Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276

Daily Life

by Jacques Gernet

A Stanford University Press classic.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Medieval, Asia, Asian Literature, School

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Jacques Gernet was an eminent French sinologist of the second half of the 20th century. His best-known work is The Chinese Civilization, a 900-page summary of Chinese history and civilization which has been translated into many languages.

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book that I ever read in the "daily life in historical settings" genre, which sounds slightly corny but ultimately became one of my strongest interests, as you can only learn so much from the standard "list of battles and kings" chronological approach to history. Seeing how people actually lived in ancient Mesopotamia, or Homeric Greece, or ancient India, or medieval China, etc., provides a surprisingly wide-ranging account of human nature, and also some context for modern Western history; in Gernet, for example, I was especially surprised by the fact that thirteenth-century Hangchou had multi-story residential buildings, artificial lakes, a fire department, luxury shopping, etc., in a cultural context where we might not expect those things.

Even going further back into Chinese history, there's definitely something pleasantly jarring about, e.g., seventh-century T'ang poets as artistic bohemian types getting really bored with their stultifying office jobs. When Western European life expectancy was 32 or whatever, Wei Ying-Wu was putting on his robe and hat every day, getting bored with paperwork and bureaucracy, looking forward to his pension and retirement cottage out by the lake after putting in time at his tedious but occasionally rewarding government job: "Stuck in an office all year / I left the city for the wide-open dawn," etc.

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

ct fun

[Stezsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baca ulang setelah sekian lama.
Pengen nyoba tuang air panas ke sumur di musim panas, katanya bisa muncul es. Sayang sekali di sini ga ada sumur huk huk. Orang2 zaman dulu merhatiin hal2 aneh ya.

Oh, dan apaan ada depot kanibal di ibukota! Ternyata suikoden tak jauh2 amat dari kenyataan O.o

Terus cara nyimpen es di bawah tanah biar bisa dipake sampe musim panas O.o. Apa mereka tau klo es ditambahin sirop bisa jadi es krim? :v

Dan ada wang anshi segitu malesnya mandi sampe diseret paksa ke bak mandi sebulan sekali bwakakakaka. Kan jadi ngebayangin yg aneh2.

2 temen si wang dateng: "PM, ada laporan penting yg harus disampaikan."
Wang: "Apa itu?"
Temen: "Bau badan anda itu lho, ga tahaaannn!"
Wang: "Bleh, aye sibuk kerja neh, minggir sana."
Temen: "Seret dia ke bak mandi!"
Wang: "Tidaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!"

Dan saia malah jadi bikin fanfic ngaco kan ><

Ada yg bikin saia bertanya2. Hari istirahat buat mandi itu bukannya 5 hari sekali? Kenapa di sini 10? Ato saia yg salah ingat? :?
Sepertinya ingatan saia mulai kabur karena jarang dipake ><

[Ocean G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great peek into life in Hangzhou toward the end of the Song dynasty. I enjoy these types of books immensely. This book, however, was written in the 1950's, so I can't help wondering if someone should write an updated version of this.

One thing that bothered me was how much the author relied on Marco Polo's writings. Granted, he traveled there just a few decades into the Yuan dynasty, but it was still a different time, with different laws and new customs, and Hangzhou was no longer the capital. That's probably petty of me, though, especially considering how few sources we have to work from.

Also, at a certain point it says: "A victim was sacrificed on the Small adjacent altar to the God of the Soil." - Is this talking about human sacrifice? There is no follow-up, so I'm not sure.

Otherwise it's a great overview of many different aspects of life, from home life, to religion, to business, to festivals, all the way to the various ways charlatans and scammers would trick people out of their money.

[David Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable introduction to a society about to undergo dramatic transformation that captures in vivid colours the lives of the people of thirteenth century Hangchow, thus permitting the western reader to draw insightful comparisons with contemporary Christendom and to understand the specific historical, cultural, and religious experiences and daily practices of the Chinese people before the Mongol invasion.
This is more a portrait than an analytical study of life in Hangchow, and, although old fashioned and with some outdated conceptualisations of gender roles and sexual difference, as such it paints a picture of a pre-modern society in broad strokes that, in this translation, will capture the unfamiliar reader's interest.

[Shelbi Short · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is informative but unnecessarily wordy. Many times I had to restart a sentence or even a paragraph because by the time all the extra information was added in the middle, through use of commas and dashes, I didn't remember or even understand what the topic was. It is also worth mentioning that I do not have a low reading level; so, this would not be just because I am me. I read Dickens' works through high school and college and even that is easy and concise compared to this.

[Michael Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and used this book for my East Asian Early Civilizations course. It was a wealth of information for proving that the Southern Song dynasty was an early modern civilization way before the consensus of Europe entering a modern era around 1500CE. These types of books sometimes can drag and be a bore, but I found it extremely captivating

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a companion book and follow up read to some more recent, more in depth, scholarly works on Chinese culture this book is invaluable. It neatly ties up a growing body of Western research attempting to penetrate beyond a colonialist view of art, literature, religion, theater and politics.

[ChenE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... just according to the sources he referred, it’s half imagination from the west, half nostalgia by the captive.

[he chow · Rating 5 out of 5]

精彩絕倫

[clara k · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jesus this guy hates women. Also why does he drop the n word when talking about Ancient China ? Was that really necessary ?

[Bahia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in French in 1959, this book uses historical records such as those of Marco Polo to paint a picture of what life was like in Hangchow, China, from 1250-1276. The book goes into great detail and shows a surprisingly complete picture of life at this time. China at this time is surprisingly advanced in comparison to European countries at the same time. This book is a great read for anyone interested in Chinese history.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two chapters are an outstanding glimpse of life for the citizens of Hangzhou, the world's most advanced city during the Southern Song Dynasty in the late 13th century. The second half of the book gets caught up in detail and repetition and actually becomes quite boring, but I highly recommend the first half.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for anyone interested in Medieval China!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reference for both historians and re creators.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old-fashioned in a bad sense.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do civilizations vet those who see certain careers as their only way out? A great book filled the tedium of bureaucracy and people's dreams. A nice commentary on Chinese test history.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in social history this is a good overview of the time period