The Search For Modern China

The Search For Modern China #3

by Jonathan D. Spence

中研院院士、美國匹茲堡大學教授許倬雲曾這麼形容耶魯大學歷史系專治中國史的史景遷（Jonathan Spence）：給他一本電話簿，他可以從第一頁的人名開始編故事，編到最後一個人名。史景遷當然不曾寫過這麼一本「電話簿當代史」，但是從許倬雲教授的比喻中，不難了解史景遷說故事的功力是如何高超。

而這種說故事的能力，乃是成為優秀史學家的必要條件之一，也往往是一種天分，而史景遷就有這種本事，能埋首在故紙堆裡細心排比資料，但也能跳脫到宏觀的角度，從世界的大格局來觀照中國歷史，兼顧考證、敘述、分析、綜合與理論各個層面。這本《追尋現代中國》就是最好的例證。

史景遷有非常清晰而強烈的問題意識，這從原書名 The Search for modern China就可看出。史景遷的問題是：如果有「現代中國」這回事的話，那麼這個名詞可以回溯多遠而仍能成立？在這個基本層次上，史景遷所思考的問題可說和已故史學家黃仁宇相當接近，因為黃仁宇的主要關注點正在於把中國和歐洲歷史相對照，思索為何歐洲式的資本主義沒有發生在中國。而所謂資本主義在某種程度上，和現代性（modernity）可說是相通的。而史景遷和黃仁宇兩人也都很注重看似細微不起眼的技術細節對歷史發展的影響，所以在千端萬縷的細節中，揀選、過濾有意義的事件，並將之匯集，與歷史的大走向掛鉤，那是真的要有小說家的筆法與功力才能畢其功，更何況這本書的英文版還是由Norton 所出版，是作為大學教科書之用。一本大學教科書能寫到兼顧學術性與可讀性，在英語世界裡，史景遷恐怕是當代第一人了。

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Asia, Politics, World History, 20th Century

912 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Jonathan D. Spence is a historian specializing in Chinese history. His self-selected Chinese name is Shǐ Jǐngqiān (simplified Chinese: 史景迁; traditional Chinese: 史景遷), which roughly translates to "A historian who admires Sima Qian."

He has been Sterling Professor of History at Yale University since 1993. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several hundred years of Chinese history.

Reviews

[Josh Friedlander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sonder is the term for the realisation that every person around you has an inner life as deep and meaningful as your own, and the explosion of complexity implied thereby. Sometimes you just realise how little you know; how absurdly deep the water goes past your shallow part of the pool. Reading a book about China is kind of the same: to realise that all of the historical and cultural knowledge you've ever accumulated mostly ignores this area (Greater China or the Sinosphere, so as not to tread on Macauan or Taiwanese toes), and that you are, in fact, basically starting from zero...

An excellent and thorough history, which flows gracefully through some four centuries with authority, but without ever becoming a drag.

[Alice Poon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone who wishes to make sense of present-day international relations.

This well-written and excellent piece of academic work is a concise and comprehensive history of China spanning 3-1/2 centuries from the end of the Ming Dynasty (1644) right through to the June 4th 1989 Tiananmen Square tragedy.

Included in it is an honest and neutral account of how 19th century Western imperialism and the imposition on China of opium trade, extraterritoriality and exorbitant financial penalties irreversibly debilitated the country. Juxtaposed with such account is a sweeping depiction of China's own encompassing domestic woes, including but not limited to the Qing government's incompetent rule, abject rural poverty, backwardness of society, ceaseless rebellions and warlords' power struggles. Against such backdrop and in face of 20th century Japanese (and European & Russian) aggression on Chinese soil surged civil wars between the Nationalists and the Communists. After the 1945 Japanese surrender, the Communists drove the Nationalists off to Taiwan and established the People's Republic of China. But the country continued to suffer atrocious political upheavals, often incited in the name of dogmatic ideology.

I like the way the author humanizes chronicles by invoking the works of writers, artists, activists and politicians to illustrate a point.

This last sentence in the book perhaps delivers a sobering statement:

There would be no truly modern China, until the people were given back their voices.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timeline

1122 - 1234 Manchu Jurchens take northern China “Jin dynasty”
1368 Ming Dynasty established
1550 Portugese establish presence in Macao.
1559 Nurhaci born
1570 Pirate attacks stopped in southern coast, Spain enters Manila
1572 to 1620 Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty
1590s Nurhacu leads tribesmen in Liaodong, eunuchs ascendent, Japan invades Korea
1601 Silk weavers strike in Suzhou, porcelin workers strike in Jiangxi
1604 Dongli Society founded, opposed corrupt eunuchs. Infamous eunuch Wei Zhongxian
1616 Nurhaci declares himself Khan of Jin Dynasty
1620 Emperor Wanli dies, grandson Chongzhen enthroned
1622 Chinese rebellions against Jin rule
1625 Nurhaci takes Shenyang
1626 Nurhaci dies, son Hong Taiji enthroned
1632 Nurhaci takes Inner Mongolia
1633 Ming generals defect to Hong Taiji
1635 Rebel Li Zicheng “The Dashing King” leads conclave of rebel leaders
1638 Rebel Li Zicheng takes Korea
1642 Epidemics across China, Manchu takes Jinzhou after ten year siege
1643 Hong Taiji dies, regent Dorgon ascends as leader of Manchus
1644 Qing Dynasty. Rebel Li Zicheng takes Peking, General Wu Sangui joins the Manchus,
German Jesuit astronomer/missionary Schall von Bell arrives
1645 Manchus drive Li Zicheng to Jiangxi, installs boy Emperor Shunzi
Rebel Li Zicheng dies, Rebel Zhang Xianzhong takes Chongqing and Chengdu
Pirate/merchant Zheng Chenggong a.k.a. Koxinga sides with Ming
1647 Rebel Zhang Xianzhong killed by Manchus
1648 Prince of Gui declares Ming restoration
1650 Qing suppresses restorationists. Prince of Gui flees to Guangdong, then Burma
1659 Pirate Koxinga fails to take Nanjing
1661 Qing attacks Burma, capture and execute Ming nobles, eunuchs ousted, boy Emperor Kangxi enthroned at age 7, Oboi of the Four Regents appointed by Shunzi to oversee affairs, land displacement, Shunzi dies of smallpox
1669 Oboi arrested and deposed for overreach
1670s Galdan of the Zunghar people take Kashgar, Hami Turfan. Dalai Lama was his spiritual leader
1673 Three Feudatories rebel: Wu Sangui for Yunnan/Guizhou/Hunan and Sichuan. Shang Kexi for Guangdong and Guangxi. Geng Jimao for Fujian.
Shang KeXi falls ill, passes authority to son Shang Zhixin. Geng Jimao dies, passes authority to son Geng Jingzhong. Wu Sangui declares his own Zhou dynasty
1674 Wu Sangui attacks Hunan. Geng Jinzhong attacks Zhejiang. Shang Zhixin attacks Jiangxi.
1678 Wu Sangui dies.
1681 Emperor Kangxi defeats the Three Feudatories
1683 Emperor Kangxi sends Admiral Shi Lang to attack and defeat the Koxinga/Zhong family
Notable scholars - Wang Fuzhi under Prince Gui wrote of morality.
Huang Zongxi of the Donglin Society wrote of statecraft.
Gu Yanwu under Prince Fu wrote essays on Confucianism.
Kong Shangren wrote “The Peach Blossom fan”
1689 Treaty at Nerchinsk establishes borders with Russia and extradition procedures.
1696 Emperor Kangxi defeats Zunghar leader Galdan at Jao Modo.
1692 Emperor Kangxi’s edict of toleration for Christianity. Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans arrive.
1712 Emperor Kangxi’s son Yinreng arrested for regicide conspiracy. Tax reform based on headcount.
1720 Kangxi army takes Lhasa, installs puppet Dalai Lama. Cohong trade guild formed in Canton.
1721 Qing army returning from Taiwan bring back opium.
1722 Emperor Kangxi dies.
1723 Emperor Yongzheng enthroned, is considered usurper, textile worker strike, sends General Oertai against Miao peoples.
1728 General Oertai suppresses Guangxi tribesmen. Scholar Chen Menglei publishes encyclopedia.
1732 Emperor Yongzheng sends General Yue Zhongqi against Zunghars at Urumqi, fails.
1736 to 1799 Emperor Qianlong enthroned at age 25. No controversy over succession, establishes local militia called the Green Standard.
1738 Lifen Yuan (Office of Border Affairs) established to manage Northwestern issues.
1740 Examination system fails to slow corruption.
1759 Emperor Qianlong send Manchu bannerman Zhaohui to take Kashgar and Yarkand. Attempt to subjugate begs (Muslim tribal leaders). Emperor patronizes Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione. Scholars of the Kaozheng (search of evidence) school re-interpret Confucian tradition with textual criticism and empiricism. “Dream of the Red Chamber”
1774 Rebel Wang Lun in Shandong province sides with Grand Canal barge pullers.
1780 Heaven and Earth society in Taiwan revolts. Muslim revolt in Gansu province.
1788 Vietnamese Le Dynasty flees to Guanxi. Emperor Qianlong attacks Nguyen usurpers and restores Le but is counter-attacked on New Year’s Day. Heaven and Earth rebels in Taiwan defeated.
1790-91 Gurkhas from Nepal attack Tiber but are driven back. Corruption endemic. Emperor Qianlong rumored homosexual relationship with deputy general Heshen.
1792 King George III and British East India Company sends China Lord George MacCarthy to Peking.
1795 London Missionary Society
1796 to 1820 Emperor Qianlong’s son, Jiaqing enthroned.
1799 White Lotus Society rebellion in Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi and Henan. Emperor Qianlong abdicates.
1813 Lin Qing cult attempts assassination in Peking.
1821-1850 Emperor Daoguang
1830 Rise of “Heaven and Earth” societies, progenitors of Triads.
1836 Emperor Daoguang bans opium, appoints viceroy Lin Zexu to enforce drug laws
1839 Lin Zexu orders cessation of foreign trade. 1st Opium War
1840 British fleet under Admiral George Eliot arrives
1841 January agreement reached with Eliot but Britain believed he exceeded authority. August: Henry Pottinger arrives, seizes Xiamen (Amoy), Ningbao, Zhousan. Emperor Daoguang allows formation of Canton militias.
1842 British forces capture Shanghai, Zhenjiang and Nanjing. Treaty of Nanjing signed. Pottinger as first governor of Hong Kong.
1844 Treaty of Wanghia attracts US business. Rebel Hong Xinquan attracts Hakka, Zhuang and Yao peoples.
1850 Emperor Daoguang dies, Emperor XianFeng enthroned (to 1861). Fails to suppress rebel Hong Xinquan at Thistle Mountain, Guangxi.
1851 Taiping rebellion to 1864. Anti-Manchu movements emerge. Major flooding, Kaifeng dikes break, displaces Nian peoples.
1852 Taiping rebels take Yuezho, Hankou. Nian rebels form under Anhui warlord ZhangLuoxing.
1853 Taiping rebels take Wuchang, Anqing and Nanking, major lieutenants emerge: Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai. Hunanese general Zeng Guofan leads Xiang Army against Taiping.
1855 Hui peoples initiate jihad against Manchus.
1856 Indian mutiny, 2nd Opium War, British seizes Canton
1857 British and French forces at Battle of Canton
1858 Treaty of Tianjin partially 2nd Opium War with extraterritoriality, indemnity and opening more ports.
1859 Taiping rebels pick Hong Rengan as “prime minister” Tries to modernize territory under its control. British attack Dagu/Taku forts.
1860 Lord Elgin’s forces enter Peiking, burns Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan). Mongol general Senggelinqin sent to suppress Nian rebels, encounters guerrilla tactics, kills Nian warlord ZhangLuoxing.
1861 Palace coup, Xianfeng dies. Emperor Tongzhi enthroned at age 5, China ruled by mother Cixi and uncle Prince Gong.
1862 Chinese vs. Muslims in Tonzhou and Xi’an (Shaanxi Prov)
1863 Muslims take Kunming. Lay-Osborn Flotilla arrives to try and secure Taiping situation, dispute over chain of command, sent home
1864 Qing troops attack Nanjing and defeat Taiping rebels.
1865 General Zeng Guofeng’s protege General Li Hongzhang acquires modern weapons.
1866 Famine. Anti-Taiping leader Zuo Zongtang begins nation-building and re-planting projects in re-conquered areas.
1868 General Li Hongzhang defeats Nian, becomes powerful official. SS Tianqi steamship launched.
1869 Suez canal opens, trade disputes
1871 General Zuo Zongtang defeat Muslim rebel Ma Hua-Long in Jianbao.
1873 Dali retaken from Muslim rebel Du Wenxi/Sultan Suleiman “Kingdom of Pacificed South a.k.a. Pingnan Guo) variant of Taiping. Suzhou retaken.
1867 Peking college opens
1870 Tianjin massacre - 16 missionaries and traders killed.
1871 Los Angeles anti-Chinese riot. Korean treaty with West.
1872 General Zeng Guofeng dies.
1975 Emperor Tongzhi dies.
1876 Wenxiong, another great statesman, dies. Return of Qing conservatives. 120 boys sent to Hartford Connecticut. Empress Cixi appoints 3 year old nephew Guangxu as Emperor.
1877 YanFu studies naval design, international law and Social Darwinism in England, translates Western works into Chinese.
1879 Japan annexes Ryuku Islands.
1882 President Chester A. Arthur signs Chinese Exclusion Act.
1884 French attacks Chinese forces at Annam (Vietnam)
1885 Rock Springs, Wyoming anti-Chinese riot.
1894 Japan seizes Korean royal family
1895 Japan seizes Weihaiwei, sinks Qing fleet. Treaty of Shimonseki with Li Hongzhong. Sun Yat Sen’s Revive China Society arrested after coup conspiracy with Marxists and anarchists. Jinshi organized by Kang Youwei and nationalist leader Liang Qichao advocate for constitutional monachy. Scholar Ti-Yong attempts to synthesize Confucian principles with Western technology.
1898 Reform movement emerges, “100 Days Reforms” modernizes exam system. Zhang Zhidong - provincial reformer taps foreign loans to develop coal, iron and steel complexes in Hubei.
1900 Boxer Rebellion. Boxer protocol
1901 New Army established, banner garrisons phased out.
1903 ZouRong studies in Japan and writes “The Revolutionary Army” at age 19.
1904 Japan defeats Russia at Lushan. New Army up to strength. October 9 Hankou bombing, revolutionaries revealed, military mutinies across China. Sun Yat Sen stays with Hawaii Triad Society. Revolutionary Alliance takes Nanjing.
1905 LuXun (pen name) from Zhejiang copper worker strike joins Sun Yat Sen’s Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmeng Hui). Reformer Kang Youwei advocates for preserving Emperor Guangxu under constitutional monarchy. Empress Cixi sends constitutional study group to the West.
1906 Qui Jin, female writer dressed as man is arrested as radical teacher and plotting coup against the Qing.
1907 Mint worker strike. Manchus attempt to reign in New Army. Provincial governors executed.
1908 Street vendors strike. Empress Cixi and Guangxu dies. Emperor Puyi enthroned.
1909 Scholars of Jian Kanghu school attend 2nd International.
1910 Leader of Beiyang Army, Yuan Shikai is re-assigned to prevent coup.
1911 Mass railway policy demonstration. British opium undercut by local productions. Protests strongest in treaty ports and concession areas.
1912 Emperor PuYi abdicates, National Assembly convened, Sun Yat Sen abdicates.
1913 KuoMingTang wins election, KMT leader Song Jiaoren assassinated by Yuan ShiKai, who forces new election for Parliament, KMT is dismissed. In May, Yuan ShiKai sends General ZhongXun to attack pro-KMT military governors. President Wilson withdraws fro Boxer indemnity loan consortium, remits money to scholarship fund for Chinese students.
1914 Parliament dissolved, provincial assemblies and local governments dissolves. Industrialist Charlie Soong’s daughter marries Sun Yat Sen. Soong’s other daughter marries industrialist HH Kong.
1915 Japan issues 21 Demands.
1916 Yuan ShiKai proclaims himself Emperor. Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi declare indepedence. Yuan ShiKai dies, is succeeded by Vice President Li Yuanhong who recalls Parliament.
1917 Pro-Qing leader General Zhang Xun enter Peiking in coup to restore PuYi in mid-June. Premier Duan QuRui uses Japanese loans. Japan gains German concession in secret treaty.
1918 China refuses to sign Versailles Treaty.
1919 Li Dazhao’s study group called the May 4 Movement adopts Marxism. Drought and famine in Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi. Tianmen Square Movement is formed by scholarly elite and protests the Versailles Treaty. Pragmatists vs. ideologues. 1000 students including Zhou EnLai and Deng XiaoPeng go to Paris commune work-study program.
1920 Lenin sends Comintern Grigori Voitinski and Yang MingZhai to China, forming student groups and youth leagues.
1921 1st Plenary meeting of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai. Chen Duxiu elected Secretary General.
1922 CCP votes for temporary alliance with KMT. Mass migration to industrial cities, increasing labor strikes. Warlords emerge. Warlord Chen Jiongming ousted.
1923 Soviet Union backs national reunification for China as buffer against Japan. Sun Yat Set escapes to Canton, forms military government. Comintern Borodin is sent as advisor to KMT, recommends Sun Yet Sen radicalize and rally population against warlord Chen JiongMing. “Now Russia is free from foreign domination thanks to Sovietization.” Whampoa Military Academy established.
1924 Coup in Peiking. Wu PeiFu ousted. Zhang ZuoLin ascendent.
1925 Sun Yat Sen dies. Chiang Kai-Shek, Whampoa officers and National Revolutionary Army rout warlords. May 30 British fire in demonstrators in Shanghai. General strike is called.
1926 Northern Expedition against General Wu PeiFu. KMT takes Wuhan, Nanjing and Hanzhou. Manchu warlord Zhang Zuolin suppresses dissent in Shanghai and allies with former enemy Wu PeiFu to counter-balance the Soviets.

Will complete timeline when I finish the book.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best, and certainly the most popular, history of China in the modern era (i.e., post 1500 CE). Spence's prose is straightforward and clean, and his method of following individual artists, writers, or activists through a given time period to illustrate general policy acts as an engine to drive the reader through long descriptions of economic policies and trade issues. Furthermore, Spence always aims to show how the past informs the present and how patterns of history overlap and repeat. Ultimately, Jonathan Spence finds the truest expression of "Modern China" in general in the voice of the people emerging through the perpetually-centralized (and often dictatorial) government and in particular in the recent protests of 1919, 1930, 1976, 1979, 1986, and 1989.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Spence was my favorite author when I majored in Chinese History 30 years ago. This was the first history book that I ever eagerly looked forward to being published. It is the first one that I ever pre-ordered.

So, yes, I am a big fan of it.

The Search for Modern China has since become one of the premiere primers in modern Chinese history. It covers all of the major events and issues that helped to shape China over the last 500 years---and if anybody is looking for a good overview of China, this is it.

Unfortunately, while my memory of Chinese history is not what it was 30 years ago (and this book reminded me of how much I forgot) I couldn't read this book and not think of all the parts that are missing.

It impressed me with how much I remembered. It frustrated me with how much I had forgotten. Too often I found myself thinking, "I remember this, there is more to this story" but couldn't remember the details.

Another personal challenge. When I studied Chinese History was the period where American Academia was making the shift between Wade-Giles and Pinyin as the preferred Romanization. Most of this book is Pinyin, but a few of the older names are Wade-Giles. One of my challenges was trying to figure out who certain people were because most of the books I read were still using Wade-Giles.

(Classic example Peking (Wade-Giles) and Beijing (Pinyin)---the name of the capital of China never changed. Nor did the pronounciation. Peking actually gives you a closer approximation to the pronunciation of the capital than Beijing, but you have to know that the P has a Bay sound and the k has a j sound. A person who knows how to sound out Wade-Giles will sound Peking closer to the actual pronounciation than Beijing. But most Westerners pronounced it Pee-King, not Beijing. Pinyin sacrafices some of the accuracy that Wade-Giles provided, but gets the average person closer to the correct pronounciation.)

[Sudhang Shankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ascent of contemporary China in some thirty years has fascinated and bewildered many, especially as the nation belies all western/modern ideas of the enlightenment, such as Individual Freedom, Representative Democracy. Onlookers from more liberal nations struggle to make sense of this rise that challenges the basic foundations of liberal democracies. From that perspective, Spence's book (which stops shortly after Tiananmen Square Massacre) offers some explanation behind the Sinic love for order and bureaucracy, and their justifiable umbrage at the western world.

Spence's greatest success here is how he plausibly showcases precedents for their cycles of revolutions, suppression of revolutions, further successful revolutions, reforms and further tightening of bureaucracy that forms the basis of his running theme: the Chinese may be rich and industrialized, but can only be modern if they extricate themselves from the vicious cycle of revolution and tyranny.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immense and impressive, the likes of it will never be seen in this land again!

[Žan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Not sure if its the book or just that Chinese history is so interesting. Probably both.

[Cindy C]

A well-written and clearly researched book.

But from a western white man who favors white people's way of exploitation and stealing lands, enslaving continents as the natural progression of things.

Imperialism & colonialism is seen as a birthright of the West. Inevitable --- not evil, greedy, tragic.

The Chinese are described as hopelessly shortsighted because they tried to halt and regulate the West in order to protect their land, rights, and people, and therefore deserve and is the cause of their own downfall.

For instance, the Chinese policy on the tea trade is seen as a monopoly. The British had no choice but to introduce opium and start the opium wars. I'm used to this narrative, on many tea sites in very cheerful tones no less, but this is a work of serious scholarship so the pill was more bitter to swallow.

I do respect this book and the scholarship here --- at some point when I feel less raw and angry at most of the history of the 20th century, I'd like to try again.

[May Ling · Rating 5 out of 5]

In it's day this was a Tome for English speakers to try to understand China. I would read it if you need to understand how Western thought has tried to continuously explain Eastern stuff to itself. It's pretty good, whether you agree or disagree. Spence has done the leg work to be an expect.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent history of China covering the past 500 years, but be forewarned that Professor Spence gives new meaning to "exhaustive" inclusivity!

Anyone who has struggled through Tolstoy's "War and Peace" all the while attempting to keep names, characters, and events straight will find an even tougher "road to hoe" with Spence's coverage of China.

Although there is no doubt as to his genuine objectivity of viewpoint -- including even when he gets to the much more contentious and delicate period for American sensibilities of the late '40s onward (when the Communists finally defeated the Nationalists in their long-running civil war) -- I think that for the average interested reader it would have been helpful had he provided each major section with a summary overview that would have aided the reader in wading through the more involved specificity of the existing text.

Having said this -- an extended "caveat," I guess -- I did come away from reading this work with a much greater appreciation for how tumultuous Chinese recent history (the last couple of centuries, at the least) has been. Although Western interference with China did not really begin until the early 19th century, the Chinese people have repeatedly been plagued by the consequences of power struggles between rival warlords and those competing for the legitimacy of the title of "Emperor of all China."

Too, I came away with a much more nuanced view of both Sun Yet-sen and Chiang Kai-shek! While clearly each man faced incredibly difficult challenges in 20th century China, each nonetheless occasionally employed authoritarian -- and, to the average Chinese person -- costly methods in attempts to claim power and govern.

Those who still feel inclined to blame US policy-makers for allegedly "losing China" -- as if the United States somehow once "had" China, whatever that means exactly -- would be well-served to carefully read the pages devoted to the decades-long struggle between Kai-Shek and Mao. There one learns that while both sides often employed harsh tactics, as well as authoritarian impulses, there is no doubt that the Nationalist forces were deeply corrupt (at least in certain spheres within China), that they often cooperated with local tyrants (and even some of the Japanese occupiers) when it was to their perceived advantage, and that the peasants on the land often suffered greatly because of Nationalist policies. Mao's Communists, on the other hand, were consistently concerned with gaining and maintaining the friendship and loyalty of the farmers, and it is one of the reasons why they ultimately prevailed.

A book that requires attentive reading, but which also handsomely rewards it!

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a REALLY well written book. First time I read it was for a course on the history of Modern China at my alma mater, Northwestern University. I think I took the course in 2010(??). And by modern they mean, post 1500 in the common era, i.e., ONLY in China is the 'Modern' era dated back to after the Fall of Constantinople. I wish more history books were this well written.

That said, I'm currently "refreshing" my knowledge: i.e., am listening to the audio file via my iphone, while getting stuff done, and I have to say the narrator is HORRIBLE (SOOOOOO glad I digitally borrowed this from the library instead of buying it from amazon). He is this really hoity toity sounding Brit who is so annoying I just want to smack him. That said, looking at reviews of his performance by others, Chinese listeners are complaining that he mispronounces ALL the Chinese words

[Pie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very long, very detailed and ends just before modern China gets really interesting after 1989.

[Benjamin Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent History of China from the Late Ming Dynasty to 1990. A long read, but a must read for anyone who wants a comprehensive look at Chinese history

[JanineWent2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took Jonathan Spence's class in college and remember that despite really not liking history this book was quite enjoyable. It was also the most popular history class and you had to wait in line to get in which was the only class that I ever had to fight to get into. The memories.

How would this read to me now, 25 years later? I don't know.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive in both scope and physical size, this general history of China attempts to cover Chinese history from the fall of the Ming in 1644 to the Tiananmen protests in 1989 (the book was published in 1990). It is split into 5 major parts: Consolidation of the Qing Empire, Fragmentation in the 19th century, Qing Collapse and the attempts at a new society, WW2 and the Success of the Revolution, and China's Place in the World from 1970 onwards.

Parts 1 and 3 felt the strongest to me, Spence's insights shine here in the political machinations of strong personalities. The reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong are told in dramatic detail. Following the Qing fall in 1911, we see the floundering rule of Yuan Shikai and the attempts at a new state by Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong.

Parts 2 and 4 feel slightly rushed but it is impossible for them not to, each period can and has filled dozens of books. Having read God's Chinese Son prior to this, it made me realize how much I was missing out on when the Taiping rebellion was covered in 20 pages. There is a similar feeling when covering WW2, it is only given one chapter. The early Maoist period is given more texture. Spence draws from all aspects of the period, looking at economics, culture, foreign relations, rural and urban lifestyles, and leadership decisions.

Part 5 gives an underdeveloped account of the Cultural Revolution and then narrates the Deng reforms and the tensions of the 80s. I was left with many questions on the Cultural Revolution, it is a good incentive to read more on the topic. The last chapter gets starry eyed about the possibilities of Chinese Western style "democracy" and tries to tie the book together with an overarching statement comparing the CCP leadership with the ruling class of the Qing period. It seems like there was a concerted push to take advantage of the publication of the book by over emphasizing the Tiananmen protests to be much more important than they were. He compares them to Ming rebels, the White Lotus movement, the Boxer Rebellion and worker strikes in Hunan and Shanghai. Spence ends the book with some finger wagging prognostications that "China will be trapped in a new cycle of impoverished helplessness" if it does not open up to the voices of the people and make fundamental political changes. This falls flat reading it in 2024, when we see how well the Chinese people and economy seem to be flourishing compared to the rest of the world.

These critiques are small compared to the overall value of the book. Spence focuses mainly on economic and cultural history, which I really appreciate over other popular history books that try to reimagine the internal dialogues of political leaders and highlight flashy war stories above all else. Spence's focus on the struggles of the most oppressed classes and their experiences is crucial to understanding where tensions build from. His obvious passion for Chinese literature and artistic movements is apparent and he treats the culture and people with respect. It is too dense to read all at once. I picked it up like a textbook, reading a section at a time and then putting it aside for a while. It will be a good reference to go back to.

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Spence's monumental 876-page history The Search for Modern China starts in the 17th century, with the change over from the Ming dynasty to the Qing (Manchurian). But about 70% of the book deals with the 20th century -- the republic, the war lords, Chiang and Mao, the Cultural Revolution, etc. The early pages are slow slogging -- jammed with names and dates. Tree after tree after tree, with little sense of the shape of the forest. You'd probably have to read that part two, three, or four times to come away with a memorable picture of what happened, when, and why. But the 20th century section does a remarkable job of clarifying that complicated historical landscape. I had seen many movies and read many novels set in China from 1920 to the present, and had been totally confused by the political situation -- who was in charge where and who was allied with whom when. This book does a remarkable job of providing a context -- particularly when sorting out the rationale and motivation of the rapid and bizarre shifts of policy in the days of Mao (the Cultural Revolution and what came before and after). You get the impression that Mao was curious -- an experimenter in the realm of human relations. He would unleash the passionate enthusiasm of the masses, then pull back to a more conservative stance, then unleash again. It wasn't that he would use tight central control to force society in one direction or another, but rather that he would personally encourage or discourage tendencies that already existed. Mostly, he'd watch the unfolding of the forces he had unleashed. As a result, since 1949, vast and fundamental changes have impacted Chinese society and daily life, which had been conservative and family-based and traditional. The changes over the last 50 years have been truly amazing. No one having carefully studied Chinese history before that time could ever have predicted that such extensive change was possible in such a short time.

I just wish that there were a book that did such a good job on Chinese history prior to 1900. I need a clear picture of what happened and why -- not just names and dates. I long for a book that would treat Chinese history with broad convincing strokes, taking account of fixed factors, like geography and climate, in the style of Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs and Steel. I strongly suspect that the East-West flow of rivers in China -- the Yangzi and the Yellow Rivers in particular -- had an enormous impact on the direction of Chinese history. But I get no sense of that here.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is tempting when writing a review of an epic piece of work to declare it the best within its genre, however, I will go as far as to say that this is the best comprehensive history of Modern China I have yet read, and I do not say so lightly.
While this accolade was previously given to Jonathan Fenby’s very respectable work, I nonetheless feel that Jonathan D Spence has composed a very broad-ranging and ambitious work that covers a very broad time span, starting with the fall of the Ming and continuing (in the 2013 edition) to the conclusion of the HU/Wen years, and includes a complete picture of Chinese life, both in the cultural and economic spheres, aside from the very familiar political spheres.
Spence is a historian and scholar by trade, and it is evident in his work, as it exhibits academic integrity throughout, whilst being very readable. Additionally, Spence includes insights into the cultural sphere, with occasional, yet highly relevant and insightful, transgressions into cultural works, such as the brief pause in the Qianlong chapter to describe The Dream of the Red Chamber, and illustrate its satirical depiction of 18th Century Chinese life.
Unlike other works that tend to focus on characters and events, Spence provides a much clearer, detailed picture of the underlying fault lines and economic and social factors contributing to social change, providing many figures (often in the form of tables) and familiar comparisons to give the reader a feeling for the social and economic conditions of the time.
Spence maintains a very neutral position, and no bias is discernible (at least no to this reader), and allows the reader to make up his own mind and cast his own judgments on characters or realities presented in this work.
The Search for Modern China is simply a masterpiece. It is ambitious, but ably succeeds, and has that rare quality of being academically first rate, yet perfectly accessible and enlightening to the lay reader.

[loafingcactus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a few books of Chinese history over the last 18 months and in general and had come to slightly understand Mao's rise to power. Anything from five years before that or earlier, totally lost. I have stood at the graves of previous rulers and had someone explain how this one related to that one buried over there and it still didn't help.

This book got me a couple hundred more years. I still have no idea what happened BEFORE the 17th century, but from the 17th century on, I think I've got it! For anyone for whom this will be their first go at Chinese history, the difficulty is that you do not have the dynastic families that unite eras across different rulers and national boundaries the way you do in European history. When there's a new ruler, everyone's fortunes change. In fact, for the most part everyone that had gotten any kind of power dies. Even if it's the same dynasty- individuals were so powerful that some people committed suicide because their ruler died, even if their ruler's heir was the next ruler.

Now, a couple of notes about how this book differs from other history books:

First, I realized that women are written out of most history books, but I don't think I really *realized*. Because when women aren't there you don't notice that they aren't there- that's the problem. This is perhaps the first major history book that just included women in history, as if they'd been there all along. When you are used to them not being there it is quite shocking.

Second, most books on Chinese history are very emotional. Even overwrought, as I noted in my review of Jung Chang's biography of Mao. This book is exceptionally rational. Whether it is too rational I am not in a position to judge, but it puts the place of Mao and the excesses of the revolution in a very different light.

[Dwain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative. Unfortunately, the depth is somewhat spoiled by the turgid academic prose. When people who think history is boring think of history, this is what they are thinking.

Even so, I would have sailed right through the book had it not been for the Audible narration. The narrator constantly mispronounces Chinese words. I realize that Chinese is a very difficult language for native English speakers. I don't expect that he have perfect pronunciation and tone; however, it is obvious that the narrator knows absolutely nothing about how to pronounce Chinese names. Even if he had just spent 20 minutes learning some basic sounds it would have made a world of difference. Just one example: the city Wuxi is pronounced woo-shee. Not hard. The narrator pronounced it like it rhymed with wookie - wuck-see. The Empress Cixi is pronounced Tse-shee. A little harder but not that bad. The narrator pronounced it kick-see. Seriously, 5 minutes for somebody to explain that in Chinese pinyin, an X is prounounced with an SH sound would have made it bearable. 15 minutes more to review major sound patterns and it would have been ok. That the producers couldn't be bothered to have ANY knowledge of the subject material is inexcusable.

This got so irritating that I had to stop half-way through and take a looooong break.

[AskHistorians]

It's a pretty good overview that starts with the Ming and goes through the late 1980s. Covers all the bases. Nothing is covered in exceptional depth (with a subject like China it rarely can be in a single book) but for a general idea of recent Chinese history it's more than adequate. Also, a very readable book.

[Andy Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spence is extremely conservative, and very few realize that; he writes more about Mao's personal life and how he fought with different cadres than the life of the middle and lower class. This is more of a history of a political struggle than a comprehensive history guide.

[Jonathan Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Review TBR

[Kevin Boland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not surprisingly, I found the book to get more interesting as the story got closer to modern times. I enjoyed learning about the formation of the CCP, Mao, the KMT Party, Gen. Kai Shek, and Sun Yat Sen’s role in modern China. Spence did a good job overall at making to book read (sound in my audiobook’s case) more like a novel than a dry history book.

Still, I found that Spence focused too much on political/military squabbles and not enough on the cultural/anthropological history. To be more specific, the CCP rightly or wrongly links itself/China to Confucius- I would have liked to have heard more about that connection in the book.

The Tiananmen Square Massacre section was detailed and of course tragically sad.

Hopefully the CCP, the US, and the world can avoid repeating bloody histories and spurn the worst of human nature. We humans have done something right to emerge as the top species here on Earth. I’d like to maintain that spot!

—-
The rest of this review is related to my comments above but are not directly related to the book.

One key takeaway I formulated in listening - and Spence might not have intended this - was that the communist revolutionary leaders of China seemed to prefer communism over capitalism simply because they wanted to be different from the West. The West was capitalism and democratic (Yin) and so the Chinese felt that it should swing in the opposite direction (Yang). Human nature is curious, divergent, independent after all in my opinion. I understand that this is a simplistic take and that the CCP would argue that historically their culture is top down and group oriented. It is also true that the West has a history of democracy (Romans, Greeks) that China doesn’t. Nonetheless, Kings ruled Europe for a millennium before the Magna Carta was written. So, it is not quite a black and white picture.

None of this is to say that the West should force our values or political system on to other countries like China. It is hard to get my head around the concept of communism though. My American mind thinks “well, if the Chinese people want communism, then they should continue to have it”. The problem with this logic is that the Chinese people don’t have a chance to register their opinion in a communist system. So, my quote is a broken logic loop. To make matters worse, the CCP controls the internet, media, education materials, etc. I hope that they don’t create a brain washed population a la WW2 Japan or Nazi Germany.

I believe cultural exchanges and sports can help bridge the gap between countries’ tensions. If it were up to me Xi Jinping and Joe Biden would be on a tennis court together this year (2022).

At a minimum, I hope that dissent can be better tolerated in China. I leave you with an except from a 2015 Bloomberg article:

“Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said history gives him hope for political change on the Communist-ruled mainland. He’s not talking about the rise of a liberal democracy like in the West, but ancient China’s own lessons on dissent.

Asked about the prospects for political change in modern China, Ma cited the example of Zichan, a statesman who lived during the country’s Spring and Autumn period some 2,500 years ago. Zichan, so the stories go, refused to close a public forum where citizens criticized the government, arguing the state needed to hear the people’s complaints. Confucius later praised him as an exemplary leader.”

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really, really wish I had read this book instead of listening to it. The content was excellent, but the narration was easily the worst I have experienced in my 3+ years with audible. It was just horrible.

But anyway, this is a book review. If you are able to get a written copy of Spence's work, I would strongly recommend it. He works through Chinese history starting about 500 years back and moving forward with ever more detail right up to the consequences of Tiananmen Square in '89 with a hopeful look at what that might foretell for the future. I would really love a follow-up book covering the last 30 years, but for what it is, this book is excellent. At least, I am pretty sure it is. The narrator I was listening to botched and blundered his way through so many places and names that it distracted from the facts.

Where this book is the strongest is in the time period from the fall of the Qing Dynasty up to the early years of Communist China. Between the two world wars, the warlords, the KMT, and the rise and ultimate triumph of the CCP... there is a lot to cover, many times multiple seemingly contradicting things happening simultaneously. And yet Spence brings a clarity to it as well as anyone can in as short of a work as this is. If you are all interested in China or its impact on the world over this past century, this should be the first place you go.

Just make sure you read it and don't get Fredrick Davidson's horrible narration from Audible.

[Shane Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent read that is very dense and detailed that is a little dry at times but overall it gives a nice record of the last 350 years of Chinese history! From the collapse of the Ming Dynasty morphing into the Qing Dynasty...the major events are all included here....the Opium War with England...The Taiping Rebellion....The Boxer Rebellion....The Revolution of Sun Yet San....the era of War lordism....the War against Japan and ensuing Civil war between the Nationalists and Communists...the tragic triumph of Mao Zedong and the Communists in 1949.....the horror of the Great Leap Forward...the Madness of the Cultural Revolution....the ascendancy of Deng Xiepeng and the Economic Reforms....the tragedy and cruel repression of the Students protest at Tianenum Square....and to our present times.

An elucidating read overall!

[Wilson Tun · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of China is a story of rhythmic terror and peace. This book is an exhaustive collection of Chinese history seen throughout the perspectives of Kings, Generals, Foreigners, Warlords, Soldiers, Bureaucrats, Businessmen, Writers, Poets, Revolutionaries, and Peasants. A grand story of empire, reform, fragmentation, revolution, hope, destruction, and the cycle repeats.

From the fall of Ming to the China of Deng Xiaoping, the author eloquently wrote the history as neutral as possible without any prejudice.

This book should be a required reading for anyone who wants to understand the perspective of Chinese worldview genuinely without any prejudice whatsoever from the Western media. Amazing work of history combed together with the story of Chinese people.

[Garrett Mastella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the assigned textbook for my history of modern China class so I’ve been reading it slowly over the last few months. This is a well written, sweeping history of the last 300 or so years of Chinese history, and I really enjoyed reading it. It does a great job of combining thorough scholarly research with readability for a broad audience and covers an incredible amount of material in just 700 pages. Highly recommend it for a general overview of modern Chinese history as well as a highly specific story of what it means to be Chinese in a changing world.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting work and fairly unbiased bourgeois historiography on China from the Late Ming to the Hu Jintao government. Surprisingly charitable to Mao, as well as interesting points on Lin Biao and the "Petroleum Group" regarding the revisionist pushes in the late Mao-era. Very dry textbook, should have a companion book of primary sources.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent survey of Chinese history from the very late Ming all the way through the Ming and the Republican period, mostly ending at the end of the 20th century (my edition did have one chapter that skimmed over the 2000-12 period but very briefly).

Spence is an excellent, engaging writer that does not get too bogged down in listing events or facts, but rather constructs an excellent narrative that carries through the book, frequently drawing connections through time and identifying trends in China's history.

My experience in Chinese history mostly focussed on the more modern period, so I think I found the survey of the Qing period most interesting, with the late Qing especially being a period that still maintains a lot of relevance in modern China.

Overall, I have to imagine this is one of the best surveys of recent Chinese history. Despite it being something like 900 pages I almost wish it had started even earlier! But for the purposes of the book, probably not totally necessary.