China: A 5,000-Year Odyssey is written by a Chinese person who grew-up in China and both taught about, and conducted research on, Chinese civilization for over half a century in India and the US. The book credits the two great rivers, the Yangtze and Huanghe, for marking the contours of China on our globe, creating a Common Geographical Entity. Eventually, residents of the two river valleys developed a Common Civilization Entity within these contours. China emerged approximately 4,000 years ago, when a Common Political Entity was formed within this Common Civilization Entity. Over a period of 1,500 years into the 14thcentury, China became a unique Common Entity of Destiny and a highly-developed civilization state. Sadly, 100,000 Chinese military and civilians jumped, along with the Song emperor, into the sea, thus cutting short a merrymaking pacifist civilization. Mongol Yuan and Manchu Qing conquered China and infused the nation state element with the persevering native civilization ethos. Beginning in the 19thcentury, China succumbed to the challenge from the sea: However, now China has resurrected like a phoenix from the ashes to continue on its 5,000 year odyssey along the civilization highway. While so many books on China have provided inaccurate depictions, pulling the wool over the eyes of readers, at long last we have a refreshing, holistic, true picture of China, which will endear it to all of us.
關於作者:
Tan Chung born April 18, 1929, in Matubahar, Johor, India is an authority on Chinese history, Sino-Indian relations, and cultural exchange. Tan Chung has been a doyen of Chinese cultural studies in India for nearly half a century. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honor, by the government of India and the China-India Friendship Award by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Tan Chung taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University JNU and the University of Delhi for many years. His father, Tan Yunshan 1898-1983, was founding director of the Department of Chinese Language and Culture, "Cheena-Bhavana," at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, and a key figure driving nationalist China''s interactions with the Indian freedom movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Following his retirement from JNU in 1994, Tan Chung served as a Research Professor at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. He has also been an Honorary Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies ICS, New Delhi. Tan Chung currently lives in Chicago, Illinois United States.