Books by Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Spence (1936-2021) was a British-born historian of China who spent most of his working life teaching history at Yale University. His The Search for Modern China (1990) is the classic textbook of Chinese history, from the Ming dynasty onwards, though it’s his shorter books that have been most frequently recommended on Five Books:
“It gives you a really great understanding of how political and social developments in the Qing Dynasty and the Republican period to 1949 shaped the way China works. The book covers the reform efforts in the late Qing, the contending schools of thought during the Republic, through to the Communist period up to 1989. It gives you a sense of the way China thinks, and also the way there have been so many hopes raised and dashed within China, by people who believe that they can partake in opening and new opportunity, and then everything closes down again. So that’s a really good one to read.” Read more...
Books to Change the Way You Think About China
Anne Stevenson-Yang, Entrepreneurs & Business People
The Death of Woman Wang
by Jonathan Spence
The Death of Woman Wang is a brilliant reconstruction of an ordinary woman's life in 17th century China, by Jonathan Spence, one of the West's great China scholars. This is really a work of history with novelistic touches, so is ideal for those wanting to learn about Chinese history without reading a textbook. Spence was able to find out so much about her because she was murdered, and the crime investigated.
“It happens to be my favourite book of Jonathan Spence’s and it’s on a theme that is very relevant today, which is control of how rumours and information spread. So this is about the Yongzheng Emperor, who becomes concerned about a treasonous letter that is written somewhere in some part of China. He doesn’t know much about it, but he wants to find out who wrote it, who is responsible for circulating it and this triggers an imperial investigation. The imperial bureaucracy goes to work, and the horses are literally sent out. What’s interesting about it is the obsession with something that would seem so insignificant to most people, that it could have just been ignored. Instead, the resources of empire are marshalled to try and figure out the source of this rumour and to crush whatever sentiment is behind it. I think that is relevant today, in the age of the internet, with all the rumours and rumour-hunters online. It is something you’ll see an obsession with from the Party as well.” Read more...
The best books on China and the Internet
Gady Epstein, Journalist
“What I like about Spence’s biography, which is very short, is that it presents us with a very human Mao, both in his accomplishments and in the tragedies that he foisted on the country…He’s an incredible figure, in almost any way you think about it, to have led this transformative revolution that turned China upside down and inside out, and then go on to lead the country for the first 27 years after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. So he was involved in dramatic events, he was a larger-than-life figure, and also there are distinct stages in his life in which he operates in different ways.” Read more...
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Historian
“At its core this book is about humility and understanding what is possible here as a foreigner. I don’t really know why, but going back to the very origins of foreigners coming to China, there’s something about setting foot on Chinese soil that stirs all of our most extravagant ambitions for changing the world. I think that’s partly because of the size of the place, and because it really does capture our imaginations. People come here intending to have a lasting impact on China and one of the smart things about the book is that it doesn’t tell you that that’s a bad idea – to be hopeful, or to try to help solve problems in China, whether they’re medical problems, or social problems or whatever. But what it does is plays out to you the ways in which a foreigner might be able to help here, and the ways in which a person might run into problems.” Read more...
Evan Osnos, Foreign Correspondent
Interviews where books by Jonathan Spence were recommended
The best books on China, recommended by Evan Osnos
Travelling to China? What are the best books to read to get a more in-depth understanding of this complex country? Longtime Beijing resident and New Yorker writer Evan Osnos picks some of his favourites.
The best books on China and the West, recommended by Orville Schell
The changing relationship between China and America will be one of the defining foreign policy issues of our times. To understand its dynamic, says sinologist Orville Schell, we must take account of China’s lingering sense of victimhood.
Chinese Life Stories, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Historian and Sinologist Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor, History at UC Irvine, says that to get a real sense of China you need to focus on individuals and their stories. Here he chooses five books that draw on the country’s long tradition of biographical writing.
The best books on China and the Internet, recommended by Gady Epstein
The ‘Great Fire Wall of China’. How has the Chinese Communist Party managed to survive the internet? Economist correspondent Gady Epstein chooses books on the world’s most successful case of authoritarian control of the internet.
Ten Historical Novels Set in China
China’s dramatic landscapes, rich culture, and tumultuous political history serves as a rich seam for historical novels. Here, we’ve drawn together a list of recommended titles, selected by and discussed with Five Books interviewees over the years.
Books to Change the Way You Think About China, recommended by Anne Stevenson-Yang
It’s important to understand what goes on beneath the surface in China, and how people feel and react, says Anne Stevenson-Yang, who spent many decades living and working there. She recommends books to better understand the country, from its imperial history to the economic take-off of the last four decades.
