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China: A Macro History
Traces the history of China from prehistoric times to the present and discusses the prospects for the reintegration of Macao and Hong Kong.
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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June 22, 2016A (content-wise) interesting thematic history of China, albeit one that shows its age. It's too dry to be a popular history, but does too little to situate itself in within contemporaneous scholarship to be academic.
As its title suggests, Huang's book is a macro-level treatment of Chinese from the Shang dynasty to the post-Mao era. It's written from a geographical-determinist/political-economist perspective--Huang focuses on tax and property regimes, the flow of goods and wealth, and the relationship between central governments and localities across time. He adds in some discussion of elite ideologies, but these are painted in broad strokes, and from all this makes arguments as to why China did not develop as the West did.
The book comes across as very dated. As a whole, it is over-reliant on sweeping generalizations about eras and populations and a teleological, modernization-theory-based reading of history. It's not that the crux of Huang's arguments are uncompelling--his points about why China did not follow the West's trajectory of development I've seen corroborated elsewhere--but it's clear that he holds the West as the model for what progress is and how it's supposed to occur, thereby avoiding discussion of what paths toward modernity non-Western societies could have taken in the West's absence.
Huang's book is hard to follow for the unprepared reader--he bends over backwards to make the physical geography of China more comprehensible to the American reader, but he does not set out his overarching theory in explicit terms. The precise meaning and significance of the "lateral transfers" and "middle echelon" he refers to can be inferred from context, but only with difficulty. I would recommend China: A Macro History for its discussions of governance, political economy, and center-locality relations, as well as its coverage of China from the "Second Empire" (the Tang and Song dynasty) ownards. On matters of culture, intellectual life, and modernization as seen from a more modern, critical perspective, I would turn elsewhere.
As its title suggests, Huang's book is a macro-level treatment of Chinese from the Shang dynasty to the post-Mao era. It's written from a geographical-determinist/political-economist perspective--Huang focuses on tax and property regimes, the flow of goods and wealth, and the relationship between central governments and localities across time. He adds in some discussion of elite ideologies, but these are painted in broad strokes, and from all this makes arguments as to why China did not develop as the West did.
The book comes across as very dated. As a whole, it is over-reliant on sweeping generalizations about eras and populations and a teleological, modernization-theory-based reading of history. It's not that the crux of Huang's arguments are uncompelling--his points about why China did not follow the West's trajectory of development I've seen corroborated elsewhere--but it's clear that he holds the West as the model for what progress is and how it's supposed to occur, thereby avoiding discussion of what paths toward modernity non-Western societies could have taken in the West's absence.
Huang's book is hard to follow for the unprepared reader--he bends over backwards to make the physical geography of China more comprehensible to the American reader, but he does not set out his overarching theory in explicit terms. The precise meaning and significance of the "lateral transfers" and "middle echelon" he refers to can be inferred from context, but only with difficulty. I would recommend China: A Macro History for its discussions of governance, political economy, and center-locality relations, as well as its coverage of China from the "Second Empire" (the Tang and Song dynasty) ownards. On matters of culture, intellectual life, and modernization as seen from a more modern, critical perspective, I would turn elsewhere.
July 11, 2022
黃仁宇作書的風格自成一家，第九章談北魏拓跋氏更是寫出了身價。用不起眼的朝代洞察歷史洪流的轉向，見微知著。他的大一統預設，甚麼第一、二、三帝國，我沒有意見。正如談及秦始王、武則天、王安石、蔣介石、毛澤東，他相對溫和的評價，吻合本書抽離的視角，對此，我舉腳贊成不用明朝的劍斬清朝的官。
早年一直不諳讀史，今日帶點黃仁宇所說的縱深去回顧，是因為我缺乏卓越的聯想能力，而欠大局觀（又欠各路知識）一窘，不至近年亦不想整飭；舊時自視喜好與否的論斷，放在個人發展上觀莫非短視。《中國大歷史》縱覽上下三千年，去蕪存菁，是條為我而闢的蹊徑。路漫漫其修遠兮，儘管主幹不能一日打通，枝節又不容我去細探，但中史的籠統形狀總算看見了。他應原諒我才疏志更疏，只想求個大概，畢竟本書正是寫給我此類人讀的。
書末黃仁宇稱，著書是為了展示這個國家「重新振作的態勢」。第一次鴉片戰爭，我視之為後人繼往開來的節點，當日的事餘波未了，仍震盪著他口中的態勢。書寫在1993年，黃對台港與中國大陸的統一滿懷盼望；可是站在2022年，他所寄望的兩岸文教背景之相似，以及香港《基本法》，均無襄助。說到底，在歷史塵埃落定前，任何評價都容不下一個句號，任何展望祗配得上一個問號。連75歲的歷史學家也不否認的。
早年一直不諳讀史，今日帶點黃仁宇所說的縱深去回顧，是因為我缺乏卓越的聯想能力，而欠大局觀（又欠各路知識）一窘，不至近年亦不想整飭；舊時自視喜好與否的論斷，放在個人發展上觀莫非短視。《中國大歷史》縱覽上下三千年，去蕪存菁，是條為我而闢的蹊徑。路漫漫其修遠兮，儘管主幹不能一日打通，枝節又不容我去細探，但中史的籠統形狀總算看見了。他應原諒我才疏志更疏，只想求個大概，畢竟本書正是寫給我此類人讀的。
書末黃仁宇稱，著書是為了展示這個國家「重新振作的態勢」。第一次鴉片戰爭，我視之為後人繼往開來的節點，當日的事餘波未了，仍震盪著他口中的態勢。書寫在1993年，黃對台港與中國大陸的統一滿懷盼望；可是站在2022年，他所寄望的兩岸文教背景之相似，以及香港《基本法》，均無襄助。說到底，在歷史塵埃落定前，任何評價都容不下一個句號，任何展望祗配得上一個問號。連75歲的歷史學家也不否認的。
May 16, 2025
The history of China continues to awe me. In 1800 the population of China was 300 million people, roughly 1/3rd of the world's population. As Huang notes in almost every chapter, with the social structure of China, a vast "mass" of peasants on bottom and the stylized bureaucracy atop, it was simply not possible for China to be "mathematically managed" during the 2000 years of dynastic rule. That idea became exceptionally clear to me as I tried to imagine what 300 million people in one country would have looked like in 1800.
The book contains several other exceptional insights Professor Huang deserves credit for but I am taking off one star because of the difficulty of following the timeline in the early dynasties. Given that he says he wrote the book for Americans I think it is fair to suggest there could have been more clarity.
The book contains several other exceptional insights Professor Huang deserves credit for but I am taking off one star because of the difficulty of following the timeline in the early dynasties. Given that he says he wrote the book for Americans I think it is fair to suggest there could have been more clarity.
December 2, 2025
最近聯經在把黃仁宇的書再版，忽然想到還沒看過這本，就去圖書館弄了一本。
看到唐朝部分吧，就決定棄了......
既然是「大歷史」了，就是開廣角鏡頭在寫，大概就像是霍布斯邦那兩套巨著十九世紀三部曲跟《極端的年代》那樣，或者是唐德剛的《晚清七十年》。這種宏大敘事表面上看似是給大眾看的，其實反而更吃基本功。黃仁宇這本是寫給美國人的，舉了一堆當地人比較容易懂的例子，用了現在的詞語去解釋，我常得在那邊轉換消化到底他想表達什麼。但是看了幾章之後，還是會想：「說點我不知道的吧」。
說真的，個人還是比較喜歡錢穆的《國史大綱》，前陣子回老家的時候拿出來了翻了翻，複習了一下。雖然他這種寫法，我想對台灣的歷史課綱不知道改成什麼德性，金庸變成了「古書」，整天只看抖音跟輕小說的世代，看了可能會狂翻白眼，口吐白沫吧。畢竟一堆人連「合約」、「和約」、「權力」、「權利」都傻傻分不清楚了。(那些說國文不重要的給我出來面對)
總之，我是不喜歡這本。
看到唐朝部分吧，就決定棄了......
既然是「大歷史」了，就是開廣角鏡頭在寫，大概就像是霍布斯邦那兩套巨著十九世紀三部曲跟《極端的年代》那樣，或者是唐德剛的《晚清七十年》。這種宏大敘事表面上看似是給大眾看的，其實反而更吃基本功。黃仁宇這本是寫給美國人的，舉了一堆當地人比較容易懂的例子，用了現在的詞語去解釋，我常得在那邊轉換消化到底他想表達什麼。但是看了幾章之後，還是會想：「說點我不知道的吧」。
說真的，個人還是比較喜歡錢穆的《國史大綱》，前陣子回老家的時候拿出來了翻了翻，複習了一下。雖然他這種寫法，我想對台灣的歷史課綱不知道改成什麼德性，金庸變成了「古書」，整天只看抖音跟輕小說的世代，看了可能會狂翻白眼，口吐白沫吧。畢竟一堆人連「合約」、「和約」、「權力」、「權利」都傻傻分不清楚了。(那些說國文不重要的給我出來面對)
總之，我是不喜歡這本。
October 28, 2025
A pretty good survey of Chinese history. Mostly engaging, but not spectacularly well written. Interesting for the author's POV as a former KMT officer, and writing from the late 1980s during a period of rapprochement with China.
The motto of this book should be 《天高皇帝遠》
Some main takeaways:
- China was very early to politically unify, well before the technology or economy was really suited for it
- This unification relied on a lowest-common denominator approach which kept or required China to stay in a pattern where virtually the entire population was composed of small-scale farmers, and then a thin layer of bureaucrats which were also kept to uniformity and evaluated more or less just on adherence to 1) Confucian morality, and 2) raising a nominal amount of taxes per district/household
- There really was not a persistent large landowner class or urban commercial class that could operate as an independent power structure and challenge the state
- The northern frontier really was more or less constantly getting invaded by barbarians, unless China was actively on the hunt in search of them first. This also meant that there were periods where the north was more or less occupied by non-Chinese peoples.
- Despite its limitations, this unification and brittle administrative state obviously did work well enough to find China returning to a unified empire over and over again since the Qin
- In retrospect, it's clear that whatever modernization was occurring around the edges in the late 19th and early 20th century (admittedly large "edges" since China is a big country) was still not very deep, which is why it took until the late 20th century before China ever actually had a broad and deep administrative state
The motto of this book should be 《天高皇帝遠》
Some main takeaways:
- China was very early to politically unify, well before the technology or economy was really suited for it
- This unification relied on a lowest-common denominator approach which kept or required China to stay in a pattern where virtually the entire population was composed of small-scale farmers, and then a thin layer of bureaucrats which were also kept to uniformity and evaluated more or less just on adherence to 1) Confucian morality, and 2) raising a nominal amount of taxes per district/household
- There really was not a persistent large landowner class or urban commercial class that could operate as an independent power structure and challenge the state
- The northern frontier really was more or less constantly getting invaded by barbarians, unless China was actively on the hunt in search of them first. This also meant that there were periods where the north was more or less occupied by non-Chinese peoples.
- Despite its limitations, this unification and brittle administrative state obviously did work well enough to find China returning to a unified empire over and over again since the Qin
- In retrospect, it's clear that whatever modernization was occurring around the edges in the late 19th and early 20th century (admittedly large "edges" since China is a big country) was still not very deep, which is why it took until the late 20th century before China ever actually had a broad and deep administrative state
July 2, 2015
An admirably effective compression of 5000 years of Chinese history into two-hundred-odd pages.
However, I could not help but feel that Huang held back when it came to making wider-conclusions regarding Chinese history. This book is more a chronology of Chinese history, and less an analysis.
I read this book specifically because it was concise, but I can't help but feel that it would have benefited from an extra 30-50 pages of wider conclusions about the nature of 'dynastic cycle', for example, and other artifacts and dialects of Chinese history.
Recommended for those who want to dip their toes into the vast pool of Chinese history. However, if you've already read ANY other book on grand Chinese history, then don't bother with "China: A Macro History". There is nothing to squeeze out of it.
However, I could not help but feel that Huang held back when it came to making wider-conclusions regarding Chinese history. This book is more a chronology of Chinese history, and less an analysis.
I read this book specifically because it was concise, but I can't help but feel that it would have benefited from an extra 30-50 pages of wider conclusions about the nature of 'dynastic cycle', for example, and other artifacts and dialects of Chinese history.
Recommended for those who want to dip their toes into the vast pool of Chinese history. However, if you've already read ANY other book on grand Chinese history, then don't bother with "China: A Macro History". There is nothing to squeeze out of it.
February 3, 2013
I thought this book was a little on the dry side; I hesitate to say too academic, but it was definitely not for the popular market. Still, it was extremely informative, with a clear and important perspective.
February 8, 2014
Great book to have a big picture of Chinese history. The Chinese version of it (by Ray Huang himself) published about 10 years later than the original version and have more information on modern China.
September 5, 2023
This was a hard book to rate for me. Huang was a good writer and the individual chapters sketching the overarching history of particular eras (typically broken out by dynasty but with some variation) are interesting and informational. The problem for me was that the sections seem to anticipate quite a bit of knowledge on the part of the reader, which seems odd for a historical survey. At times Huang goes into enough detail to give the reader the necessary context to follow the chronological development of China's history ... but at other times you are left a bit at sea. A shorter history can't possibly go in depth on 2000+ years of history, so I don't blame the book for glossing over particular sections, but this tendency to assume knowledge or to inadequately explain context for things that are presented does bring down my overall grade on this book from 4 to 3. I also was less interested in Huang's discussions about modern China, which seemed to largely spend time with his macrohistorical theories (he spends quite a bit of time comparing China to 17th and 18th century England) - something that is interesting but belongs in a different book, in my opinion. Overall, I got what I wanted to out of this book - a fairly short survey of Chinese history that gave me some ideas on what I want to pursue next in Chinese history - but the material didn't rise to the heights necessary to give this more than a "solid" grade of 3.
September 7, 2021
Absolutely masterpiece of Chinese history, it provides most in-depth analysis and thoughts on almost every dynasty of ancient China, each one in a chapter and it still suprises me how it covers such wide topics and delievers such deep ideas in such short lengths. A must read from Ray Wang. For more information about another version by SDX Joint Publishing: https://book.douban.com/subject/1015699/
February 26, 2022
本書以宏觀角度敘述中國歷史，令讀者可以大局一探中史的來龍去脈而不被淹沒於無窮無盡的細節當中。
根據我的理解，中國因政治過於早熟（中央集權、大一統），由於單從政策上無力管理大量人口，而需靠儒術為文教和紀律約束人民，「君君臣臣父父子子」，各安本份而保持和諧的氛圍，不致犯上作亂。
可惜以儒教作為一種約束手段，卻會令社會固化，人人安於現狀，缺乏競爭而不會積極解決問題。權力集中、看輕財富亦令中國只有大而無當的官僚體制和平民不如西方出現中產階段，有效利用財富推進社會和科技發展；鬆散、重形���大於現實的法律和不能作有效的數字管理，使一切新型政策事倍功半。
如此使中國脫節於世界，在過去百多年間經歷慘痛的轉型過程。
根據我的理解，中國因政治過於早熟（中央集權、大一統），由於單從政策上無力管理大量人口，而需靠儒術為文教和紀律約束人民，「君君臣臣父父子子」，各安本份而保持和諧的氛圍，不致犯上作亂。
可惜以儒教作為一種約束手段，卻會令社會固化，人人安於現狀，缺乏競爭而不會積極解決問題。權力集中、看輕財富亦令中國只有大而無當的官僚體制和平民不如西方出現中產階段，有效利用財富推進社會和科技發展；鬆散、重形���大於現實的法律和不能作有效的數字管理，使一切新型政策事倍功半。
如此使中國脫節於世界，在過去百多年間經歷慘痛的轉型過程。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2021
poorly written in some parts, rather dated and repetitive, weird liminal space between academic and popular history, good for basic intro to the timeline and for materialist thinking of various incentives faced by imperial states
July 22, 2017
很“大”的一本历史书，从经济，税收制度等技术层面解释中国为何会这样一路走来。
很多不懂的地方，比如税收制度，货币经济政策等，不过以宏观的角度看中国历史挺开拓眼界。
很多不懂的地方，比如税收制度，货币经济政策等，不过以宏观的角度看中国历史挺开拓眼界。
January 11, 2020
A must read for understanding China
February 19, 2021
Not suitable for people who try to understand China history for the first time, but an remarkable new perspective to people who grow are well learned China history.
March 7, 2021
Quite good as an introductory book. Not a simple feat to sum up thousands of years of history and deduct the guiding themes!
July 9, 2021
一本典型而独特的历史书：遵照传统的历史书构架用客观的方式提供主观的思考。
July 14, 2021
黄先生以独特的视角和切入点，把近三千年的中国历史用三百多页的篇幅来浓缩概述，并试图从中找出封闭落后的原因。这本书应该是更适合非专业的读者。简洁利索的叙事和解读，把我们带入历史的烟云迷雾，跟着他一起感受或者想象各种重大历史事件的惊心动魄，各层历史人物乃至普通百姓的奋斗挣扎，随波逐流，无奈和艰辛。读罢掩卷长叹，不知今夕何夕。
February 13, 2023
A disappointment after reading his excellent 1537: some good insights but the macro history framing was unpersuasive.
June 30, 2023
从宏观视角去观察中国历史，少了民族情绪，多了客观理性。历史是连续的，不论好时代还是坏时代都有其发展的脉络。局部的偶然性和全局的必然性看起来并不矛盾。
本书唯一的缺点就是英文语序读起来有点拗口。
本书唯一的缺点就是英文语序读起来有点拗口。
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August 31, 2024視角確實十分宏觀，重論輕述
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November 13, 2024述而不论、浮光掠影
April 25, 2025
大历史的视角很有意思
August 30, 2025
Technocratic teleology
March 4, 2021
作為中國歷史入門是不錯的讀物，概括了五千年來的流變。一開始以為記敘角度會比較新奇，例如寫西安是建都朝代最多的城市，但後來的部分也是著墨於政治和經濟措施。對南北朝的敘述詳細，令我更深入了解那段時間的歷史。
December 30, 2019
这本书也是跟着书友一起共读的。总结下来深感中国作为农业大国，朝代兴衰和历史变革和人以及他所拥有土地的比例有极其重要的关联。唐玄宗时人均9亩土地，是个非常合适的比例，所以当时耕者有其田，国家兴旺。（这个是套用的其他人的观点）学习中国史的时候，对于为什么拥有灿烂历史曾经称雄一方的中国会在清末成为被英国倾销鸦片，被八国联军欺辱而没有还手之力的东亚病夫，大家都很有疑问。讨论学习之后大概认为是中国的科举制度，还有在欧洲“文艺复兴”这个关键变革发生的时候，在中国没有能够产生类似的事件，导致落后。关于中国历史还有很多需要学习的，这本是只是个梗概导读。
July 31, 2012
This one is not that interesting to read as the other book by him, but his angle and opinion is very enlightening.
April 30, 2013
去年读过的。印象变浅了。是本小书在手机上每晚抽空读的，二十多天读完。但是在这本小书中，作者却尝试解读三四千年的历史，角度非常高，但是脉络非常清晰，往往一个朝代也就给一个整体评价。试图在回答一个问题，为什么是这样子？历史为什么发展成这样？我觉得这非常重要。稍微复习了下历史，对南北朝的历史有了一个概念。
April 30, 2013
I've read the Chinese version, and bought this book. This is a very good book. Hope I have time to read this one this summer
January 21, 2020
作者驾驭不了这种大话题，我只看到喃喃呓语
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