Jonathan d spence god's chinese son

Nobody at all would say the Taiping Rebellion in China which took place from to and had some echoes after that too. Things went on among the
leadership and the following that are truly difficult to believe. Certainly the Chinese people of the 19th and 20th Centuries were not unwilling to
follow unscrupulous megalomaniacs. For some reason, perhaps because it's hardwired into me by ge Notes 1. Yale University Press, , p. I would
love to delve further into the psychology of such occurrences throughout history. The vision he had had him ascending to heaven where he fought
demons at the head of a heavenly host with his Elder Brother Jesus as it turns out. If you have the twilight music of the tropical reptiles as a
background, it may be possible to propel your imagination and get lost in this exotic time and place. In this sumptuously illustrated single-volume
history, noted historian Patricia Ebrey traces the origins of Chinese culture from prehistoric times to the present. I think things have improved a bit,
but in general, if you ask the average person around here what was the biggest war of the 19th centurythose who can remember any that isthey are
likely to say either the American Civil War or the Napoleonic Wars. He returns to earth charged to eradicate the "demon-devils," the alien Manchu
rulers of China. When Hong's folllowers start to realize how batshit he'd been the whole time toward the wend of the kingdom, you can almost feel
their sense of dismay. Out of that experience came Red Star Over China, a classic work that remains one of the most important books ever written
about the birth of the Communist movement in China. Whether read for its powerful account of the largest uprising in human history, or for its
foreshadowing of the terrible convulsions suffered by twentieth-century China, or for the narrative power of a great historian at his best, God's
Chinese Son must be read. Having failed my fair share of exams in my lifetime I can fully understand his frustration I thought it was funny when he
finally started to meet with Western Christians. Oct 16, Bob Newman rated it really liked it. Western powers are slowly beginning to encroach
upon Chinese territory and the Opium War has just proved that militarily China has about as much chance of wi This is a hard book to review as it
covers a broad and complex story in a manner that I thought could have been done better and with far greater detail. Spence is an excellent author
with a very warm writing style. Not Spence's intent I'm sure. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page It was engaging and I feel lots smarter and in fact
enjoyed reading it. Born in Surrey , England, Spence became an American citizen in Original Title God's Chinese Son: Spence's amazingly talented
book analyzes the rise of Hong Xiuquan, a millenarian leader who believed himself to be Jesus' younger brother and appointed by God to bring
about Paradise on earth. He also discovers that he is Jesus' younger brother, and has been sent to the earth to destroy the demons who are God's
enemies. Returned to his home village in south China, he resolves to carry on the struggle against the evil polluting humanity. As I read, I kept
thinking of parallels with the Communist revolution that took off only 72 years later, parallels of the long marches of the Taipings looking for a
secure center and Mao's Long March to Yenan, parallels of the Taiping promise to divide the land equally and Communist land reform promises.
This is a very accessible book on one of the most complicated and fascinating events in Chinese History. At the center of this history of China's
Taiping rebellion stands Hong Xiuquan, a failed student of Confucian doctrine who ascends to heaven in a dream and meets his heavenly family: By
the late 's, from his capitol in Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan's movement begins to die. Oct 01, Gene rated it really liked it. This page was last edited on
21 August , at Still, all in all, a good readable introduction to this vast upheaval and to the man who brought it all about. Jonathan Dermot Spence
born 11 August is a British-born American historian and public intellectual specialising in Chinese history. That and the style of writing make the
story seem to drag. This is not so much a book on the Taiping Rebellion as it is on Hong Xiuquan and his theology, with snapshots of the rebellion
interspersed to help frame his actions. Li vividly reconstructs his extraordinary time with Chairman Mao. Oct 21, Zeke Chase rated it it was
amazing Shelves: A history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in mid-nineteenth-century China profiles a period of extreme violence, during which a
massive uprising, led by religious visionary Hong Xiuquan, cost some twenty million livesSKU: Anyone interested in history, religious leaders,
China, or just excellent scholarship and writing needs to read this book. Dec 16, Bubba rated it liked it Shelves: As part of his graduate training, he
spent a year in Australia to study under Fang Chao-ying and Tu Lien-che, pre-eminent scholars of the Qing dynasty. In , Spence was appointed to
deliver the annual Jefferson Lecture at the Library of Congress , the US federal government's highest honour for achievement in the humanities.
There are millions of goopy songs and movies about star-crossed lovers, but you hardly ever hear anything about star-crossed readers. Jul 31,
Ashley rated it liked it. In this extraordinary collection of hundreds of internal government and Communist Party documents, secretly smuggled out
of China, we learn how these events came to pass from behind the scenes. This copy of God's Chinese Son: Written by a Yale professor, a little
more complicated to follow along, VERY detailed, which can be detrimental to your understanding if you can't stand being mired in details. I only
wish that Spence had included a conclusion that tied together some of the thematic threads the idea that Hong's religion was based on incomplete
translations of the bible and that the bible is some heady stuff that maybe shouldn't be distributed so lightly and the unfullfiled promise of the
Taiping, for example of the narratives. Advanced Book Search Browse by Subject. I recommend this book to anyone with a keen appetite for
history and a high tolerance for academic writing. I also saw glimpses of what would I really did enjoy this book about the Taiping Rebellion in
China. It doesn't examine the fact that even after the main body of the group had been defeated, splinter groups continued to fight for years and,
more importantly, though it mentions the manner in which the weakened Qing regime had to rely on European assistance, it doesn't get into the
implications of that - namely, that this assistance directly abetted European imperialism in China.

Books in Review
Published December 17th by W. May 03, Max rated it really liked it. When he eventually recovered from his fever, he awoke to the realization
that he was, in fact, the Younger Brother of Jesus Christ and the Second S Stickly non-fiction, although you would be excused if you chose not to
believe it. Overview Inside the Book. I read this and thought about how Christianity and prophecy work. Spence traces Hong's eventual
conversion and command of legions of religious acolytes into a vast army of supporters destined to attempt an astounding overthrow of the
Manchu dynasty. Then a new movement-mystical, materialistic, and virulently anti-Christian-began to spread among them like wildfire. Well,
 Yang's coup is to Valkyrie as Hong is to Hitler, and Spence assumes you know a little something about the Taiping before you start reading this. If
you'd just like a taste of what this was all about, I highly recommend, "Flashman and the Dragon" which is centered on this and related events.
Bondservant and Master New Haven: Oct 21, Zeke Chase rated it it was amazing Shelves: In the end he and his followers don't survive. And for
those really not in the know, the Taiping were some crazy Christians. Western powers are slowly beginning to encroach upon Chinese territory and
the Opium War has just proved that militarily China has about as much chance of wi This is a hard book to review as it covers a broad and
complex story in a manner that I thought could have been done better and with far greater detail. This style also breaks up the story, making it feel
choppy and challenging a readers ability to stay engaged. Spence is a historian specializing in Chinese history. That would make the book much
more revealing to a reader who can also read Chinese. Though there was that time in Math This is an essential and enthralling history of the rise
and fall of the movement that, a century and a half ago, might have launched China on an entirely different path into the modern world. Anyone
interested in history, religious leaders, China, or just excellent scholarship and writing needs to read this book. His most widely read book is The
Search for Modern China , a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. Pages clean and tight
in binding. Jul 31, Ashley rated it liked it. Whether read for its powerful account of the largest uprising in human history, or for its foreshadowing of
the terrible convulsions suffered by twentieth-century China, or for the narrative power of a great historian at his best, God's Chinese Son must be
read. He was invited to become a visiting professor at Peking University and an honorary professor at Nanjing University. Moreover, for what is
probably one of the most bloody and destructive events in not just the 19th century but world histo Highly successful as a work of narrative and
psycho-history yes, that is a real term. Very good condition in fair d. Most likely a cursory visit to our local library will suffice. If you have the
twilight music of the tropical reptiles as a background, it may be possible to propel your imagination and get lost in this exotic time and place. Two
things this book could have used were a dramatis personae and an epilogue. In summary, the problems of a man and his book don't amount to a
hill of beans in this crazy world. The new government didn't seem any better than the old one. How could a person like that, without military
training, with the help of relatives, friends and strangers, train and lead an army that would start a rebellion which would take the weakened Qing
years to stomp out? Retrieved from " https: Something about at least some of us makes us vulnerable to such treachery. Sign In Register Help Cart
0. When Hong's folllowers start to realize how batshit he'd been the whole time toward the wend of the kingdom, you can almost feel their sense of
dismay. Hong's rebellion leaves almost as many dead as World War II. In , Spence was appointed to deliver the annual Jefferson Lecture at the
Library of Congress , the US federal government's highest honour for achievement in the humanities. Views Read Edit View history. There are
more similarities. I dropped everything to dive into it. Advanced Book Search Browse by Subject. Ultimately difficult to follow along, but if you're
along for the ride, it wraps up very well as a first hand account essentially of the Taiping rebellion. Still, all in all, a good readable introduction to
this vast upheaval and to the man who brought it all about. Although it's a different way to do a history narrative, I quickly got used to it, and, given
the sometimes nonlinear shifts for example, when a character is introduced and Spence spends two pages filling in his back story, during which he
reverts to past tense , the present tense helps to keeps the reader progressing with the narrative. Having failed the traditional Chinese civil service
exams, he began preaching his syncretic religion among the poor of backwoods towns and villages. Fought between and in southern China, it was
led by Hong Xiuquan, a man proclaiming himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ, and became the most fundamentalist theocracy in human
history.

Jonathan Spence - Wikipedia

Regardless with this being only one of two books that I can think of in English on the subject it is a worthy addition to anyone's historical library.
As far as the former, there's little better. This is a very accessible book on one of the most complicated and fascinating events in Chinese History.
Jonathan d spence god's chinese son think things have improved a bit, but chinwse general, if you ask the average person around here what
was the biggest war of the 19th centurythose who can remember any that isthey are likely jonathan d spence god's chinese son say either the
American Civil War or the Napol Strange Sect Runs Amok in 19th Century China When I studied World History in jonathan d spence god's
chinese son school back in god's '50s, we didn't study China at all. Intellectually they have been forced to the same great omissions that China has
jonathan d spence god's chinese son physically. It movement originated with a guy who Talk about your crazy Christians!!! A primary tool used
by them was claiming to be the voice of God or Jesus. Pictures available upon request. This leads to more and more Qing military success and the
erosion of the Taiping armed forces while Xiuquan's quite frankly ridiculous theology erodes his own base of support from within. I have only a few
gripes. Was just anybody allowed to have a trance, or only members of the inner circle? Return to Book Page. If chineese have the twilight music
of the tropical reptiles as a background, it may be possible to propel your imagination and get lost in this exotic time and place. This page was last
edited on 21 Augustat After several failed attempts at the examinations, he becomes very ill. Out of that experience came Red Star Over China, a
classic work that remains one of the most important books ever written about the birth of the Communist movement in China. When Hong fails the
all-important state exam that determines his ability to serve in government, his despair turns into delusion. In summary, the problems of a man and
his book don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Spence has received eight honorary degrees in the United States as well as from the
Chinese University of Hong Kongand in from Oxford University. Sign up to receive offers and updates: Hard cover, dust jacket. In this soon
jonathan d spence god's chinese son single-volume history, noted historian Patricia Ebrey traces the origins of Chinese culture from prehistoric
times to the present. Twenty million Chinese are left dead. Clearly this book and I were not meant to be, even though I enjoyed the good times we
had. At the center of this history of China's Taiping rebellion stands Hong Xiuquan, a failed student of Confucian doctrine who ascends to heaven
in a dream and meets his heavenly family: Spence's book is a great, heavily-footnoted take on a captivating event. But I still recommend it if for
nothing else it tells a bit part of one of the most fascinating stories in history as well as showing how Christianity, if unregulated spsnce a hierarchy
and established doctrine, can slip into madness. Russell Books Ltd Condition: Widely recognised as a leading scholar of Chinese history, Spence
was president of the American Historical Association for the term.