How Has China Been Formed: A Sketch of Macro History
中國是怎麼形成的：大歷史的速寫
Overview
Where is ‘China’? Who are the ‘Chinese’? Why does it concern me?
After Trump's series of anti-China policies, the Western world seems to have suddenly woken up from a dream China and started to look at them from a different, but probably more realistic, perspective, only to find themselves not quite understanding who they really are. To gain true knowledge and insight to Modern China, it is essential to look into their past and find out the mindset and culture cultivated over millenniums.
Du Zhengsheng, academician of the Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica and Taiwan’s former Minister of Education, has provided us with a bird's eye view of 10,000 years of Chinese history to explain why China is as it is today. With a unique historical perspective on China’s history, Du returns to the academics and draws from historical data which attempts to define what the scope of China is. He argues that China’s first central power, Qin dynasty, had roughly established the “headquarters” of China in 221 B.C. Anywhere else conquered by the Chinese after that was never truly and effectively ruled by China, including the Tibetans, the Uyghurs, and even Taiwan.
How Has China Been Formed: A Sketch of Macro History takes a detailed look at the intricacies of China history and culture, exploring China’s concept of itself against the rest of the world. Incorporating rigid reasoning and extensive research on historical documents, it exhibits the lens that China is seeing the world through which certainly helps shine a new light on China’s current affairs.
Author(s)
Du Zhengsheng is an academician of the Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica. He specializes in ancient Chinese history and has published books on ancient Chinese history.
In 1992, he was elected as an academician of the Academia Sinica at a very young age. He later served as Director of the Institute of History at National Tsing Hua University, Director of the Institute of History and Language at Academia Sinica, Director of the National Palace Museum, and Minister of Education. After leaving public service, Du immersed himself in academic research and lecture.
In addition to his historical research, Du Zheng-sheng has shown great concern for Taiwan's society, politics, and culture. In the 1990s, he discussed history education, Taiwan’s history of democracy, and political and cultural subjectivity, and his articles were published in Taiwan's Heart Taiwan's Soul and Walking Through the Critical Decade.