History of China Book Review! (The Shortest History of China)

I recently read Linda Jaivin's 2021 book, "The Shortest History of China".  Why?  Because I'm late to the game.  So many economists (and economics pundits) speak confidently about a wide range of topics.  A new one every week!  Not only do they jump around economics topics, but also seemingly unrelated topics... and impressively any country around the globe that happens to be in the headlines.  It's all a bit deflating.  Supposedly in intellectual life, there are 'foxes' and 'hedgehogs'.  Foxes are those who know some things about everything, and hedgehogs are those that know everything about something.  As I've grown up, I've realized I'm not really good at being either. 

So here arrives this book!

I've mostly come to terms with having very little awareness of other cultures.  This is a symptom of having gone to The New School.  The New School is the #1 US school in terms of students from outside the US.  And it's not even close.  And, boy, did I realize it in graduate school.  I was just some kid raised in Texas from a long line of oil men who, by almost any measure, felt like a "local yokel" among my global peers.  I simply didn't know about all the people, places, and histories that enriched everyone else's hometowns.  Here I was in a country that's only now approaching its 250th year.  How was I to speak about world affairs with friends from Europe, Iran, India, China, or Africa?  These were empty spaces in my brain.

So here I am to remedy it by building an intellectual foundation to understand the world and world affairs.  And I started with China.

Getting Started
I spent some time prepping notes for this book review.  I underlined key ideas throughout, organized it topically, dated the Chinese dynasties, and tied back their impacts on the China of today.  But when I sat back and thought about the ideas that stuck with me, I changed tack.  And I did that because I wanted to do service to the author, who had a looseness that was refreshing.  To quote Jaivins:

"in writing a short history, a wise person might focus on a few key themes or personalities.  I'm not so wise.  Faced with deciding between key individuals, economic and social developments, military history, and aesthetic and intellectual currents, I choose... everything."

And so I ditched my notes and aimed to write this from the heart.  This book was good.  And I felt most impacted by a few key themes.  These were: religion and philosophy, SIZE, recent history, and the pain of imperialism.  I've given some thoughts to each below, which I hope you enjoy.

Religion and Philosophy
Learning about the underlying philosophies and faiths that have played outsized roles in China's history was incredibly revealing.  Jaivins did a great job summarizing key tenets and proponents of Confucianism, Legalism, Daoism, as well as Buddhism and some mystical traditions like in the book, the "I Ching".  The reason why these details were so valuable is because people's worldviews are like the background noise in any society.  Let me give an example.  Say you go to the heartland in America.  A place like Canton, Ohio, Birmingham, Alabama, or Omaha, Nebraska.  How confusing would it be to understand their politics and their principles without knowing something about, say, Christianity? 

Same goes with China for Confucianism.  This is a philosophical worldview that emphasizes social order, devotion to the state, and a love of ceremony.  So social relations, like within the family or between authorities and citizens, are under heavy pressure to operate as expected.  However, Confucianism does not emphasize writing hard and fast rules.  Confucius himself apparently thought doing so would only encourage people to find ways around them.  This is where this view differs from Legalism.  Legalism is Confucianism's more rigid sibling, as philosophies go.  It emphasizes extreme devotion to the state and a  highly rigid set of rules for society to function correctly.  

On the other hand, you have Daoism.  Compared to Confucianism and Legalism, Daoism is a hippie cousin that cares more about good vibes and metaphors than rules.  It has a kind of live and let live point of view that feels refreshing by contrast.  It's also relatively disinterested in power and would rather be left alone to be in harmony with nature.

Bridging these views is the I Ching, a mystical writing that harmonizes Daoists with Confucianists.  They become, together, the Yin Yang model we know, highlighting the interconnectedness and paradox of life.

Buddhism is given some time, but not the same emphasis.  It's presented as a belief system that reached China via the Silk Road and comforted those left behind by the rulers and their high brow views.  Its impact is highlighted here, giving hope to the poor, women, and those dreaming of a better life after this one.

SIZE
Anyone who has spent time looking up the biggest events in history has stumbled into the next theme.  I encourage you to Google "most devastating natural disaster", or "deadliest war", or whatever, and you'll realize a major aspect of Chinese history is... SIZE.  China is big.  It's been that way for a very long time.  And it's history is full of outsized events that are hard to wrap the mind around.  Public projects, like walls and canals, often enlisted many millions of people.  This is all before our modern forms of industrial organization, thousands of years ago.  Along these lines are great battles, fallen empires, famines, and natural disasters that stack up body counts that make Europe's stories feel trivial by comparison.  

As an example, when the Qing dynasty conquered the Ming, about 25 million people died.  That's the same number as all military deaths in World War 2, but 300 years prior.  They also had a single earthquake in Shaanxi kill almost a million people... in the 1500s!  That's at least triple the second deadliest earthquake, which was also in China.  And let's not forget the story of Heshen, a corrupt advisor to the court, who managed to steal 1,100,000,000 silver coins (or "taels" of silver) in the 1700s.  That would be worth at least $270 billion dollars in 2023.  He was caught and forced to commit suicide, but with a rope made of golden silk, of course.

Chinese history includes story after story of unimaginable tragedy and triumph.  I will admit, I was initially fairly skeptical of these.  Like the way you pause when reading in the Bible that the entire world flooded and only one guy and his family survived.  But then I read about 20th century China, and the scale of it all only grew.

Recent History
Mao was the chairman of the Chinese communist party for about 25 years covering both the 1950s and 1960s.  His story, and the story of his great economic plan "the great leap forward", are worthy of a Hollywood epic.  This man traveled all across his country (6,000 miles over one year) from the then ruling fascist/nationalist party (this party was the KMT, who were eventually pushed out of mainland China to inhabit Taiwan).  Mao and his party eventually took control and imposed sweeping new social programs.  Some early results were extraordinary, including a 30% growth in average incomes within 3 years!  But when he asked for feedback from his people, he got it.  And he became embittered.  He decided the country should double down on its economic plans and carry out his "great leap forward".  

The Great Leap Forward is, by most accounts, a textbook example of state planning gone amok.  In an effort to produce more and more, they created massive famines (stealing food from peasants as proof of 'surplus' and starving tens of millions), violent culture wars (students being given medals for murdering 'rightest' professors), and a long decline of their authority.  These stories (along with the cultural explosion of the 1980s and the recent growth boom under Xi Jinping's control) all highlight the incredible significance of China's very recent history.

Imperialism
Lastly, what struck me most about China's history may be the shocking impact of European imperialism.  The Opium Wars may seem like a weird footnote from the 1800s in English-speaking schools, but it means a lot to China.  Here the British wanted their corporations to be able to sell Opium despite Chinese government opposition due to its impact on society.  So the British military attacked China and imposed harsh new conditions.  These conditions were called the 'unequal treaties' and ushered in what in China is called the 'Century of Humiliation'.  As a result, European powers gained unfettered access to Chinese markets, major reparations, and territories, such as Hong Kong which was under English rule until 1997!

This period is also tied to the Taiping rebellion, which resulted in the death of about 10-20% of the Chinese population (maybe upwards of 30 million lives).  This was when American Baptist missionaries taught their faith to locals who interpreted it as requiring a complete overhaul of Chinese society.  It's all these layers of European imperialism (faith, economics, and war) that reset Chinese society forever and ended its long-running system of dynasties.

Conclusion
Here's what I know.  I know in some ways I'm still that guy in graduate school, mouth agape, listening in awe of my global friends as they talked about their faraway homelands.  I know these are well known events in history.  I'm sure I'm not adding to an academic debate.  I am an over-educated, American millennial with just enough time to read and write.  But what I learned about China here will stay with me.  It'll stick with me as I read about Xi's attempts to solve their ongoing property crisis, or as tensions rise when ambassadors make tone deaf comments about Hong Kong or Taiwan, or in reading about new policies banning iPhones over locally produced smart phones.  Today's news now has more depth and the people involved now feel more three-dimensional.  And for that, I am grateful.