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Written for young people, this colorful story covers the period from 3000 B. C. to the defeat of Japan.
Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of China, was a man of incredible contrasts. He was a visionary leader who united all of China’s warring kingdoms into one unified country, thus paving the way for the modern Chinese nation. He developed a national currency, a standard writing style, and a road network that stitched the country together. Yet he was also evil and cruel. He burned books, imposed harsh taxes, and killed thousands of people. The story of Qin Shi Huangdi brackets the story of ancient China emerging into modern times. It’s a story of a country whose discoveries, such as silk, tea and the iron plow, had a significant impact on the entire world but whose people lived simply, unaware of their vast influence. Although the story of Qin Shi Huangdi ended with his unusual death, China’s story was just beginning.
Wu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China as emperor over the course of its 5,000-year history. How did she—in a predominantly patriarchal and androcentric society—ascend the dragon throne? Exploring a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries, this multifaceted history suggests that China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women played an integral part in the construction of Wu Zhao's sovereignty. Wu Zhao deftly deployed language, symbol, and ideology to harness the cultural resonance, maternal force, divine energy, and historical weight of Buddhist devis, Confucian exemplars, Daoist immortals, and mythic goddesses, establishing legitimacy within and beyond the confines of Confucian ideology. Tapping into powerful subterranean reservoirs of female power, Wu Zhao built a pantheon of female divinities carefully calibrated to meet her needs at court. Her pageant was promoted in scripted rhetoric, reinforced through poetry, celebrated in theatrical productions, and inscribed on steles. Rendered with deft political acumen and aesthetic flair, these affiliations significantly enhanced Wu Zhao's authority and cast her as the human vessel through which the pantheon's divine energy flowed. Her strategy is a model of political brilliance and proof that medieval Chinese women enjoyed a more complex social status than previously known.
This provocative history of the largest annual Chinese celebration in the United States—the Chinese New Year parade and beauty pageant in San Francisco—opens a new window onto the evolution of one Chinese American community over the second half of the twentieth century. In a vividly detailed account that incorporates many different voices and perspectives, Chiou-ling Yeh explores the origins of these public events and charts how, from their beginning in 1953, they developed as a result of Chinese business community ties with American culture, business, and politics. What emerges is a fascinating picture of how an ethnic community shaped and was shaped by transnational and national politics, economics, ethnic movements, feminism, and queer activism.
Profiles the life and accomplishments of Chinese emperor Han Wudi and discusses life in ancient China.
With overview essays and more than 400 A-Z entries, this exhaustive encyclopedia documents the history of Asians in America from earliest contact to the present day. Organized topically by group, with an in-depth overview essay on each group, the encyclopedia examines the myriad ethnic groups and histories that make up the Asian American population in the United States. "Asian American History and Culture" covers the political, social, and cultural history of immigrants from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Islands, and their descendants, as well as the social and cultural issues faced by Asian American communities, families, and individuals in contemporary society. In addition to entries on various groups and cultures, the encyclopedia also includes articles on general topics such as parenting and child rearing, assimilation and acculturation, business, education, and literature. More than 100 images round out the set.
Focusing on three women, Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong & Mayling Soong, this book studies the shifting images of China in American culture, particularly during the 1930s & 40s.
China is daily becoming more and more an object of interest and curiosity to European nations, in proportion as commerce, the fore-runner, if not the cause, of all improvement.in the arts of civilization, discloses its resources, and sheds new light on the character and intellectual cultivation of its inhabitants. Hitherto, the remoteness of its situation with respect to Britain, and the rude, inhospitable nature of its policy toward strangers, have concurred in perpetuating the erroneous impressions created by travelers imperfectly informed, or prone to exaggeration. Among the unfounded notions sedulously propagated by the advocates of arbitrary power, is the opinion that this vast empire, the government of which may be regarded as the beau ideal of despotism, has been torn by fewer revolutions and civil wars than the free states of the West; and that its military power is a kind of colossus, fabricated by the wisdom of ages, which no force or policy that could be exerted by any European nation would suffice to overthrow.--Amazon.com.
Literature, from the Chinese perspective, makes manifest the cosmic patterns that shape and complete the world—a process of “worlding” that is much more than mere representation. In that spirit, A New Literary History of Modern China looks beyond state-sanctioned works and official narratives to reveal China as it has seldom been seen before, through a rich spectrum of writings covering Chinese literature from the late-seventeenth century to the present. Featuring over 140 Chinese and non-Chinese contributors from throughout the world, this landmark volume explores unconventional forms as well as traditional genres—pop song lyrics and presidential speeches, political treatises and prison-house jottings, to name just a few. Major figures such as Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Eileen Chang, and Mo Yan appear in a new light, while lesser-known works illuminate turning points in recent history with unexpected clarity and force. Many essays emphasize Chinese authors’ influence on foreign writers as well as China’s receptivity to outside literary influences. Contemporary works that engage with ethnic minorities and environmental issues take their place in the critical discussion, alongside writers who embraced Chinese traditions and others who resisted. Writers’ assessments of the popularity of translated foreign-language classics and avant-garde subjects refute the notion of China as an insular and inward-looking culture. A vibrant collection of contrasting voices and points of view, A New Literary History of Modern China is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of China’s literary and cultural legacy.