The Story of China

September 21, 2020
Documentarian Wood (The Story of England) chronicles 4,000 years of Chinese history in this brisk and accessible account. Moving chronologically from China’s distant past to the events of the past century, Wood pays particular attention to the country’s long history of global encounters. Highlights include descriptions of life in a Han dynasty postal station on the Silk Road between the first century BCE and 107 CE, and an account of Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci’s attempt to “bridge civilizations” by accepting Chinese “beliefs and rituals for the veneration of the dead” in the early 17th century. Wood also details social unrest and rising foreign influence after the Opium Wars and the Taiping rebellion, and documents “mass hysteria” sparked by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, including the destruction of family heirlooms and cultural relics by Red Guards, and the massacre of 9,000 men, women, and children by local Communist party bosses in the town of Daoxian in Hunan province. Deeply researched and energetically written, this immersive account is a worthy introduction to the vast sweep of Chinese history and culture.

Starred review from September 15, 2020
The eminent British historian, broadcaster, and filmmaker aims his wide narrative lens on the sweeping history of China. "Writing on China's past...is a daunting task, all the more so if one is not a sinologist," notes Wood in the preface. "China is a huge and incredibly rich, indeed inexhaustible subject....With more than three millennia of written records, it has a vast history--small libraries have been written about each of my individual chapters!" In this smoothly readable book, the author shows he is up to the task, presenting a useful one-volume study of Chinese history perfect for students and libraries. Though Wood concentrates on the main dynasties, he sometimes veers into micro-level, intricate family stories to create a sense of immediacy amid the far-reaching historical currents. He moves swiftly yet thoroughly, wisely using geography to ground and orient readers. Like the ancient inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, the earliest Chinese communities were tied closely to the Yellow River. These first civilizations were not near the sea but resided in the central plain, close to where the river emerges from the mountains--hence, China's early name as Zhongguo, the "middle land." Wood traces the rise and fall of the great dynasties who received "heaven's mandate," from King Yu's descendants (circa 1900 B.C.E.) to the Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing. Throughout the book, Wood masterfully extracts real stories, including those by remarkable women writers and observers such as the Song poet Li Qingzhao and Ming poet Fang Weiyi. The author also gives attention to the many heartbreaking tales that emerged from the tumultuous Cultural Revolution. Scholars may debate some points, but Wood ably conveys the exciting Chinese saga through the ages in an accessible work that makes a massive historical narrative palatable to general readers. Wood is a wonderful storyteller who captures the big picture without losing sight of the human detail.

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