China through the Dynasties provides a quick introduction to Chinese history in a simple and engaging manner. Through the use of a conversational style of writing, and a generous spread of beautiful photographs and illustrations, readers will find this an enjoyable read. In this book, Chinese history is presented in a chronological order, starting with the earliest human activities in China and concluding with the end of the Qing dynasty. Most chapters are divided into three sections: The Dynastic Cycle, Social Development and Cultural Advancement. The Dynastic Cycle section outlines the key historical events of that period. The Social Development section summarizes the political and economic development of Chinese society in that particular period. The Cultural Advancement section introduces each period’s cultural development and achievements. Through this structured approach, readers are given a broad and balanced view of each dynasty. An English summary provided at the beginning of each chapter gives readers a quick overview and highlights the key points for that chapter. Hanyu pinyin and English definitions are provided for difficult words. While China through the Dynasties is primarily planned as an intermediate/advanced Chinese language course material or as extra curriculum reading material, it can also be a good read for the layman looking for an easier way to digest Chinese history.
Preface
Chapter 1 An Introduction to China, Its People and Its Culture
Chapter 2 Prehistoric China: The Beginnings of Chinese Civilization
Chapter 3 The Xia and Shang Dynasties: The Rise of Chinese Civilizations
Chapter 4 The Zhou Dynasty: The Cornerstone of Chinese Civilization
Chapter 5 The Pre-Qin Period: The Philosopher Boom
Chapter 6 The Qin Dynasty: A Costly Civilization
Chapter 7 The Han Dynasty: A Prosperous Feudal Society
Chapter 8 The Three Kingdoms and The Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties
Chapter 9 The Sui and Tang Dynasties: The Golden Age of China
Chapter 10 The Song and Yuan Dynasties: Ages of Turbulence
Chapter 11 The Ming Dynasty: A Glorious Empire
Chapter 12 The Qing Dynasty: Twilight Years
Appendices Map of China
A Brief Chronology of Chinese History
Index
References
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Shouhui Zhao
Shouhui Zhao 赵守辉, an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education (NIE), NTU, Dr. Zhao is a professional language teacher by training. He completed his MA study at Renmin University of China (Beijing) in 1988, and has been teaching and researching in Chinese language and culture in five countries. Dr. Zhao received his PhD from the Dept. of Linguistics, University of Sydney (2005), and since then he has been supervising a research team at NIE to carry out projects aimed at enhancing Chinese language education in Singaporean schools. Dr. Zhao has published over 40 journal papers and book chapters in the areas of linguistics and language pedagogy. He is the primary co-author of three dual-authored textbooks and the co-compiler of two dictionaries. Dr. Zhao’s recent work was published by Springer (2008, with R. B. Baldauf Jr.) and Cengage Learning (2010, with D. B. Zhang) and his research papers appeared in Current Issues in Language Planning; Language Policy; Asia-Pacific Education Researcher; Pedagogies: An International Journal; Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association; and Language Problems and Language Planning; etc.
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Dongbo Zhang
Dongbo Zhang 张东波 teaches Chinese language and culture at Carnegie Mellon University, and will receive his PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the same university in 2010. He has published more than a dozen research articles on acquisition of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language and Chinese pedagogy. His recent works include China through the Dynasties (Cengage Learning 2010, with Shouhui Zhao) and research papers that appeared in Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association.