Dissecting the story of modern China

Scholar’s compilation of the story of modern China is an Oxford first, covering the period from 1550 to the present day in an illustrated book

Modern Chinese history: new book dissects period from 1550 to today

Jeffrey Wasserstrom said it is a challenge to be a historian of China because it is a country where history always matters. “I think history has always been seen as significant on multiple different levels and is significant in different ways,” the 55-year-old said.

The American China expert was speaking in the Bedford Hotel in London, where he was appearing at a series of events to launch The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China, of which he is the editor.

“One of the first tasks of each new dynasty has been to write a history of the previous one and use the story to explain or justify the new arrangements. The historian therefore has a special role.”

The book, which has taken four years to produce, is the first significant Oxford history of China. Cambridge University, seen as the birthplace of Sinology and where Wade and Giles invented the first Romanisation system for Chinese, has its own famous history of the former Middle Kingdom.

Oxford wanted it to work on several different levels, he said: “A book that could be used as a textbook but also one that is an enjoyable read”.

Although the book is chronological, all of the chapters stand alone in their own right and contain interesting analysis of the period they focus on

An Oxford history edited by an American stirs a debate as to whether there is a difference of approach between the study of China in Britain and the United States.

“I think in the US historians who write on China are more fully integrated into history departments whereas here [in Britain] some are part of China studies. It is not a clear divide. Tim Cheek, who does the 1980s chapter in our book, is originally from Australia, educated in the US and teaches in Canada so there is a lot of mobility.”

Prof Wasserstrom, who has the chancellor’s chair in history at the University of California Irvine, is one of the leading academics working on China in the United States.

He is perhaps most widely known for his previous well-regarded and insightful book, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know; a third edition of which will be published next year.

Prof Wasserstrom said it can be difficult creating interest in the histories of non-Western countries, although China at least is becoming an exception to that.

“I did an event at King’s College in London recently with other historians, including Sunil Khilnani, who has just done a big book on India, and we were talking about the Western interest in the histories that we all study.”

“One of the speakers worked on Indonesia and she said that there was at least some level of interest in China and India. She said people didn’t have any knowledge whatsoever of any single event in Indonesian history, despite it having more than 100 million people.”

Prof Wasserstrom said this can be true of China: The Taiping Uprising, for example, is less well-known than the American Civil War, which took place at almost the same time.

“Yet it is dramatic and interesting. The leader thinks he is [Jesus] Christ’s younger brother. You would think that was something just made up for a movie script.”

Prof Wasserstrom’s next major project is going to be a history of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, which he believes is a much misunderstood period of Chinese history.

It is still best-known in the West from the 1963 Charlton Heston film, 55 Days at Peking, he said.

“The thing about the Boxer Rebellion was that they didn’t really box and they weren’t really rebels. They were loyalists and they used martial arts. They supported the dynasty and the dynasty decided to use them."

This article was originally produced and published by China Daily.

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