution: "The Rape of Nanking" contains some very disturbing images.

[NewDay2006]

 

Yes, these are great books, but words of caution: "The Rape of Nanking" contains some very disturbing images.

Yes, this is one reason why I couldn't finish it. This may have been one of the reasons the author killed herself.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...DDGN29TV0G1.DTL

Edited July 31, 2008 by NewDay2006 (see edit history)

[Maxal]

Being a student of Military history the Rape of Nanking, is something that I have read about but not from a first person¡¯s point of view. Do not know if I really wish to read about it in that manner. As far as I am concerned it was the third worst thing done in WWII.

 

First was the final solution and everything that went with that.

 

Second was dropping the second atomic bomb. The first they can claim they had no idea how well it would work, but the second they know exactly what would happen.

 

Then Nanking. Well another thread.