Audiobook7 hours
China in World History
Written by Paul S. Ropp
Narrated by David Drummond
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Here is a fascinating compact history of Chinese political, economic, and cultural life, ranging from the origins of civilization in China to the beginning of the 21st century. Historian Paul Ropp combines vivid story-telling with astute analysis to shed light on some of the larger questions of Chinese history.
What is distinctive about China in comparison with other civilizations? What have been the major changes and continuities in Chinese life over the past four millennia?
Offering a global perspective, the book shows how China's nomadic neighbors to the north and west influenced much of the political, military, and even cultural history of China. Ropp also examines Sino-Indian relations, highlighting the impact of the thriving trade between India and China as well as the profound effect of Indian Buddhism on Chinese life.
Finally, the author discusses the humiliation of China at the hands of Western powers and Japan, explaining how these recent events have shaped China's quest for wealth, power and respect today, and have colored China's perception of its own place in world history.
What is distinctive about China in comparison with other civilizations? What have been the major changes and continuities in Chinese life over the past four millennia?
Offering a global perspective, the book shows how China's nomadic neighbors to the north and west influenced much of the political, military, and even cultural history of China. Ropp also examines Sino-Indian relations, highlighting the impact of the thriving trade between India and China as well as the profound effect of Indian Buddhism on Chinese life.
Finally, the author discusses the humiliation of China at the hands of Western powers and Japan, explaining how these recent events have shaped China's quest for wealth, power and respect today, and have colored China's perception of its own place in world history.
Related to China in World History
Related audiobooks
The Silk Road: A New History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Concise History of Modern India Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5China and Japan: Facing History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great State: China and the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of China Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5China: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Asian History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Middle Ages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uighurs: The History and Legacy of the Turkic Muslim Minority Group in Asia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Antiquity: From the Birth of Sumerian Civilization to the Fall of the Roman Empire Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of China: Specific Events, Causes, and Consequences Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Korea: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900 - 1917 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Japan - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Korea, 3rd ed. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bullets and Opium: Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUmma: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
History For You
Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Art Without Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for China in World History
Rating: 4.45 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
60 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In-depth history but very dry, even for a history book. The narrator didn't help that much. His repetitive intonation of dry material was good bedtime material.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great survey of the highlights of China's history.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a very good overview of Chinese history in a global context. It shows how China interacted with the rest of the world from the Qin Dynasty through the PRC. It compares Chinese economic growth with the rest of the world, exploring its strengths and weaknesses. It is rather sympathetic to China, but is also realistic. It shows how things that appeared to be strengths when they were introduced would prove to be weaknesses in the long term. It looks at changes in means of production, transportation and infrastructure. For instance, the standardization of taxation under the Yongzheng Emperor helped create a more equitable and predictable taxation system, but it was inflexible and led to severe reduction in government revenues even before the McCartney mission. Also, new foods and silver from the Americas helped a boom in the Chinese economy, but caused long term problems. The population outgrew the arable land, creating food shortages. The economy became dependent on smuggled silver from the South America, but when that avenue was cut off, it sparked an economic crisis.Perhaps the most interesting point was about the connection between state control and innovation. Ropp doesn't explicitly say that weaker central control led to more innovation, but it seems an obvious connection. The Tang and Song dynasties are often considered the height of Chinese culture, but neither had tight control over society. Yet this was when the Chinese were producing new agricultural techniques, tools and weapons, while also creating a golden age of poetry and art. Ropp later suggests that the Qing Dynasty, which had a much stronger state under the Kang Xi and Qian Long emperors, curbed innovation because of the possibility of social upheaval that may result. Ropp goes on to say that limitation of foreigners in China, particularly Europeans, made sense as a means to ensure social stability but it also meant that the Chinese were less involved in international trade and innovation than they had been in the past. I found this idea interesting because of the way it fits with some theories about why the Industrial Revolution happened in Britain instead of elsewhere. On the one hand, it agrees with the idea that innovation is strongest if it comes from the private sector, which China had precious little of when there was a strong state. When there was a weak state, people had more leeway to try new things and more incentive to gain an advantage in a chaotic situation. Yet patent law was essential to the Industrial Revolution and a strong government was necessary to protect intellectual property rights. Ropp opens an interesting door for analysis on how Chinese in the Tang and Song were able to benefit from their innovations without government protection.Overall, this is an excellent book. It is meant as a survey and does that job very well. It suggests many questions as it goes, but does not have space to do more than suggest an answer for most of them. It is a great introduction to China and the World. Even for those who have studied some aspect of China before, it can provide some new perspectives on a very interesting and complicated subject.