The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution by Jonathan D. Spence (PDF)

Description

“A milestone in Western studies of China.” (John K. Fairbank) In this masterful, highly original approach to modern Chinese history, Jonathan D. Spence shows us the Chinese revolution through the eyes of its most articulate participants—the writers, historians, philosophers, and insurrectionists who shaped and were shaped by the turbulent events of the twentieth century. By skillfully combining literary materials with more conventional sources of political and social history, Spence provides an unparalleled look at China and her people and offers valuable insight into the continuing conflict between the implacable power of the state and the strivings of China’s artists, writers, and thinkers.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m certainly not qualified to review a history book, so I’ll just speak personally.First I should say that I’m not finished with it, I’m about halfway through. Kindle version is good to go, though.I’m a former Asian Studies major (about 8 years ago!) and have been teaching in China now for a little less than a year. I realized I was at a huge disservice not knowing the specific history of the past century and a half in this country. From my major (history was fairly cursory) I remember fragments of my bullet point outlines, but not nearly the depth needed to understand things like Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream ideology or how places like Chongqing can function as semi autonomous prefectures in a seemingly dominating authoritarian totalitarian state. I’m used to political deception in the US, but I’ve grown accustomed to the veneer of transparency. The complete lack of it here is mind boggling! Yet it is so easy to see its effects percolate to the average Zhou. So I emailed a venerable teacher for a read list and this was one of the books that made it.This is not your 101 history book overview of 1895-1980. In fact, I recommend having that overview first, and you might enjoy getting it from here ([…]). This book takes a look at the century it covers primarily through the eyes of three individuals: Kang Youwei, Luxun, and Dingling. These characters are fascinating individuals through whom we can examine the cultural milieu of their times on a nearly year-by-year basis. They are excellent touch points for a Western audience, as they seem like heroes amidst the continuous chaos that characterized the country until fairly recently. And as you familiarize yourself with these B and C history stars among others like Qu Qiubai, Xu Zhimo, and so on, you will be much more conversationally fluent with your college-or-modern-high-school educated cohorts in China who at least have passing awareness of all of these individuals.In providing the perspective of these intellectual’s, Spence is also able to provide a history that is of the same spirit of Howard Zinn’s “People’s History”, which I feel is a must for any serious history student. We Westerners have a tendency, according to Tagore, to be in “the servitude of the fetish of hugeness, the non-human”, and this is true in our approach to history as well with our fascination of the most powerful armies (i.e., the History Channel), the most villainous villains and the most heroic heroes, the wins, the losses, the body counts. This book does not exclude the broad movements of history, but it is a backdrop – a disturbing din to the well intentions of these interesting players.I didn’t start this review with much of a plan, but I think this book is a must despite it not yet answering the questions I posed in the beginning of this review. Its ample presentation of primary sources, its narrative flow from player to player, and its tastefully injected humanity all make this an essential read for anyone who wants to try and truly get a grasp on what happened in this country oh so recently.

⭐Please read the synopsis and introduction closely – this is a book about a period in Chinese history as seen through the writings of writers/intellectuals. It is useful mostly for people specifically interested in the lives and writings of the three writers featured by the author: Kang Youwei, Lu Xun, and Ding Ling. This book leaves out much background on historical events for understanding the context of the writings. There is little information on how the Guomindang and Communist revolutions affected the majority of the Chinese population and there is especially very, very little historical information about the Great Leap Forwards. This book is not a general history of the time period stated, and, due to its focus on tracing the lives of the three writers mentioned, gives the impression that the events of the last century were dominated by intellectuals, especially writers.

⭐Very interesting to see how the people behind the Chinese revolution thought. In many ways they were very progressive- at least the early thought leaders and yet their revolution led to a very oppressive system.

⭐Do not buy! This is clearly a pirated copy. Printing is blurry, cheap quality paper, baldy put together, falsely claims to be a penguin edition. I bought this months ago and didn’t sit down to read it until now, so I didn’t notice at first. Terrible. Now I’m not within the return policy guidelines.

⭐UNABLE TO FINISH. THE INFORMATION IS VERY GOOD AND WELL DOCUMENTED

⭐Could Mao and Putin be related? A thorough and immense task to undertake and a wealth of information offered.

⭐The book’s quality is very good although it’s an used book and the price is so cheap. I love it overall.

⭐If you’re interested in Chinese history from the 1890’s through the 1990’s this is a brilliant book.

⭐Jonathan Spence’s Gate of Heavenly Peace is a remarkable achievement in scope, scale, style and most of all, perspective. A sweeping history of the 20th Century told mainly through the eyese of the writers, poets and intellectuals who tried, labored and struggled to construct a new China. At times this reads almost like a literary review, with many interludes into poetry, analysis of classics such as The True Story of Ah Q, and many deep reflections on the nature of life and the world itself, Spence’s work is a book that appeals to the senses as much as it appeals to the curious mind. Told mainly through the eyes of Lu Xun, Kang Youwei, Xu Zhimo, Qu Qiubai and Ding Ling, this is a perspective on the making of China throughout the 20th Century through the eyes of the most thoughtful, those who could commit what they had seen with their own eyes to written prose, those who could provide analogy to the nature of the events, to put the reality into an analogous form that the layman can understand and appreciate. Despite the fact that this book is over 30 years old, written at the time when China was only just beginning to emerge from it’s Maoist past and cast off the rigid nature of state planning and politics based purely on ideology, the book still carries new insights that are worthy of the most learned China enthusiast. I can think of no other book to profile, at length, the lives and musings of China’s literary figures, and provide a history of the 20th Century. The modern Chinese intellectuals are often overlooked, as figures like Mao Zedong tend to suck all the oxygen out of the room. Therefore, if anyone would like a history of China that is not leader centric, as many volumes often are, then this is the book to read. Then again, if anyone wants a history of modern China that is a pleasure for the mind and the soul, then this is also the book to read.

⭐Understand China today by learning about yesterday.

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