What do you think?
Rate this book
Ancestors: 900 Years in the Life of a Chinese Family
A Chinese-American journalist traces his family roots back nine hundred years, from the twelfth century to the present, in a personal genealogical guest that parallels the political and social history of the Chinese civilization.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 24, 2013
It is a curious thing to me that I am non-curious about my ancestors. I read to discover literary ancestors--predecessors and mentors--who can give me help. I cannot imagine spending years of my life, as Frank Ching did, researching actual ancestors, as if they have anything to do with me but for the accident of blood. Would I feel different if I discover how illustrious my ancestors are, like Ching's list of top court officials, brilliant scholars, famous poets, noted failures, and even a notorious traitor?
Though illustrious, their lives in dynastic China followed the same basic pattern, which makes for dull reading. These men (for only scholar-class men had their lives recorded in government, city or clan histories) studied throughout their teens and twenties, and sometimes thirties and forties, for the civil-service examinations. When they passed them, they were posted to various government positions throughout the empire to carry out their various duties and effect their various reforms. The pattern was so unremittingly set that when one ancestor spurned the examinations in favor of a life of poetic solitude, he became a hero in this reader's eyes.
The founder of the clan was a poet. Qin Guan was one of the famous four disciples of the Sung Dynasty poet Su Dongbo. The story of how they met is charming. Hearing that the master poet was passing through Yangzhou, Qin Guan was sure that he would travel to Daming Monastery and visit Pingshan Hall, erected by Su's late mentor. To arouse Su's curiosity, Qin Guan wrote a poem in Su's style on a wall of Pingshan Hall. The famous poet recognized the homage and subsequently asked to meet the writer. The rest, as they say, is history. I wish there were more stories like this one in Ching's book, stories that reveal a cunning mind and a spirit of self-promotion. Instead, the ancestors are dug up from the graves of history and embalmed again in reverence.
Though illustrious, their lives in dynastic China followed the same basic pattern, which makes for dull reading. These men (for only scholar-class men had their lives recorded in government, city or clan histories) studied throughout their teens and twenties, and sometimes thirties and forties, for the civil-service examinations. When they passed them, they were posted to various government positions throughout the empire to carry out their various duties and effect their various reforms. The pattern was so unremittingly set that when one ancestor spurned the examinations in favor of a life of poetic solitude, he became a hero in this reader's eyes.
The founder of the clan was a poet. Qin Guan was one of the famous four disciples of the Sung Dynasty poet Su Dongbo. The story of how they met is charming. Hearing that the master poet was passing through Yangzhou, Qin Guan was sure that he would travel to Daming Monastery and visit Pingshan Hall, erected by Su's late mentor. To arouse Su's curiosity, Qin Guan wrote a poem in Su's style on a wall of Pingshan Hall. The famous poet recognized the homage and subsequently asked to meet the writer. The rest, as they say, is history. I wish there were more stories like this one in Ching's book, stories that reveal a cunning mind and a spirit of self-promotion. Instead, the ancestors are dug up from the graves of history and embalmed again in reverence.
August 14, 2020
This book specifies past of a single family, though influential and learned. Most of the members of the family were quite educated and were betowed with high rank Govt responsibilities. This book is a good summary of ancient civil service structure of China, how the officials were selected, how they were promoted and sometime demoted. It shows how people struggled to get important posts.
However I didn't like this book much. I was expecting to read and learn about culture, social life and norms of common chink, about their daily issues and overall history of the commoners, which this book failed to accomplish.
However I didn't like this book much. I was expecting to read and learn about culture, social life and norms of common chink, about their daily issues and overall history of the commoners, which this book failed to accomplish.
October 22, 2017
Frank Ching has done a remarkable job of tracing his family tree back over 900 years of Chinese history and uncovering the stories of the many notable figures that he found there. I was struck by the continuity of Chinese life over the years and the value placed on remembering and honoring those who have gone before. The individual biographies and the overall picture of Chinese history that emerges are very interesting.
July 31, 2024
An impressive and well-researched history of his family going back 900 years. WOW! Particularly impressive considering the destruction that occurred during the Cultural Revolution in China. 900 years is a lot, and it did indeed get repetitive. I was bored by around 150 pages, but keep going because there were bits and pieces that sparked my interest. Rating up because it's such a badass thing he did, putting this together.
March 4, 2013
If you've never read Chinese literature, Ancestors is a very good place to start. This is genealogy brought to life by a very dedicated, expert researcher. Frank Ching is a journalist, and he brings together a combination of modern research and the fantastic range of Chinese historical documents, family stories and historical contexts which makes this book exceptional in so many ways.
900 years is a very tall order even for professional genealogists. The basic rule is that the older the genealogy and the more people involved, the tougher it is to write a history. To get the degree of depth and context Ching has put together here is a literary and genealogical achievement in itself.
The quality of material is by far the bigger achievement. Ching manages to get the authentic Chinese literary standard into his descriptions of successive generations of his ancestors. That's extremely difficult. Chinese stories can make Russian tragedies look like soap operas.
The history of China is a brutal experience in so many ways, and expressing the experiences of people, if done properly, evokes an incredible degree of poignancy. Ching charts the successes and disasters of his family with an objective but sensitive eye to truth, however tough that truth may be.
To his eternal credit, Ching also manages to get the extremely complex Chinese culture into a working perspective for non-Chinese readers. This history must be understood clearly. Ching's ancestors played a big part in official imperial life, and the various roles of his ancestors in China's own history were even acknowledged by Chinese emperors. The tricky and deadly world of Chinese politics is shown clearly, illustrating the hideous facts and sometimes bizarre circumstances of life at the top and the bottom.
In historical terms, there's another point to be made- This is very good history, the sort almost never seen outside China. His ancestors made history, and he's done a good job of writing it as history, beyond the purely biographical elements. This is the real ancient China- China the Dangerous, with his ancestors coping with the problems, bandits and wars. The stories range from heroic events to bitchy politics, nasty officials and factional fractures in the imperial court with the personal events woven carefully in.
(Forget Machiavelli. Chinese imperial politics were so dangerous that Machiavelli wouldn't have got a job as a street sweeper in China. He'd have been too predictable.)
Ching's abilities as a journalist and a writer come out more plainly after his epic historical work. His sympathetic, honest portrayal of his father is not to be missed, particularly by writers. This is a lesson in writing for those who write biographies. I can't help feeling that a lot of modern Chinese readers would be very appreciative of the honesty and portrayal of Chinese realities.
Just read it. I've scratched the surface here, and tried to give qualitative references, but there's so much in it, it's like trying to describe War and Peace on a post-it note.
900 years is a very tall order even for professional genealogists. The basic rule is that the older the genealogy and the more people involved, the tougher it is to write a history. To get the degree of depth and context Ching has put together here is a literary and genealogical achievement in itself.
The quality of material is by far the bigger achievement. Ching manages to get the authentic Chinese literary standard into his descriptions of successive generations of his ancestors. That's extremely difficult. Chinese stories can make Russian tragedies look like soap operas.
The history of China is a brutal experience in so many ways, and expressing the experiences of people, if done properly, evokes an incredible degree of poignancy. Ching charts the successes and disasters of his family with an objective but sensitive eye to truth, however tough that truth may be.
To his eternal credit, Ching also manages to get the extremely complex Chinese culture into a working perspective for non-Chinese readers. This history must be understood clearly. Ching's ancestors played a big part in official imperial life, and the various roles of his ancestors in China's own history were even acknowledged by Chinese emperors. The tricky and deadly world of Chinese politics is shown clearly, illustrating the hideous facts and sometimes bizarre circumstances of life at the top and the bottom.
In historical terms, there's another point to be made- This is very good history, the sort almost never seen outside China. His ancestors made history, and he's done a good job of writing it as history, beyond the purely biographical elements. This is the real ancient China- China the Dangerous, with his ancestors coping with the problems, bandits and wars. The stories range from heroic events to bitchy politics, nasty officials and factional fractures in the imperial court with the personal events woven carefully in.
(Forget Machiavelli. Chinese imperial politics were so dangerous that Machiavelli wouldn't have got a job as a street sweeper in China. He'd have been too predictable.)
Ching's abilities as a journalist and a writer come out more plainly after his epic historical work. His sympathetic, honest portrayal of his father is not to be missed, particularly by writers. This is a lesson in writing for those who write biographies. I can't help feeling that a lot of modern Chinese readers would be very appreciative of the honesty and portrayal of Chinese realities.
Just read it. I've scratched the surface here, and tried to give qualitative references, but there's so much in it, it's like trying to describe War and Peace on a post-it note.
February 20, 2014
Ching traces his family history from 1049. The Ch'in (Qin) name is the origin of the word China. The Chinese have amazingly detailed records preserved from ancient times. Thus the book gives excellent historical context, and with all the personal details, it provides a fascinating portrait of the lives of scholars in ancient China. We learn about the importance of poetry and the extensive use of examinations for civil service. I only read as far as 1600 (page 177); I'm sure the communist era would be interesting reading, too.
The detail and the lack of a plot made me decide I'd read far enough.
The detail and the lack of a plot made me decide I'd read far enough.
June 14, 2013
Frank Ching has done a remarkable job of tracing his family tree back over 900 years of Chinese history and uncovering the stories of the many notable figures that he found there. I was struck by the continuity of Chinese life over the years and the value placed on remembering and honoring those who have gone before. The individual biographies and the overall picture of Chinese history that emerges are very interesting.
March 10, 2012
American public schools typically focus mostly on American history with a slight dose of why people wanted to leave Europe. If you've ever felt like you've missed out on the rich history of the rest of the world, but like a book that focuses on individuals instead of masses, then this book is a good starting point for China, one of the most important players throughout history in Asia.
March 30, 2026
Was so looking forward to reading this book and learning loads. It had some very interesting facts but unfortunately I found it a bit dry and hard to read. I found that I could only read about ten pages in one sitting. Regrettably not for me.
January 25, 2016
My only regret while reading this thoroughly engrossing work: the font is far too small for my semi-ancient, failing eyes! This is a real good 'page turner'!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews