Chinese Roundabout; Essays in History and Culture

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992. First edition. First edition [stated]. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. xiii, [1] 400, [2] p. Illustrations. Notes. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. From Wikipedia: "Jonathan D. Spence (born 11 August 1936) is a British-born historian specializing in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most widely read book is The Search for Modern China, a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he has published more than a dozen books on China. He retired from Yale in 2008. Spence's major interest is modern China, especially the Qing Dynasty, and relations between China and the West. Spence frequently uses biographies to examine cultural and political history. Another common theme is the efforts of both Westerners and Chinese "to change China, " and how such efforts were frustrated." Derived from a Kirkus review: More erudite history and eminently readable scholarship from Yale Sinologist Spence. Many of these essays and reviews, previously published in various journals, were inspired by Western inquirers of yore like 16th-century Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci and novelist Andre Malraux, both subjects of essays in an opening section entitled ``Crossing the Cultures.'' In ``Looking East: The Long View,'' Spence concedes that Western confusion about China began with accounts by Ricci and other missionaries, but, still, he relishes these reports' delicate balance and appreciation for culture. A second vigorous group of essays, ``The Confucian Impulse,'' surveys a range of topics from the Mings to the Manchus. Outstanding is Spence's recovery of the Ming painter Tao-chi, member of a brilliant artistic circle that Spence brings to life with remarkable color. A third section consists of a cornucopia of essays on topics from food to opium. While exhaustively detailing Chinese culinary pleasures, Spence notes that, through much of Chinese history, `it was the danger of famine that gave such urgency to agriculture and such joy to eating.' He describes the crucial economic function of opium in late-19th-century China and measures political swings in the country according to its use. Other highlights include a penetrating analysis of Chinese director Bai Hua's controversial 1980 film, Bitter Love, and an admiring essay on eminent Harvard Sinologist John Fairbank. Spence conveys vast knowledge with a style and grace unique in academic writing. A pure pleasure cruise through the Middle Kingdom.