Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907 by
Charles Holcombe
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This had been on my wishlist forever, and I'm glad I read it. If you've read a smattering of the history of East Asian countries, this is a good book to bring it all together and see how they all relate. The section on Vietnam, especially, was all new to me (as well as the Southern Chinese "Yue" culture).
I could have done without the final chapter on evolution, Darwinism, etc.
Some of my notes:
"This was especially true in a China where it is doubtful that anyone ever normally spoke the classical written language aloud in ordinary conversation. In traditional China, the written language - "the only real language in the minds of many" - had not the slightest things to do with the modern vernacular". (p. 65)
From the beginning of the (Tang) dynasty... an "unbelievably high proportion" of those who were registered turned out to be women, who were conveniently largely tax exempt. (p. 83)
An instructive recent parallel may be found in the creation of the "Manchu" ethnic identity at the time of the establishment of the Qing dynasty in China in the seventeenth century. "There was, in fact, no traditional 'Manchu' culture or identity." There had been no previous Manchu "nation". Instead, there had been only a scattering of relatively small Tungusics-speaking bands. (p. 113)
...in the early seventh century, it was possible to observe of Paekche that their "current language and ceremonial apparel are roughly the same as in Koguryo". (p. 175)
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