The Story of CHINA

The Story of China is a book written by Michael Wood, British Historian and Professor of Public history at Manchester University. The book has been published by Simon & Schuster in the UK in 2020. As the title suggests, the book revolves around China, its history, civilisation and the Chinese people. Complementing the book is a six part documentary series on the Story of China produced by PBS and is an excellent follow on to be viewed along with the book. 

The book traces the path of China which commences at the establishment of modern great civilisations like the Egyptians, Sumerians and the Indus Valley. Laying out the geographical considerations of China, its rivers, vegetation and topography and supplemented by archeological finds, the author begins by establishing how China and the Chinese civilisation came into being. The initial chapters of the book concentrate on the early dynasties such as the Xia, Shang, Zhou and Qin, Han dynasties. The reader can get a flavour of the early periods, what the rule under different dynasts was like and most importantly how one rule collapsed and was replaced by another. 

Discontent among its people, internal weaknesses, stretched military campaigns, poor agricultural harvest, climate change and natural disasters are some of the catalysts that result in pivotal moves from one leader to another. Reading these chapters serve as useful lessons for us even today as they give us an understanding of the key challenges facing societies, countries and civilisations and what are the agents of change.  

Wood’s book also repeatedly stresses the importance of ‘The Mandate of Heaven’, celestial omens, phenomenons etc in the Chinese Civilisation. The central theme is how and why this mandate changes and how upon change of the mandate results in a new emperor and a new dynasty. This is a concept that holds relevance even in today’s China. Securing a ‘mandate’ is critical for any ruler in China and establishing order and peace is paramount. 

Middle chapters are devoted to Song empires, The Mongol invasions and the Ming Dynasty. The age of enlightenment and renaissance, development of art, culture, ethos, science and political systems. The reader can get a very good sense of the advancement attained by the Chinese civilisation at a time when Europe was still grappling with basic fundamental societal issues. The book also encapsulates a time when China was outward, confident in contact with the world, keen to explore, peaceful naval expeditions and embrace new ideas, religions, cuisines and philosophies. 

The fall of the Ming dynasty is pivotal and is replaced by the last dynastic rule of the Qing dynasty. The book chronicles the Manchu invasions, the loss of the mandate, the change in society and outlook for China. Most importantly, this is also the time when the European maritime expansion project begins and ultimately peaks in Asia. Chapters around the optimum wars, internal rebellions, weakening of the state mandate, Taiping Revolution, civil wars demonstrate a steady decline that led to a precipitous removal of the emperor in the early 20th century and a state of helplessness and lawlessness.

The latter chapters dwell more around the recent past of China. A past that has been humiliating, challenging, dismembering of the country, brutal invasions, loss of territory, dis-functional governments, famine, natural disasters and massive social upheaval. This coupled with the treacherous civil war, the establishment of the Communist Party, the miscarriages of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution and then the stunning miracle when China re-opened and pivoted its economy and country to where it is now.  

The book does touch upon all these events but in my view its rather fleeting. This has been a very important part of contemporary China and would have been appropriate to devote more depth in the book to these events. In defence of the author, a book that talks about the Chinese civilisation has to be parsimonious with pages on any particular era given more than 4000 years of history has to be condensed into a single book. 

Besides reading about invasions, war, governments, rulers and monarchs, the reader will also get a chance to appreciate the unfolding of Chinese history from the vantage of poets, writers and people from everyday walks of life. This gives us a sense of what living conditions were for the ordinary person as well as the emperors and nobility and how they evolved over time. One can safely conclude that for the ordinary Chinese, there has not be a linear improvement in life and quality. Ordinary people have experienced unsurpassed cultural highs but have also faced significant catastrophes, natural and man-made and brutal wars killing millions.  

For anyone who wishes to read one single book which captures the development of the Chinese civilisation and its people, this is a good book. Micheal Wood has listed out in chronological order how the Chinese order unfolds and what are the common and uniting threads for this ancient yet incredibly vibrant civilisation. 

So where does China go from here? 

That of course is left to the reader's imagination as the future prognosis is not the subject of this book. But the author does make a poignant ending remark. The key date for China is 1 Oct, 2049 which would mark the 100th anniversary of the Revolution and key date for the Chinese Communist Party. However, would 8 September, 2040 prove to be an even more important date? 

Since the founding of China, the heavens, omens, planets have played a crucial role. Note that there is no direct scientific evidence established to any of this but the 'Mandate of Heaven' has been a crucial factor in China since time immemorial. The extremely rare event of the five planet clusters that impacted the Xia, Shang, Zhou dynasties or even the latter Han and Song ones will once again re-appear on 8 September, 2040 after more than 500 years! 

It is your guess as much as it is mine, what that means! 

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Story-of-China-Michael-Wood/9781471175992?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=SG&utm_content=The-Story-of-China&selectCurrency=SGD&w=AF7JAU96QDUZTZA8VRSH&pdg=pla-824982385190:cmp-6485098310:adg-77818344677:crv-381246268071:pos-:dev-c&gclid=CjwKCAiAhbeCBhBcEiwAkv2cY064C_u2B5iWP3q7r8iSIV5f0K3a7KDU1xSkfrwKHShAroOmk00z4hoCDPMQAvD_BwE

By Fahreed Balsara

The author is an Indian national and a permanent resident of Singapore.

He has lived and worked in Singapore for over a decade.

Before Singapore he spent many years living, working and studying in London