The Open Empire: A History of China to 1800

by Valerie Hansen

The Open Empire takes an integrative, thematic approach to early Chinese history, using the concept of the open empire to highlight the dynamic, porous nature of China s past. Hansen builds her chronological narrative on a rich variety of archeological and literary sources to flesh out the details of daily life, family relations, and social hierarchies. In the Second Edition, the narrative has been updated with findings from recent scholarship and streamlined throughout to highlight the main themes. A new chapter on the Qing Empire, 1600 1800, carries the story of the open empire up to the birth of modern China."

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Medieval, Asia, World History, School

478 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Valerie Hansen is a professor of History at Yale University.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Anh Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book approached Chinese dynastic history in its own peculiar if not innovative way. The majority of primary sources used in this book came from fresh-out-of-the-ground archeological discoveries and most-up-to-date visual or material resources. With these powerful tools in hand, Valerie Hansen painted a vivid picture of the Chinese society, lives of the commoners and the elites, and many historical events that stretched from the Xia to Late Ming period. However, in so doing, the books ran several risks in presenting history. Hansen at times focused so much on the innovativeness of her own approach that she undermined her own historical analyses, at points making general, unwarranted comments that need further evidences to back up. The organization of arguments was uneven and occasionally relied on intensive presentation of visual resources. Certain chapters lack discussions of alternative arguments, insisting on a general point of view or ideas. For example, her discussion of the Ming dynasty (notoriously known by many readers of Chinese history as being the most politically unstable and economically declined dynasty in the history of China) shed a radically negative light on the Ming's history without further addressing any major outcomes achieved during the Ming's reign (architecture, military, etc).

In general, this book is a helpful read for beginners of Chinese ancient history thanks to straightforward analyses and visually intensive presentations. The readers, however, should be well aware of its shortcomings and possible impacts on their interpretations of Chinese history.

[Viktor Nilsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have an interest in both history and China, and this books is part of a course I'm taking.

The author has done a painstaking job of collecting material for this book, and does a good job in analyzing and criticizing various sources. However, the focus is very awkward:
-A lot of attention is paid to old novels. Not just commenting on them, but spending many pages retelling the whole story, which eventually yields some minuscule conclusion of little historical relevance. A typical example: "...The story is not necessarily true; the official who wrote the book delighted in collecting strange tales. But the tale certainly circulated in the decades after the southward shift of the capital, and it captured the mood of the time." (p. 257) How could a fictitious story "capture the mood of the time" and how relevant is that?
-Overly focusing on some categories of people makes it seems like China was built by poets and concubines.
-Lots of meta-history: the history of earlier historians and excavations etc.
-Very little room is left for telling actual history.

Another problem is that this book lacks pedagogy. Browsing through the book index I found that the book introduces 237(!) names in total, still you will never get any reminder of who that person introduced 100 pages ago, and now suddenly reappearing, is. This makes the reading feel very heavy & confusing. Words such as fructiferous, laicization, tanistry, prolix, zither, chiaroscuro, clepsydra and hagiography doesn't help either.

Having read this book I've learned a lot about Chinese poetry, clothes, classical novels, buildings, pottery design, etc., but very little about history.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that incorporates the latest archaeological finds, changing trends in literature and art etc. to tell a history of China until 1600 that does not ignore women, commoners, outsiders, intellectuals etc. Two arguments seem to be central in this work (and both are argued convincingly I might add): that China was not a closed state and that it was open to ideas from the outside (the most glaring example being the stunning success of Buddhism--a religion founded in India-- in China) and that the years of tumult and conflict between dynasties provided some of the stimulus for some of the greatest explosions of thought in Chinese, if not world, history (one has to only consider here the distinguished list of thinkers who preceded the establishment of the Qin dynasty: Confucius, Mohzi, Laozi, and Zhuangzi among others.)

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came to this book expecting something like Spence's The Search for Modern China, except covering the pre-1600 era. The book was pretty good in many respects, and accomplished the goal it set out to (i.e. to demonstrate that China was, prior to the 1600s, not a closed empire, but an open one). That said, I did not like it as much as I remember liking Spence or as much as I liked Keay's India: A History, which I read immediately beforehand. Still, a valuable history book all the same.

[Theeng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given such a large subject, the relatively short length of this book is surprising. Yet I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about the history of China. Not only is Hansen's style readable and accessible, she does a great job discussing and critiquing her sources and highlighting significant cultural, historical, and political themes.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book I have is A History of China to 1800.

I had to read this entire book as part of my World Civilizations class. I can't say I was extremely interested in this subject although I found some of the historical events to be interesting. I think the authors style was pretty good at avoiding too many boring facts considering how many things were constantly changing in China.
Overall, I'm glad to be done. 🤪

[Matt Blanchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good introductory text to Chinese history. It covers an immense amount of history. I wish it continued through the Qing Dynasty, and that it had discussed a bit more of the military history of China. As a textbook, it goes into a good amount of social history, which is good - just not usually my cup of tea.

[Annie Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

S/o Xin Wen

[Michael Herrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend for anyone like me who doesn't have much knowledge about Chinese history and wants an approachable introduction.

[Lauren Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent telling of China's dynastic history through the Ming Empire with not only detailed histories of each dynasty, but also experiences of daily life of the ruling classes and elites down to the agricultural workers and craftsmen. Religious and cultural experiences are Hansen's speciality, though as a whole this is a strongly-written history that doesn't leave any major themes out despite covering several thousand years.

[Vincent Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely teaches the controversy. A good premier into some of the new scholarship and revisionist school of thought. A good read for anyone well versed with traditional schools of Chinese history. Definitely not complete, and at points does not explain convincingly why it rejects one theory (usually the traditional schools of thought) in favor of another. Maybe too reliant on a few non-traditional sources (archeology, literature, visual arts).

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice history of early China that draws from recent archeological finds and a host of other sources. Hansen goes out of her way to include information about regular folks, not just military leaders. The author teaches history at Yale. Despite her academic background, the book is highly readable.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very readable and interesting social history of China that pulls in many wonderful sources, including a lot of archaeological evidence that is fascinating.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as such but too brief to be much use

[Colin]

Very dense read, but one of the best on this period of China's history.

[Ricardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written intro to Chinese history through 1600 that does not condescend. The use of literary and archeological material adds depth and color to the broad survey

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good, clear introduction to Chinese history. So shameful how little we know in the US about the long and full history of China and how little we're taught in Western education overall.

[Basai Dong · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice book

[Teddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for my Chinese History class. A very approachable text, would strongly recommend for those who want to learn about Chinese history before 1800, especially drawing from new found sources.