China Culture

For thousands of years, the Chinese believed that they had created a perfect social system based on Confucian values and tempered by the Mandate of Heaven. Dynasties came and went, but the essence of being Chinese remained essentially unchanged until the 20th century. Since then, change has taken place in Chinese society at an unprecedented speed: the country experienced the turmoil of civil war and revolution and then emerged on to the world stage as a global superpower.

While there are many books that explore China’s history, public knowledge is still lacking. Many people can name more than one Roman Emperor, but how many can name a Chinese Emperor?

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and thought-provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, the enmity is between these three "tiger" nations and what prevents them from making peace.

Growing up in rural China during Mao's Cultural Revolution, Da Chen was part Horatio Alger, part Holden Caulfeld, befriending both a gang of young thugs, as well as an elegant, older Chinese woman who teaches him English - and opens the door to a new life. Chen's remarkable story of triumph is filled with the universal qualities that distinguish the very best memoirs as it masterfully recounts the concerns of childhood that transcend both time and place.

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifth-largest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture illustrates how the spaces between tiles and the moments between games have fostered distinct social cultures in the United States. This mass-produced game crossed the Pacific, creating waves of popularity over the 20th century. Annelise Heinz narrates the history of this game to show how it has created a variety of meanings, among them American modernity, Chinese American heritage, and Jewish American women's culture.

From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries. Water has been so integral to China's culture, economy, and growth and development that it provides a window on the whole sweep of Chinese history. In The Water Kingdom, renowned writer Philip Ball opens that window to offer an epic and powerful new way of thinking about Chinese civilization. Water, Ball shows, is a key that unlocks much of Chinese culture.

Jesus warned that deception would grow worse as we draw nearer to the end times, saying, "Take heed that no one deceives you" (Matthew 24:4). Distinguishing truth from error has become an increasingly challenging task—even in the church. We live in a time when falsehoods assault us from every direction. Packaged with just enough truth to make them appear trustworthy, these counterfeits have grown more and more difficult to detect and avoid. Living in the Daze of Deception explores the many ways error is masquerading as truth—and how you can discern the difference.

Travel to China. Find out the facts about this country in Asia.

Discover the Epic Story of China: A Concise History from Ancient Dynasties to Modern Superpower! Quickly learn the fundamental facts of China with a fun and user-friendly experience! Embark on the exhilarating journey through the vast expanse of Chinese history! From the myths and legends of the Xia Dynasty, to the vibrant new era of the new happy China, this concise and engaging guide is meticulously designed for students, businessmen, diplomats, and analysts. This book gives you a comprehensive and thorough overview of China's rich cultural heritage, political transformations, and ...

No one knew his name. But soon millions would know about his bravery. For almost two months in spring 1989, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square had been the site of growing protests against China's hardline communist government.

Nine-year-old Ling is very comfortable in her life; her parents are both dedicated surgeons in the best hospital in Wuhan. But when Comrade Li, one of Mao's political officers, moves into a room in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors and, soon, for herself and family.

Former high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, alongside an army colonel, a judge, a diplomat, a propaganda official, a secret agent, and a CCP role-model student, lift the veil on the Marxist culture that has molded the thoughts and actions of Chinese people for over 70 years. It is this culture that created China’s “Walking Dead”. Filmmaker and author, Kay Rubacek, weaves together interviews with these Chinese communist insiders with extensive research, and a sense of humor, into a rich narrative.

Throughout this lively and concise historical account of Mao Zedong's life and thought, Rebecca E. Karl places the revolutionary leader's personal experiences, social visions and theory, military strategies, and developmental and foreign policies in a dynamic narrative of the Chinese revolution. She situates Mao and the revolution in a global setting informed by imperialism, decolonization, and third worldism, and discusses worldwide trends in politics, the economy, military power, and territorial sovereignty.

You’ll learn about all these and more hidden facts about ancient China and its connection to the Bible in this audiobook that provides the research to the biblical background of the novel Qin: Dragon Emperor of China. But don’t worry, you don’t have to have read or listened to Qin novel to get the tremendous spiritual value out of this book.

In this fully revised and updated third edition, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham provide cogent answers to urgent questions regarding the world's newest superpower and offer a framework for understanding China's meteoric rise from developing country to superpower. Framing their answers through the historical legacies that largely define China's present-day trajectory, Wasserstrom and Cunningham introduce listeners to the Chinese Communist Party, the building boom in Shanghai, and the environmental fallout of rapid Chinese industrialization.

In 221 BCE, the Qin state conquered its neighbours and created the first unified Chinese empire in history. So began the imperial era, where dynasties claiming divine assent ruled for more than 2000 years. Borders shifted, and emperors struggled to exert control over every region of their territories. Elites held that they were inheritors of a rich, pre-imperial culture, while their society produced world-changing inventions such as the compass, printing, gunpowder and the gun. Imperial China itself was altered as it came into contact with others through trade, exploration and war.

From a talented emerging writer comes a brave, honest, unforgettable memoir about mental illness, which breaks the silence and shatters the taboos to give hope to all those struggling to find their way through. One day Sophie Hardcastle realised the joy she’d always known had disappeared. She was constantly tired, with no energy, no motivation and no sense of enjoyment for surfing, friends, conversations, movies, parties, family - for anything. Her hours became empty.

Lang Lang started learning to play the piano when he was three years old in Shenyang, China. Today he is one of the world's most outstanding pianists. In this engrossing life story, adapted by Michael French, Lang Lang not only recounts the difficult, often thrilling, events of his early days, but also shares his perspective on his rapidly changing homeland.

AN AMERICAN CLASSICIST IN CHINA is an account of a tour I led to China in 1995. This short book is a description of adventures in six Chinese cities with discussions of Buddhist and Taoist thought, Chinese writing, amusing episodes, and speculations about China's future, which are now being realized. Although set twenty-seven years ago, its description of Chinese people and places is timeless. It is illustrated with twelve photos. This book is a short but sweet introduction to Chinese culture and history, fun to read and revelatory in its descriptions of Chinese culture.