A Novel Attempt to Comprehend China
A historian’s biggest decision is when to start the story — all flows from there. Timothy Brook’s ingenious choice is to start his history of “how China has been in the world” in the 13th century, when Chinese people were absorbed into a vast Eurasian empire created by the Mongols.
Brook, a professor at the University of British Columbia, weaves colorful yarns from the centuries to follow into the underlying pattern of “great state” (daguo in Chinese) invented by the Mongolian khans. The “great state” ideal was a far more expansive notion of imperium than the classical Chinese model of the Han or Tang dynasties. The Mongols’ territorial ambitions were nearly matched by another inner Asian people, the Manchus, who ruled China until a century ago. The borders of today’s China, and the allure of global hegemony, can only be understood in that context, as Brook writes: “China became a megastate not by conquering others so much as by being conquered by others.” Whether accepting the “great state” thesis or not, no one could regret reading this book, which marshals profound erudition in tackling an array of historical puzzles. Did the Black Death spread from China to Europe? Why did the Ming emperor send fleets larger than Columbus into the Indian Ocean, but not conquer it? How did a Manchu prince win the allegiance of the Dalai Lama?
No one could regret reading this book, which marshals profound erudition.