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The Collapse of the Celestial Empire (Revised Edition) Subtitle: Re-study of the Opium War Author: Mao Haijian Douban Top 10 History Books
The Collapse of the Celestial Empire (Revised Edition) Subtitle: Re-study of the Opium War Author: Mao Haijian Douban Top 10 History Books
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
This book makes extensive use of Qing Dynasty memorials stored in the First Historical Archives of China, Sino-British negotiation documents stored in the UK, and data collections compiled by Japanese scholars, etc., to thoroughly examine and reconstruct a large number of basic historical facts related to the war. The author focuses on several main characters as clues to unfold the narrative. From weapons and equipment, fortifications, troop training to the use of combat tactics; from logistics, troop mobilization, troop transfers to the source, fundraising and allocation of military funds, it also involves the economic strength of the warring countries that can be used for war, the mentality of those responsible for strategizing, their views on war (from a cultural perspective), tactical views (from a military perspective), etc. These aspects have been either ignored or not explained in detail in previous studies of the Opium War, but they are fully displayed in this book.
The Opium War had a significant impact on China's modern history. It was also the beginning of China's century-long national humiliation and brought great spiritual trauma to the Chinese nation. The book's evaluation of people and events at that time is based on factual findings. In particular, it seriously reviews the mentality of the Celestial Empire presented in the Qing Dynasty memorials and points directly to the deep reasons for China's defeat. The book's rigorous argumentation to break the academic nature of past fallacies and its strong patriotic sentiment to avoid repeating historical mistakes are shocking and moving.
"The Collapse of the Celestial Empire" has been published for more than ten years and has been widely circulated and had a great influence. Its academic value has stood the test of time and has been widely recognized and praised by readers. Even overseas, it has become a widely read book among scholars, students and general public studying modern history, and is regarded as the most representative work in the study of modern Chinese history.
The revised edition has comprehensively checked the errors in notes and quotations, and has been re-formatted and hardcover, and is included in the "Sanlian Harvard Academic Series 20th Anniversary Edition" for reprinting.
About the Author · · · · · ·
Mao Haijian is a professor at the Department of History of East China Normal University and a part-time professor at the Department of History of Peking University. He graduated from the Department of History of Sun Yat-sen University and the Department of History of East China Normal University (Master), and studied under Professor Chen Xulu. He was an assistant researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, an assistant researcher, associate researcher, and researcher at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a professor at the Department of History of Peking University.
