"China's Economic History" Author: Xu Zhuoyun Publisher: Nanhai Publishing Company

Introduction · · · · · ·
◎Introduction

“I want to see China from the perspective of the world, and then see the world from the perspective of China.”

Around this beginning, the famous historian Xu Zhuoyun, at the age of 90, rose to the challenge and revised the manuscript eight times to write a biography of the growth and formation of Chinese civilization. The author escaped from the narrative of the internal evolution of Chinese culture and made a new summary and arrangement of the historical interaction inside and outside China from the perspective and thinking mode of "big history", reproducing the trajectory of the interaction and integration of people, ethnic groups and cultures on the land of China.

In a long narrative spanning more than 5,000 years, the author, through a detailed analysis of how China's local cultures are intertwined and how China responds to shocks from the world, ultimately reveals the core and mystery of the Chinese civilization that has been able to continue to this day and will continue forever. With an innocent heart, he foresees a China with roots and direction.

◎Editor's Recommendation

★ A work entrusted by historian Xu Zhuoyun to transcend my yesterday

-At the age of 93, I faced the challenge and wrote a summary work that surpassed my yesterday self

- More than 70 years of research career, concluded with 200,000 words

- Eight revisions of the manuscript, integrating cutting-edge academic achievements and presenting the lifelong thoughts and achievements

-The plain language flowing from life returns to the true realm of learning

★Inheriting the general theory of civilization from "Outline of National History" and "Rural China"

-A general theory of civilization that is truly aimed at new readers and written for a new generation

-Great era, great history, understand the subtleties of Chinese culture in the macro picture

-Go beyond the changes of dynasties and describe the growth and formation of Chinese civilization through historical trends

- Integrate personal destiny into the history of the country and family, and use personal experience to describe the deep affection for the land of China

★ Explore the fundamental driving force behind the eternal existence of Chinese civilization

-A new history of China that goes beyond textbooks, detailing the various origins and rich appearances of cultural groups

- Explain the secret of how Chinese civilization has survived all these disasters and still survives to this day

-Through the fog of history, tell the true meaning of Chinese culture and truly understand the relationship between China and the world

-A dialogue full of warmth and expectation, examining the structural anxiety and predicament of modern people and finding ways to cope with it in culture

◎Recommended by scholars

If The Eternal River is like a Western oil painting with a fine composition and heavy brushstrokes, then this book is more like a Chinese landscape painting with a well-balanced and smooth flow. Modern humans belong to the same species. Chinese and Western cultures can completely achieve harmony through exchanges of self-examination, mutual assistance and mutual benefit.

——Yao Dali, Professor of the Center for Historical Geography Research, Fudan University

Mr. Xu has always been a visionary. He came from the pre-modern era, was in the vortex of modern civilization, and saw many post-modern problems. The warnings of this century-old man are full of the brilliance of thought and the ultimate concern for human civilization.

——Xu Hong, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Mr. Xu Zhuoyun was deeply inspired by "Rural China", and his thoughts were in tune with Mr. Fei Xiaotong, but his vision was even broader. "Economic and Dimensional Chinese" is a testimony that, under the needs of the spirit of the times, the two passed on the torch and achieved success on their own without the need for a teacher. From "Rural China" to "Economic and Dimensional Chinese", two generations of scholars, two lights of learning.

——Zhang Guansheng, scholar and assistant to Mr. Fei Xiaotong in his later years