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A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century
Charles Holcombe begins this extraordinarily ambitious book by asking the question 'What is East Asia?' In the modern age, many of the features that made the region - now defined as including China, Japan, and Korea - distinct have been submerged by the effects of revolution, politics or globalization. Yet, as an ancient civilization, the region had both an historical and cultural coherence. It shared a Confucian heritage, some common approaches to Buddhism, a writing system that is deeply imbued with ideas and meaning, and many political and institutional traditions. This shared past and the interconnections among three distinct, yet related societies are at the heart of this book, which traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century. Charles Holcombe is an experienced guide who encapsulates, in a fast-moving and colorful narrative, the vicissitudes and glories of one of the greatest civilizations on earth.
456 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 8, 2010
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949 people want to read
About the author
Charles Holcombe
4 books2 followersThere is more than one Charles Holcombe in the Goodreads catalog. This entry is for Charles [2^] Holcombe, East Asia author.
University of Southern Iowa's Professor Holcombe’s research interests focus especially around China’s age of division between the Han and Tang dynasties, and the formation of an East Asian cultural community. He is the author of three books, including A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century, which is now in a second edition, and has been translated into both Spanish and Turkish. He is a recipient of the Iowa Regent’s Award for Faculty Excellence.
University of Southern Iowa's Professor Holcombe’s research interests focus especially around China’s age of division between the Han and Tang dynasties, and the formation of an East Asian cultural community. He is the author of three books, including A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century, which is now in a second edition, and has been translated into both Spanish and Turkish. He is a recipient of the Iowa Regent’s Award for Faculty Excellence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 17, 2021
Un libro es muy bueno, entra en los mejores que leí este año, esta muy bien redactado, es sintético y lograr hacer una descripción sobre lo que es asia oriental (China, Japón, Corea y Taiwan).
La introducción es buena, mostrar como hoy en día es muy importante asia en el mundo entero, además que pone a debatir sobre el concepto mismo de Asia oriental, y como desde occidente hemos formado este imaginario. El primer capítulo, se centra en los orígenes de la primeros asentamientos asiáticos, así también, como el orígen lingüístico de los idiomas asiáticos, también mostrando las primeras dinastías chinas que lograron unificar en cierta medida estos pueblos heterogéneos.
En el segundo capítulo, nos muestran una china dividida en varios reinos, mostrando como el budismo llega a china, mismo que sufrió una serie de cambios debido al pasado de china y lo complicado de las traducciones del indio al Chino, en el cuarto capítulo, se exponen dinastías que llevaron a un gran desarrollo comercial de China. Así también Japón y Corea, por medio de distintos reinos, son unificados.
La tempestad mongola, cambio para siempre china, pese al embate de la peste negra, fue en este periodo donde más conexiones globales hizo china con oriente próximo y Europa. En Japón por su parte daría nacimiento a los samuráis frente a la incompetencia del estado para proteger a los campesinos nipones. Con la llegadas de los ibéricos a las costas asiáticas cambiarán el panorama de este lugar, aunque, en esa época china ya tenía un control comercial, pese a todo este país empezó a encerrarse, y Japón haría lo mismo.
Con el siglo XIX, y la industrialización, era imperante la idea de abrir nuevos mercados, además de conseguir colonias para extraer materias primas, China, sería penetrada cada vez más por los europeos los cuales comerciaban solo en Cantón pero estos querían más, además que eres necesario un producto que quisieran los chinos para así no gastar tanta plata, ese fue el caso del opio, el cual generó dos guerras en las que china cedió ante los intereses imperialistas; Japón con llegada de los estadounidenses, abriría sus puertas al mundo exterior y empezaría lentamente a occidnetalizarse por medio de la restauración Meiji.
A principios del siglo XX, los países asiáticos empezarían a occidnetalizarse muy rápidamente, siendo Japón el que lideraria la industrialización en ese lugar, su poder llegó al punto de controlar Corea, los chinos por su parte quedarían muy resagados, aunque crearían una nueva república alejada de su pasado imperial.
La segunda guerra mundial afecto a los tres países, y sus secuelas se harían sentir: Corea se dividió en dos, siendo la del sur una que se desarrollo muy rápidamente pero bajo gobiernos autoritarios; en Japón, la ocupación y ayuda estadounidense contribuiría a que Japón consiga un milagro económico que tendría su fin en los 90; china también se dividio en dos, en la parte continental hay una china comunista, con una economía muy capitalista, y por otro lado una china insular tradicional, que también se desarrollo rápidamente, un aspecto a destacar del libro es que aborda la masacre de Tiananamen de 1989.
En conclusión el libro es muy bueno, logra mostrar la historia de estos países, así como sus relaciones con occidente.
La introducción es buena, mostrar como hoy en día es muy importante asia en el mundo entero, además que pone a debatir sobre el concepto mismo de Asia oriental, y como desde occidente hemos formado este imaginario. El primer capítulo, se centra en los orígenes de la primeros asentamientos asiáticos, así también, como el orígen lingüístico de los idiomas asiáticos, también mostrando las primeras dinastías chinas que lograron unificar en cierta medida estos pueblos heterogéneos.
En el segundo capítulo, nos muestran una china dividida en varios reinos, mostrando como el budismo llega a china, mismo que sufrió una serie de cambios debido al pasado de china y lo complicado de las traducciones del indio al Chino, en el cuarto capítulo, se exponen dinastías que llevaron a un gran desarrollo comercial de China. Así también Japón y Corea, por medio de distintos reinos, son unificados.
La tempestad mongola, cambio para siempre china, pese al embate de la peste negra, fue en este periodo donde más conexiones globales hizo china con oriente próximo y Europa. En Japón por su parte daría nacimiento a los samuráis frente a la incompetencia del estado para proteger a los campesinos nipones. Con la llegadas de los ibéricos a las costas asiáticas cambiarán el panorama de este lugar, aunque, en esa época china ya tenía un control comercial, pese a todo este país empezó a encerrarse, y Japón haría lo mismo.
Con el siglo XIX, y la industrialización, era imperante la idea de abrir nuevos mercados, además de conseguir colonias para extraer materias primas, China, sería penetrada cada vez más por los europeos los cuales comerciaban solo en Cantón pero estos querían más, además que eres necesario un producto que quisieran los chinos para así no gastar tanta plata, ese fue el caso del opio, el cual generó dos guerras en las que china cedió ante los intereses imperialistas; Japón con llegada de los estadounidenses, abriría sus puertas al mundo exterior y empezaría lentamente a occidnetalizarse por medio de la restauración Meiji.
A principios del siglo XX, los países asiáticos empezarían a occidnetalizarse muy rápidamente, siendo Japón el que lideraria la industrialización en ese lugar, su poder llegó al punto de controlar Corea, los chinos por su parte quedarían muy resagados, aunque crearían una nueva república alejada de su pasado imperial.
La segunda guerra mundial afecto a los tres países, y sus secuelas se harían sentir: Corea se dividió en dos, siendo la del sur una que se desarrollo muy rápidamente pero bajo gobiernos autoritarios; en Japón, la ocupación y ayuda estadounidense contribuiría a que Japón consiga un milagro económico que tendría su fin en los 90; china también se dividio en dos, en la parte continental hay una china comunista, con una economía muy capitalista, y por otro lado una china insular tradicional, que también se desarrollo rápidamente, un aspecto a destacar del libro es que aborda la masacre de Tiananamen de 1989.
En conclusión el libro es muy bueno, logra mostrar la historia de estos países, así como sus relaciones con occidente.
May 1, 2017
A slim (380 pages) history of all of East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan), from its prehistory up until approx. 2010 -- that doesn't fall flat on its face -- is quite an accomplishment. Holcombe manages to pull it off.
I don't know enough about the region/period to complain about inaccuracies and/or over-condensation -- but the condensation was perfectly readable for the ignorant layman (lout) I am: never too much, never quite too little.
A bit dry in parts, but otherwise highly recommended.
I don't know enough about the region/period to complain about inaccuracies and/or over-condensation -- but the condensation was perfectly readable for the ignorant layman (lout) I am: never too much, never quite too little.
A bit dry in parts, but otherwise highly recommended.
July 12, 2021
I was able to learn a lot. I now have a more vast knowledge of the Eastern Asian countries.
June 20, 2024
Serviceable textbook with some minor problems. These include an over-focus on China, lack of integrating the Vietnam material (it feels very much bolted on), and a few of the inevitable quibbles of an ambitious project like this.
May 14, 2019
A decent introduction to a regional history, however, this is another testament to how difficult it is to write a comprehensive history for an entire region over a time span. It very quickly becomes clear what Holcombe's background is (medieval China), as particular periods and particular areas receive a lot more attention. With the steady increase of region focused programmes instead of country specific ones, I would argue that collaborative works would still be preferable. Holcombe provides a clear narrative with many of the major events present in this book but his chapters on the Korean peninsula, Japan, and Vietnam are significantly less detailed and generally weaker (in respective order) than his chapters on China (and Taiwan). I would recommend this as your first book into the region and suggest that you look at his recommended readings lists for more in-depth works on specific periods and/or areas.
December 4, 2016
This is an extremely detailed book about the history of east asia. It covers all emperors, kings, queens and relevant concubines. It spans over such a large period of time, that I am unsure if I remember much if what I read but it certainly does cover enough to give you a general idea of the rise of East Asian countries. I was most interested over the recent communist-capitalist feud in East Asia, which Is why I picked up the book. Looking back now, maybe a political book would have addressed my questions better than a historical book - but this book definitely does what it is meant to : it gives you the highlight of what happened in that part of the continent.
May 26, 2021
One thing to keep in mind is that this is a textbook. It has a corresponding detached and dry tone. It covers an enormous amount of ground, so there is no time and space for detail. With that caveat, it is a great introduction to the civilizations of East Asia. What I particularly appreciate, each chapter ends with a section listing a good number of books for further reading, and as far as I can see, the recommended books are an eclectic choice and provide exactly what a textbook of this type is necessarily missing--color and detailed narrative for specific issues of scholarly historical interest.
April 16, 2018
The second edition of Charles Holcombe's A History of East Asia for Cambridge University Press is printed in a textbook format rather than one for general readers. Hence it has tall, wide pages densely packed with text and is not at all convenient for reading on the go in the way of more mass-market paperback histories such as The Penguin History of Latin America or The Fortunes of Africa, which I also read recently.
Nonetheless, also lashing out on the expensive ebook circumvented that problem and it is definitely comparable to those two works as large scale, broad scope histories go. The working definition of 'East Asia' for this book is a primarily cultural one which includes China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. This does of course entail a huge variety of political entities historically, and today there are still such complexities as Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong and the two Koreas to consider. Even Singapore rates a brief sub-chapter near the end.
Vietnam is often excluded from such definitions, and although Holcombe argues persuasively for its inclusion, he also devotes by far the least word count to it and at times it feels like an afterthought. Conversely, Mongolia often does appear in such definitions but here Holcombe has elected not to write its history per se, although inevitably it frequently arises in light of the Mongol impact on much of the world. Tibet, similarly, is scarcely mentioned save for its relations with China.
As such broad-brush-stroke histories go, this book makes a decent fist of balancing all the possible focus areas and of illustrating trends, commonalities and differences. This includes discussion of major intellectual, cultural and theological ideas such as Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and later Marxism, which spread and changed through the lens of different languages, then in turn reflected back on and influenced the cultures and languages from which they had come. This discussion extends to specific individuals, movements and artworks and especially to literature.
Arguably the most prominent emphasis, and the one that ties the above together, is on the complex nature of group identity. It is easy - especially for Westerners - to adopt a view of relatively homogenous people in any of these countries. In all of them to some extent but particularly in China, this book demonstrates how misguided such views are.
China has numerous indigenous peoples who were in important respects different from 'Han' Chinese, for example. More than that, the empire has been subject to rule by dynasties of Mongols and Manchus. Where it gets particularly complex is that the subjects adopted customs of these rulers, and those rulers of their subjects, until in some cases they came to be regarded as representing legitimately 'Chinese' culture in contrast to foreign adversaries!
There is also plenty of emphasis on economics, with some effort made to give a sense of its impact upon and contribution from all levels of society. Military matters are dealt with cursorily, as the details are unimportant on this scale as compared to the outcomes. Political history is frequently addressed and shown to be intimately tied to all these other aspects.
One aspect which may surprise is how cities we now take for granted as among the largest and most important in the world, such as Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai, were unimportant or even non-existent for large parts of history. A book with such a high-level perspective has the ability to illustrate the impermanence and fluidity of human institutions which may otherwise appear to us as bastions of stability since time immemorial. Certainly it gives the lie to propagandist appeals to alleged traditions spanning milllenia.
Holcombe subscribes to the view of World War II as having commenced in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China proper. Whilst I can see an argument for that, I am accustomed to thinking of it as a regional war which happened to be subsumed into the global conflict. The reason for calling it a 'World War' is, after all, due to the involvement of a substantial part of the world as a function of Europe's colonial empires and alliances. Holcombe doesn't mention any scholarly disagreement over the date and learning more about that debate could, in itself, be constructive.
Matters take an amusing turn when he tries to talk seriously about globalisation and cross-pollination of pop culture. He manages to call Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers a Japanese show, which is not quite the whole story. And seeing Hello Kitty and 'Gangnam Style' mentioned in an academic history book is good for a giggle.
Helpful supplementary materials are provided, including a particularly useful pronunciation guide which I have as yet gone nowhere near to memorising, much less mastering.
One could always raise quibbles, but in its totality this book is fit for its purpose as an introductory overview to a region of the world that at times has had a third of the world's population and to which the locus of global power is increasingly shifting thus far in the 21st century.
Nonetheless, also lashing out on the expensive ebook circumvented that problem and it is definitely comparable to those two works as large scale, broad scope histories go. The working definition of 'East Asia' for this book is a primarily cultural one which includes China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. This does of course entail a huge variety of political entities historically, and today there are still such complexities as Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong and the two Koreas to consider. Even Singapore rates a brief sub-chapter near the end.
Vietnam is often excluded from such definitions, and although Holcombe argues persuasively for its inclusion, he also devotes by far the least word count to it and at times it feels like an afterthought. Conversely, Mongolia often does appear in such definitions but here Holcombe has elected not to write its history per se, although inevitably it frequently arises in light of the Mongol impact on much of the world. Tibet, similarly, is scarcely mentioned save for its relations with China.
As such broad-brush-stroke histories go, this book makes a decent fist of balancing all the possible focus areas and of illustrating trends, commonalities and differences. This includes discussion of major intellectual, cultural and theological ideas such as Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and later Marxism, which spread and changed through the lens of different languages, then in turn reflected back on and influenced the cultures and languages from which they had come. This discussion extends to specific individuals, movements and artworks and especially to literature.
Arguably the most prominent emphasis, and the one that ties the above together, is on the complex nature of group identity. It is easy - especially for Westerners - to adopt a view of relatively homogenous people in any of these countries. In all of them to some extent but particularly in China, this book demonstrates how misguided such views are.
China has numerous indigenous peoples who were in important respects different from 'Han' Chinese, for example. More than that, the empire has been subject to rule by dynasties of Mongols and Manchus. Where it gets particularly complex is that the subjects adopted customs of these rulers, and those rulers of their subjects, until in some cases they came to be regarded as representing legitimately 'Chinese' culture in contrast to foreign adversaries!
There is also plenty of emphasis on economics, with some effort made to give a sense of its impact upon and contribution from all levels of society. Military matters are dealt with cursorily, as the details are unimportant on this scale as compared to the outcomes. Political history is frequently addressed and shown to be intimately tied to all these other aspects.
One aspect which may surprise is how cities we now take for granted as among the largest and most important in the world, such as Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai, were unimportant or even non-existent for large parts of history. A book with such a high-level perspective has the ability to illustrate the impermanence and fluidity of human institutions which may otherwise appear to us as bastions of stability since time immemorial. Certainly it gives the lie to propagandist appeals to alleged traditions spanning milllenia.
Holcombe subscribes to the view of World War II as having commenced in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China proper. Whilst I can see an argument for that, I am accustomed to thinking of it as a regional war which happened to be subsumed into the global conflict. The reason for calling it a 'World War' is, after all, due to the involvement of a substantial part of the world as a function of Europe's colonial empires and alliances. Holcombe doesn't mention any scholarly disagreement over the date and learning more about that debate could, in itself, be constructive.
Matters take an amusing turn when he tries to talk seriously about globalisation and cross-pollination of pop culture. He manages to call Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers a Japanese show, which is not quite the whole story. And seeing Hello Kitty and 'Gangnam Style' mentioned in an academic history book is good for a giggle.
Helpful supplementary materials are provided, including a particularly useful pronunciation guide which I have as yet gone nowhere near to memorising, much less mastering.
One could always raise quibbles, but in its totality this book is fit for its purpose as an introductory overview to a region of the world that at times has had a third of the world's population and to which the locus of global power is increasingly shifting thus far in the 21st century.
August 5, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It was very long, I read about 15-20 pages every day, which usually was around half a chapter and finished it in about a month. I read this book cover to cover, which I know most people won't do, but I can say that the history told is concise but varied and covers pretty much every major event in East Asia that you will come across on tests or essay prompts. The writing was also quite fun, their were occasional jokes with a dry sense of humor that I found charming, and despite reading 30+ page chapters on 16th century China, I felt engaged because of the whip fast writing pace.
The table of context can lead you in the direction of pretty much any period in East Asian history that you'll need to read up on, and while the post 20th century bits were a bit lack luster (since the book necessarily has such sparse writing, they couldn't go as in depth as one would've liked into the more recent years of East Asia) they're still easy to find.
If you want an extra textbook on East Asia for school, want to do some preemptive reading on East Asia as a sub continent, or just want a long and engaging read, I'd recommend this book.
The table of context can lead you in the direction of pretty much any period in East Asian history that you'll need to read up on, and while the post 20th century bits were a bit lack luster (since the book necessarily has such sparse writing, they couldn't go as in depth as one would've liked into the more recent years of East Asia) they're still easy to find.
If you want an extra textbook on East Asia for school, want to do some preemptive reading on East Asia as a sub continent, or just want a long and engaging read, I'd recommend this book.
May 8, 2020
This textbook goes to the very beginnings of civilization in China and then branches through East Asia, defined culturally as those countries with civilizations who were China-centric, used the Chinese writing system, had Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism. The countries defined as such are Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and China, with obvious branches in Singapore and Taiwan.
I learned more about China and East Asia than I thought possible from this textbook! It was dry, boring at times, and educational as a mandatory read.
I learned more about China and East Asia than I thought possible from this textbook! It was dry, boring at times, and educational as a mandatory read.
February 11, 2025
This took me way too long to read, but I'm glad I did. You would be hard-pressed to find a better general introduction to East Asian history than this. Holcombe's addition of Vietnamese history in this edition is also much appreciated; there is a strong argument to be made that Vietnam is culturally more East Asian than SE Asian (but that's a debate for another time).
While I was familiar with many of the general historical themes in this book there were many fun facts I learned along the way. Recommended.
While I was familiar with many of the general historical themes in this book there were many fun facts I learned along the way. Recommended.
September 15, 2020
An engaging, synoptic history of East Asia as a region. Does a good job at outlining the unique histories of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam while highlighting their interconnectedness to each other and to the wider world.
February 2, 2021
Ideal para hacerse una idea general sobre el proceso histórico de estos tigres económicos. Pero no solo eso, sino disfrutar de unas culturas aparentemente disimiles, pero que han marcado gran parte de Asia Oriental.
January 20, 2020
Lackluster writing IMHO, but overall good content and starting point for further reading. Full review on my YouTube vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfJm...
May 8, 2020
A good overview, but as with all surveys, it ends up being a bit quick and slightly shallow. Holcombe gets the basics down though, which isn't easy with four countries and ~3500 years of history.
June 9, 2020
Ngắn gọn, súc tích, dễ hiểu và khá khách quan.
October 9, 2021
Obviously extremely broad, and quite dry, but offered the kind of overview I was looking for.
November 28, 2021
Concise and interesting as everything should be.
December 14, 2022
Good for a textbook, I guess
December 21, 2022
A bit dry, but it covers a ton so I'll round up.
Read
February 28, 2023Read for class
June 16, 2023
Learned a lot from this. Had to read part of this for uni, but I enjoyed the clear and informative writing style so much that I read the whole book 😅
August 28, 2023
The cool thing about going to school is that my textbooks count towards my reading goal 😂
It’s a textbook. 🤷♀️
It’s a textbook. 🤷♀️
December 2, 2023
3.00.
Read for HIST 317.
Read for HIST 317.
March 17, 2024
Read for school, but important information that can get overlooked in Western countries, especially the US.
May 16, 2024
A good foundational history for my travels.
Read
April 10, 2025bro forgot about the existence of africa in the introduction
otherwise okay overview of east asia. it was interesting sometimes 😀
otherwise okay overview of east asia. it was interesting sometimes 😀
May 22, 2025
Charles Holcombe I’m sure you are lovely. I hope I never open this book again
August 26, 2025
I thought this book did what it needed to do, which is sort of all you want from a non-fiction history book.
October 16, 2018
I endorse other reviews that it is a pretty "decent introduction East Asian History".
I picked up this book as someone without any understanding of any Asian culture with an intention to get a light grasp about the beginnings of East Asia and how the different culture have evolved to become what they are now. This book fulfilled its promise...
I was quite ignorant to the fact how big of an influence China has played in the entire region, I knew a bit about the Chinese civilization but could have never grasped the entire entanglements and influence of China on each country and its faint remains within each culture and even language to this day.
Due to the mightiness and especially long history China takes up a large part of the book which is not surprising since it has shaped the entire region. But also China itself was in a constant flow and changed with each dynasty or e.g. "occupation" through the Mongols. What is interesting is that Chinese despite such inner diversity (different ethnic groups) formed such an empire and always adopted to the current circumstances. Rather than fighting to the last drop of blood, some regions for instance, adopted and the Mongolian influences, wore their dresses etc.
China, remained open minded to different cultural influences and religions more or less consistently until Mao. Whereas, other nations did differ substantially…which can be seen to this day.
The book goes through all development sections until now, so it can be quite interesting to see the rise and fall of certain nations and the probable cause of such ingrained within the capacity of certain region but also determined by the culture.
The book doesn’t bear any strong political character but it’s quite helpful to the understanding of the political development since culture forestalls the politics and both influence each other.
I picked up this book as someone without any understanding of any Asian culture with an intention to get a light grasp about the beginnings of East Asia and how the different culture have evolved to become what they are now. This book fulfilled its promise...
I was quite ignorant to the fact how big of an influence China has played in the entire region, I knew a bit about the Chinese civilization but could have never grasped the entire entanglements and influence of China on each country and its faint remains within each culture and even language to this day.
Due to the mightiness and especially long history China takes up a large part of the book which is not surprising since it has shaped the entire region. But also China itself was in a constant flow and changed with each dynasty or e.g. "occupation" through the Mongols. What is interesting is that Chinese despite such inner diversity (different ethnic groups) formed such an empire and always adopted to the current circumstances. Rather than fighting to the last drop of blood, some regions for instance, adopted and the Mongolian influences, wore their dresses etc.
China, remained open minded to different cultural influences and religions more or less consistently until Mao. Whereas, other nations did differ substantially…which can be seen to this day.
The book goes through all development sections until now, so it can be quite interesting to see the rise and fall of certain nations and the probable cause of such ingrained within the capacity of certain region but also determined by the culture.
The book doesn’t bear any strong political character but it’s quite helpful to the understanding of the political development since culture forestalls the politics and both influence each other.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews