
The Invention of China
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Narrated by:
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Julian Elfer
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By:
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Bill Hayton
A provocative account showing that "China" - and its 5,000 years of unified history - is a national myth, created only a century ago with a political agenda that persists to this day.
China's current leadership lays claim to a 5,000-year-old civilization, but "China" as a unified country and people, Bill Hayton argues, was created far more recently by a small group of intellectuals.
In this compelling account, Hayton shows how China's present-day geopolitical problems - the fates of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea - were born in the struggle to create a modern nation-state. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reformers and revolutionaries adopted foreign ideas to "invent" a new vision of China. By asserting a particular, politicized version of the past the government bolstered its claim to a vast territory stretching from the Pacific to Central Asia. Ranging across history, nationhood, language, and territory, Hayton shows how the Republic's reworking of its past not only helped it to justify its right to rule a century ago - but continues to motivate and direct policy today.
©2020 Bill Hayton (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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Equally intriguing and well argued was the back cover's claim that how official China today views itself is in many respects based on western concepts of nationalism.
A vague overview about the turn of 19th and 20th centuries in east Asia will probably make it easier to keep track on the more detailed content about that period.
If one without a good touch with Chinese names wants to keep track of all of the characters, print version is probably easier to follow. For me though, not remembering every person encountered was no issue given the great content overrall.
Audiobook is read enthusiastically.
Full of info and insight for a relative ignoramus on China
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BUT you will need to push through some boring, very academic sections that are simply retreading points already made. Don't get me wrong, these sections have a purpose. They are present to add to the body of evidence and make a point. Not to be entertaining stories. In fairness however the pacing is consistent throughout and these academic *evidence lists* are spread out in appropriate places.
Overall I would wholeheartedly recommend this book! But maybe you should wait until your in the mood for some infotainment that is more info than entertainment.
informative but somewhat dry.
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Very clear and informative.
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It lays bare, the fact that the Chinese Communist aped and replicated Western ideas to serve their own self serving narrative.
This book should be required reading to understand the origins and shallowness of the present imperialistic ambitions of the Chinese Communist elite.
An eye opening revelation
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Detailed Discussion of how China has
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Great Survey
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interesting, compelling and engaging
buy it
thank me now
I enjoyed the book a lot
Interviewed the author on my YT channel Studio Asia - a very, very interesting discussion
absolutely fantastic book!
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Very interesting and clear
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I think the story about lineage from various tribes and races is a fascinating narrative
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trash
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