Ancestral Leaves: A Family Journey through Chinese History / Edition 1

by Joseph W. Esherick

Overview

Ancestral Leaves follows one family through six hundred years of Chinese history and brings to life the epic narrative of the nation, from the fourteenth century through the Cultural Revolution. The lives of the Ye family—“Ye” means “leaf” in Chinese—reveal the human side of the large-scale events that shaped modern China: the vast and destructive rebellions of the nineteenth century, the economic growth and social transformation of the republican era, the Japanese invasion during World War II, and the Cultural Revolution under the Chinese Communists. Joseph W. Esherick draws from rare manuscripts and archival and oral history sources to provide an uncommonly personal and intimate glimpse into Chinese family history, illuminating the changing patterns of everyday life during rebellion, war, and revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520267008
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	02/09/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Joseph W. Esherick is Professor of Modern Chinese History at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (UC Press) and co-editor of The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History, among many books.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: The Imperial Era

1. Fleeing the Long Hairs
2. Family Roots
3. Father, Son, and Family
4. Rebellion
5. Official Life in the Late Qing
6. A Time of Transitions

Part II: Republican China

7. Doing Business in Tianjin
8. Growing Up in Tianjin
9. Student Life in the 1930s
10.War

Part III: The People’s Republic

11. Family Life in New China
12. Hundred Flowers and Poisonous Weeds
13. The Cultural Revolution

Epilogue: After the Deluge

Notes
Glossary of Chinese Terms
Selected Ye Family Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is an extraordinary book; for me it was something of a page-turner as I followed the story of the twists and turns."—Twentieth Century China

"Ancestral Leaves offers for . . . the general reader a most unique survey of modern Chinese history."—Frontiers of History
In China

"Ancestral Leaves is a great read and it will appeal to specialists and non-specialists alike."—Journal of Chinese Studies

"Very well researched and documented. . . . Something special and rare."

—Chinese Cross Currents

"Meticulously researched and written in an absorbing style. [Esherick's] book enriches our understanding of Chinese social history."—The China Journal

Editorial Reviews

Very well researched and documented. . . . Something special and rare.

Chinese Cross Currents - Dominique Tyl

Ancestral Leaves is a great read and it will appeal to specialists and non-specialists alike.

Journal Of Chinese Studies - Louise Edwards

Ancestral Leaves offers for . . . the general reader a most unique survey of modern Chinese history.

Frontiers Of History In China - Ke Ren

Meticulously researched and written in an absorbing style. [Esherick’s] book enriches our understanding of Chinese social history.

The China Journal - Emily Dunn

This is an extraordinary book; for me it was something of a page-turner as I followed the story of the twists and turns.

Twentieth Century China - Keith Schoppa