更新中國：國家與新全球史

by Wang Gungwu, 王賡武, 黃濤 (Translator)

　　Will the rise of China change the international system built by the industrial and constitutional democracies of the West of the past centuries? Should China be content with the maintenance of that system: one of competing nation-states of absolute sovereignty and relative power? Does the Confucian past contain a moral vision that may connect with universal human values of the modern world? And will the rising China become an engine for a renewed Chinese civilization that contributes to the equity in the international system?
　　Pondering these fundamental questions, historian Prof. Wang Gungwu probes into the Chinese perception of its place in world history, and traces the unique features that propel China onto its modern global transformation. He depicts the travails of renewal that China has to face and betters our understanding of China’s position in today’s interconnected world. This collection of Prof. Wang Gungwu’s thoughts is a must-read for us to contemplate China’s root and routes along its modernization trajectory.

Genres: China, History

170 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2012

About the author

Wang Gungwu is an academic who has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, although he has objected to the use of the word diaspora to describe the migration of Chinese from China, because it is inaccurate and has been used to perpetuate fears of a "Chinese threat". He was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and grew up in Ipoh, Malaysia. He completed his secondary education in Anderson School, Ipoh before going to the university.

He studied history in the University of Malaya, Singapore, where he received both his Bachelor and Masters degrees. He holds a Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1957) for his thesis on The structure of power in North China during the Five Dynasties. He taught at the University of Malaya (in both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur) before going to Canberra in 1968 to become Professor of Far Eastern History in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) at Australian National University. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1995. In 2007, Wang became the third person to be named University Professor by the National University of Singapore.

Reviews

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores the concept of nationhood in China through its transition through the fall of the Qing dynasty (late 19th and early 20th centuries) into the modern Republic and People's Republic eras. Wang, a noted China scholar based in Singapore, builds this book loosely around the concept of "tianxia" (literally, "all under heaven", though the concept is complex enough to warrant this entire volume) and how it has applied to the evolving concepts of nationhood, civilization, and history within China. The writing style is academic in tone and moderately dense, though the chapters are of reasonable length.

The book assumes a strong background in Chinese history and civilization, and is therefore more appropriate for those who have an interest in the intellectual historiography of the past century and a half. This book, however, stops short of making predictions about the trajectory of China's development, leaving it of more interest to the reader interested in Chinese history rather than a snapshot of modern China. For those that are fascinated with all aspects of China's wrenching transition into the modern era, this book is a valuable addition to their bookshelf.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting series of essays on modern-day China from a historical perspective.