Ancient China: 3500 Years of China's Civilization

This volume chronicles 3500 years of China's recorded civilization, beginning with the founding of the Shang dynasty around 1500 B.C. and continuing through the Great Cultural Revolution now in progress. It is a rich, exciting story, important to our understanding of today's crisis between East and West, yet surprisingly little known. To tell the story as interestingly and comprehensively as possible, this book combines three elements in one encyclopedic volume: and engrossing narrative, a wide-ranging collection of historical art, and a broad selection of translations from Chinese writing. Fitzgerald traces the great sweep of Chinese civilization through all its millenniums. He writes of the great events and powerful men who have shaped China's destiny: of the early efforts to unite China; of the rise and fall of dynasties and the invasions of barbarians; of the encroachment of the West and the Civil War in our own century; of Shih Huang Ti and Genghis Khan; of Sun Yat-sen and Mao Tse-tung. The book covers a vast range of subjects: the important contributions to science and technology, religion, philosophy, government, daily life, the imperial court, trade, language, legends and superstitions, and much more.