Best Books to Learn about the History of China
Reading allows us to immerse ourselves in the past, present, future and beyond. Through books we can learn and gain insights into the world around us. The books featured on this list allow us to dive deeper into the History of China and while there, allow us to discover more.
Art and Relics
China’s art is a window into its ancient history. These books can help you learn about China through its impressive relics, poetry, and literature.
- The Great Wall in 50 Objects by William Lindesey
- The Missing Buddhas – The Mystery of the Chinese Statues that Stunned the Western Art World by Tony Miller
- The Art of Chinese Poetry by James J.Y. Liu
- The Story of the Stone, translated by David Hawkes and John Minford
- Superstars: My China in Tang Poetry by Susan Won Dolling
Shanghai
From its humble beginnings as a port city in the Tang dynasty, to its current status as a modern metropolis, learning about Shanghai is a great way to learn about China in general.
- Kaleidoscope: The Uchiyama Bookstore and Its Sino-Japanese Visionaries by Naoko Kato
- The Last Kings of Shanghai by Jonathan Kaufman
Modern Chinese History
Considering its influence on the world stage, China’s modern history is as important as its ancient past. Here are some great reads to understand how today’s China came to be.
- In Search of Modern China by Jonathan Spence
- The Class of ‘77 – How My Classmates Changed China by Jaime FlorCruz
- A Modern History of Hong Kong: 1841 – 1997 by Steve Tsang
- Shifting Gears in China- Inadvertent Travels 1980-2020 by Richard Kirkby
- River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
- The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present by John Pompfret
Ancient History and Philosophy
This selection of books covers everything from China’s philosophy and ancient history to tea culture.
- Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-Hsi by Jonathan Spence
- Spring Flower Book Series by Jean Tren-Hwa Perkins / Richard Perkins Hsung
- 1: A Tale of Two Rivers
- 2: Facing the Red Storm
- 3: Torn Between Shifting Worlds
- The History of Philosophy 1 & 2 – The China History Podcast Transcripts by Laszlo Montgomery
- The History of Tea Book 1 & 2 – The China History Podcast Transcripts by Laszlo Montgomery
- China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty (Book 3 of 6: History of Imperial China) by Mark Edward Lewis and Timothy Brook
- The Genius of China: 3000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention by Robert Temple
- Confucianism in China by Tony Swain
Featured Series:
My China in Tang Poetry by Susan Won Dolling
We begin with Superstars, the stories of the two giant Tang poets, Li Bai (aka Li Po) and Du Fu (aka Tu Fu). Their stories are told through their poems and the times they lived through. Interwoven with the poems are even older stories that the poems tell. Together, they take you on a lively tour of Chinese history and culture not usually found in a book of poetry.
I have studied and enjoyed these poems all my life, and my years of teaching have taught me how best to make them accessible. As teacher, storyteller and poet-translator I have made myself your medium and your guide through this Golden Age of Chinese poetry. Along the way, I sometimes share the history of my own experience with these poems, adding a personal touch to these much-researched studies. My students liked that. I hope you will too.
From another personal perspective, these translations aim to build a bridge between the two languages and cultures that I love. Let me end by quoting from the Epilogue to the series, “The vocabulary of classical Chinese poetry is composed not only of words and images, but of allusions to even more ancient stories. Such stories are usually buried in footnotes. In this series I have combined these stories with their verses to help you hear what my ancestral ghosts have to say.”
Volume Two, Floating on Clouds, and Volume Three, Friends and Lovers, offer even more poetry from the Tang Dynasty. Want to know more about the Tang Dynasty? Check out our course: Tales of the Tang Dynasty to learn more about the major events and famous figures of this historic time period.
Meet the author, Susan:
Hi there! I am a Chinese American writer, living in Austin Texas with my family and two dogs. I was born and bred in Hong Kong. For my first years of schooling, I attended the Diocesan Girls’ School, from kindergarten to Upper Six. Then, I went on to college in Japan and America.
I graduated from Princeton University with an AB in English and Creative Writing, and a PhD in Comparative Literature, and have taught English Literature at Fordham University and Chinese Literature at the University of Texas at Austin.
For more details, please visit my website, www.susanwandolling.com, where you will find some poems, my publishing history, some excerpts from my works-in-progress, and my blog.
