Reviewed by:
Patrick Fuliang Shan
Morris Rossabi. A History of China. Malden， MA: Wiley Blackwell， 2014. 426 pp. Paperback $37.95， isbn 978-1-57718-113-2.
Texts on the general history of China in the West are not thin， as a survey of a number of such books on library bookshelves can attest. In fact， each of those previous publications is a useful resource for our understanding of the enduring Chinese civilization. Morris Rossabi’s new book， A History of China， adds new value to the corpus of the existing literature， because he offers a grand panorama， provides a comprehensive treatment， and renders analytical comments. It is solid， all-inclusive， and informative， because the author has packed a wealth of serviceable facts and a mass of interpretive remarks into a 426-page single volume. Besides the exhaustive coverage of major political， economic， and cultural changes， Rossabi selects eleven maps and thirty-six illustrations to highlight influential figures， significant events， and valuable artifacts. Without a doubt， it should be a valued volume for anyone who desires to learn more about the essentials of China’s long history and who wants to know more about scholarly interpretations of the Chinese civilization.
Rossabi partitions his book into four parts with a total of twelve chapters. The quadruple arrangements display Rossabi’s creative design to highlight China’s relations with other peoples in the world. Part 1， “China among Barbarians” （four chapters）， traces the history from the very beginning of civilization to the establishment of the Sui dynasty in 581， covering at least two thousand years. It was during these two millennia that China’s cultural and political foundations became sophisticated and its civilization matured with its selective absorption of foreign cultural elements such as Buddhism. Part 2， “China among Equals” （two chapters）， discusses the Sui， Tang， and Song dynasties. The cosmopolitan Tang dynasty had to interact with other power players at its door. During the Song when Liao， Jin， and Xixia （or Xia here） challenged the Chinese Empire， the Chinese rulers had to accommodate themselves to those ethnic regimes. Part 3， “China and the Mongol World” （two chapters）， maps the history of the Yuan and Ming dynasties with which Rossabi skillfully integrates his long-term scholarly accomplishments in Mongol studies. Even though their rule was brief， the Mongols exerted a long-term impact on the Chinese Empire. During the Ming dynasty， Chinese rulers were forced to terminate Zheng He’s voyages in order to deal with the Mongol threat in the north. Part 4， “China in Global History” （four chapters）， covers four centuries from the Qing conquest to the present day. These centuries witness China’s steady incorporation into the globalized world through voluntary acceptance， foreign invasions， and violent revolutions. Rossabi’s thematic take displays his ingenious treatment of China’s historical evolution， even though his approach may not be endorsed by other scholars.
Some distinctive merits of Rossabi’s book deserve attention. First of all， it is loaded with rich information. Indeed， the author is gifted in selecting useful facts， [End Page 71] fascinating episodes， and intriguing stories to offer a thoughtful narrative about the formation， growth， and evolution of the Chinese civilization. His approach is neither a theoretical study nor a monograph focusing on a narrow topic. Rather， it is a recapitulation of the evidently well-known history. Yet， the author is so adept in choosing serviceable materials and has selected supportive facts to elucidate the familiar history so well that the reader feels freshly enlightened. Second， the author offers his interpretive assessment on important themes. In other words， he dexterously combines narrative with analysis. For example， he explicates “feudalism” during the early Zhou dynasty and points out that， though both shared certain similarities， the Zhou system differed from medieval Europe （pp. 25–30）—a stance that contrasts with what many Western scholars had long reasoned. The wide coverage of several millennia of Chinese history necessitates highlighting important themes， which he does superbly. He makes it clear that “Chinese history is beyond the scope of a single volume” （p. xv）； nevertheless， his single volume covers the long history quite well， because he emphasizes the most important trends. In this…
