300
Once one has read the prologue, and absorbed the author's background and motivation, derived from having been an exile (in Hong Kong) from his native place at intervals during the early part of his life, it does not really matter whether one reads the book from start to finish or (as I did) takes up those chapters that appeal most. All are of interest. If I have to make a selection, I liked the account of his father (1888-1959), a bitter-sweet and it seemed to me — quintessentially Chinese individual who lived in trying times; a brilliant man who perhaps deserved to have had a more favourable arena for his talents, and certainly after he left Shanghai to rejoin his family in Hong Kong in 1949. There were so many years of enforced idleness in both places. Personal accounts like this tell us more than the historical record, and illuminate the times more effectively.
I like the author's notes to the chapters: over 40 pages between pp. 471-511. They are not only a guarantee that he has done a good job: they also help interested readers to look into books and sources of which they are not aware. Take, for example, his description (pp. 38-39) of the formalities and practices of marriage in Sung times in his opening chapter on the Sung poet Qin Guan, the subject of the first biography in the book. He cites his source and adds useful information (p. 473). When describing the arranged marriage that was the norm until recent times, and still lingers on here and there in and outside China, he adds that this is why the event was described as the family taking “a new daughter-in-law” rather than as "a son taking a bride” (p. 40). See also note 14 on p. 499 and note 12 on p. 501 together with the upper plate on the 10th page of illustrations I'm giving no clues, look for yourselves! In short, he illuminates as well as entertains.
By now, readers will have gathered that I like this book. Of course, in such a large work (528 pages) and in an academic field that is very demanding and exacting for those who write in it, there are bound to be places in the text where the reader's own studies may refute or add to it. Contrary to what Mr. Ching says in the prologue (p. 20), recent collecting and oral history projects in the New Territories have shown that most, if not all, Chinese lineages, including those comprised of the peasants who made up the great bulk of the population, have kept written genealogies, albeit few of them got published like those of the Qin and other major lineages or, until recently, found their way into the great library collections of the West.
300
Once one has read the prologue, and absorbed the author's background and motivation, derived from having been an exile (in Hong Kong) from his native place at intervals during the early part of his life, it does not really matter whether one reads the book from start to finish or (as I did) takes up those chapters that appeal most. All are of interest. If I have to make a selection, I liked the account of his father (1888-1959), a bitter-sweet and it seemed to me — quintessentially Chinese individual who lived in trying times; a brilliant man who perhaps deserved to have had a more favourable arena for his talents, and certainly after he left Shang- hai to rejoin his family in Hong Kong in 1949. There were so many years of enforced idleness in both places. Personal accounts like this tell us more than the historical record, and illuminate the times more effectively.
I like the author's notes to the chapters: over 40 pages between pp. 471-511. They are not only a guarantee that he has done a good job: they also help interested readers to look into books and sources of which they are not aware. Take, for example, his des- cription (pp. 38-39) of the formalities and practices of marriage in Sung times in his opening chapter on the Sung poet Qin Guan, the subject of the first biography in the book. He cites his source and adds useful information (p. 473). When describing the arranged marriage that was the norm until recent times, and still lingers on here and there in and outside China, he adds that this is why the event was described as the family taking “a new daughter-in-law" rather than as "a son taking a bride” (p. 40). See also note 14 on p. 499 and note 12 on p. 501 together with the upper plate on the 10th page of illustrations I'm giving no clues, look for yourselves! In short, he illuminates as well as entertains.
By now, readers will have gathered that I like this book. Of course, in such a large work (528 pages) and in an academic field that is very demanding and exacting for those who write in it, there are bound to be places in the text where the reader's own studies may refute or add to it. Contrary to what Mr. Ching says in the prologue (p. 20), recent collecting and oral history projects in the New Territories have shown that most, if not all, Chinese lineages, including those comprised of the peasants who made up the great bulk of the population, have kept written genealogies, albeit few of them got published like those of the Qin and other major lineages or, until recently, found their way into the great library collections of the West.
-----
:
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.